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Thursday, January 2, 2014

The Girl who was Supposed to Die by April Henry

Pages: 213
Intended Audience: Teens and mature tweens
Genre: Psychological thriller
Notes for Parents: Contains scenes with guns, references to violence, some scary scenes

The Inside Cover
She doesn’t know who she is. She doesn’t know where she is, or why. All she knows when she comes to in a ransacked cabin is that two men are arguing over whether or not to kill her. And that she must run.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:
The cover blurb is a great teaser. There’s nothing more you need to know.

What’s good?
Short chapters and a first person / present tense point of view fuels the non-stop action in this high intensity, mystery-thriller. The main character, Cady, is strong and resourceful; her accomplice Ty is brave (and very trusting!); and the supporting bad guys are devious and desperate. While the plot is fairly simplistic, the constant thrill of the chase keep things entertaining.
Best Part: James. I wish there was more of him.

What isn’t good?
I consistently saw things coming before the character did which took away from a lot of the drama. Also, there wasn’t a lot of depth to the characters, although Cady and Ty were still very likeable. The courage in their actions alone made me care about them. Finally, there seemed to be a few consistency issues. No other reviews that I read pointed them out, so maybe I got some of it wrong so I don’t want to ruin the story by revealing them here.
Worst part: “You saved us. You saved us all.”

Recommendation þþþoo
Despite a few strange contradictions and an oversimplified plot, the story was still riveting. The action-filled short chapters and fluid writing made this easy to read and very entertaining. Recommended.

Henry, April. The Girl who was Supposed to Die. New York: Henry Holt, 2013.

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