Description: This is the story of Amelia and Riley, bad kids from bad Brookfield High who have transferred to Ashbury High for their final year. They've been in love since they were fourteen, they go out dancing every night, and sleep through school all day. And Ashbury can't get enough of them.
Everyone is trying to get their attention; even teachers are dressing differently, trying to make their classes more interesting. Everyone wants to be cooler, tougher, funnier, hoping to be invited into their cool, self-contained world.
But they don't know that all Amelia can think about is her past -- an idyllic time before she ran away from home. Riley thinks he's losing her to the past, maybe even to a place further back in time. He turns to the students of Ashbury for help, and things get much, much worse.
In the tradition of the gothic novel, this is a story about ghosts, secrets, madness, passion, locked doors, femmes fatales, and that terrifying moment in the final year of high school when you realise that the future's come to get you.
My Thoughts: Okay, I admit it. That at the beginning of the book when nothing seemed to be connecting, I was concerned that I wouldn't like this 480 pg book. When I love a book, I welcome 400 and 500 pages, but since it started slow for me, I started to dread the pages of Ashbury High.
Everyone is trying to get their attention; even teachers are dressing differently, trying to make their classes more interesting. Everyone wants to be cooler, tougher, funnier, hoping to be invited into their cool, self-contained world.
But they don't know that all Amelia can think about is her past -- an idyllic time before she ran away from home. Riley thinks he's losing her to the past, maybe even to a place further back in time. He turns to the students of Ashbury for help, and things get much, much worse.
In the tradition of the gothic novel, this is a story about ghosts, secrets, madness, passion, locked doors, femmes fatales, and that terrifying moment in the final year of high school when you realise that the future's come to get you.
My Thoughts: Okay, I admit it. That at the beginning of the book when nothing seemed to be connecting, I was concerned that I wouldn't like this 480 pg book. When I love a book, I welcome 400 and 500 pages, but since it started slow for me, I started to dread the pages of Ashbury High.
I'm so glad I stuck to it! If I hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to tell you how wonderful this story was. I've never read anything like it. It was so creative, I'm even subconsciously (partly) writing this review the way some of her characters wrote their story. You'll understand what I mean if you get this book (when you get this book). Most of the characters were enjoyable in there own way. With a book this big I feel like I personally know them. People like Em gave me humor and thoughts of the future, while Riley and others gave me poetic words to help me imagine their world. One of my favorite characters beside the two mentioned above was Toby, with his history of Australia (hilarious) and Ireland, as well as his discussion of shadows and black holes. His parts about Tom? Ummm, not so much!
Sometimes the characters were sarcastic, while at other times they were unknowingly laugh out loud funny. And the Gothic tale, not what I expected at all! It felt like a book version of clue, but with ghost! I accused many people before the end of the book! I got it totally wrong, since I gave up near the end and claimed to myself that the butler did it (which is weird because there was no butler, and they weren't trying to solve a murder case!). The relationships in this book discussed and dealt with multiple topics like love, fear of the future, and being afraid to face yourself (or being afraid to face your problems). This book was unique and enjoyable! Now that I've finished this book, the 1st thing I'm going to do is -- well not the first thing cause it's four in the morning, but maybe the 5th or 6th thing I'll do today is go online and purchase a copy of The Year of Secret Assignments!
OMG I Just won this - I am soooo excited to read it now, and thanks for letting me know it starts slow...sometimes I give up to quick! :) Awesome review.
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