Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

Title: Cryer's Cross
Author: Lisa McMann
Publisher: Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster)
Release Date: February 8, 2011
Rating: 3/5

The community of Cryer’s Cross, Montana (population 212) is distraught when high school freshman Tiffany disappears without a trace. Already off-balance due to her OCD, 16-year-old Kendall is freaked out seeing Tiffany’s empty desk in the one-room school house, but somehow life goes on... until Kendall's boyfriend Nico also disappears, and also without a trace. Now the town is in a panic. Alone in her depression and with her OCD at an all-time high, Kendall notices something that connects Nico and Tiffany: they both sat at the same desk. She knows it's crazy, but Kendall finds herself drawn to the desk, dreaming of Nico and wondering if maybe she, too, will disappear...and whether that would be so bad. Then she begins receiving graffiti messages on the desk from someone who can only be Nico. Can he possibly be alive somewhere? Where is he? And how can Kendall help him? The only person who believes her is Jacian, the new guy she finds irritating...and attractive. As Kendall and Jacian grow closer, Kendall digs deeper into Nico's mysterious disappearance only to stumble upon some ugly—and deadly—local history. Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried.

My Review:

After reading the Wake series by Lisa McMann, I was so excited to know what she was going to write next. When I found out that she was writing this book I was so excited and when I read the summary I got so anxious, I just couldn't wait. Cryer's Cross wasn't really what I expected and hoped it would be. After reading this book, I felt neutral about it. I didn't hate it, but it wasn't something I'd want to gush or call my all time favorite book either. It's one of those books where you can part ways with without any attachment whats so ever.

Even though Cryer's Cross was eerie, cute, and leaves you haunted for a good five minutes after reading it. I couldn't help, but expect and want more from it. I felt like it was lacking a lot of stuff that makes a strong and good read. It was lacking emotion, some characterization, and most importantly plot. The plot I felt like towards the middle and some what towards the end, that it was a little rushed. Everything happened so fast and it wasn't really explained well. The characters you don't really know much about them except the basics. How they look, talk, and what they hate and love and what's happening to them. You never know anything else about them that makes you attached to a character or make you feel like you both can relate some how. And lastly the emotions is what kind of bothered me a lot through out the book. I know the main cause of the book lacking emotion is Lisa McMann writing in third person, but really when you have a main character that has a disorder and other crap that is going on, writing in third person isn't really the best choice to go with since it doesn't give you much on how that person feels and how they really deal with their disorder. All you receive is "Kendall felt nervous.""Kendall didn't like that." You can't really get intuned with a character that way, since it's third person dialogue when stating an emotion was like stating the sky is blue or the girls stomach is growling. It just didn't do much for me.

though it was lacking a lot of areas that a book covers it was still a pretty cool/short read. It was eerie, haunting, and had some cute moments with Kendall and Jacien. So if you love short reads, that has an eerie feel. Then this book is for you.