Book 17: Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield
This book was fucking awesome. I hope that sets the tone for this post.
Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone is about a girl named Becca spending her last summer in her small hometown when an unknown dead girl turns up on the side of the road one morning. Told in alternating chapters between Becca’s last summer in Bridgeton and Amelia’s last hours, Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone is one of the most haunting stories I’ve ever read.
Okay, first, I find characters to be pretty much the most important thing when it comes to telling a story, and I treasure any book I find that contains rich and original characters. And Amelia Anne definitely has this. James, Becca’s boyfriend, is simply one of the best characters I’ve come across. And, his relationship with Becca is extremely interesting, and one of my favorite things to unravel in the story.
Also, this book is not what you think it may be. Murder is one of the central aspects of the story, obviously, and we, as readers, try to understand Amelia’s death before everything is revealed. However, this is no episode of Law and Order. It is intensely difficult to figure out, which is what I loved most about it.
Amelia Anne was exhilarating to read, especially in the last one hundred pages. Kat Rosenfield’s writing style reminds me of the dead-on detail of Jeffrey Eugenides. She has one of those voices that I just got completely lost in. Or, rather, I found myself in Bridgeton.
This is definitely my favorite book of the summer so far, and one of my favorites for 2012. If you have not read this, I encourage you to run to the nearest bookstore.
Next, I’ll be reading Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols. (I think).
