Review : Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

Title : Cryer's Cross
Author : Lisa McMann
Publisher : Simon Pulse
Genre : Young Adult, Paranormal, Mystery
ISBN : 978-1416994817
Series or Stand Alone : Stand Alone
Release Date : February 8, 2011
Rating : 3/5 Stars - Good

Description from Amazon : 

The small town of Cryer’s Cross is rocked by tragedy when an unassuming freshman disappears without a trace. Kendall Fletcher wasn’t that friendly with the missing girl, but the angst wreaks havoc on her OCD-addled brain. 

When a second student goes missing—someone close to Kendall’s heart—the community is in an uproar. Caught in a downward spiral of fear and anxiety, Kendall’s not sure she can hold it together. When she starts hearing the voices of the missing, calling out to her and pleading for help, she fears she’s losing her grip on reality. But when she finds messages scratched in a desk at school—messages that could only be from the missing student who used to sit there—Kendall decides that crazy or not, she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t act on her suspicions. 

Something’s not right in Cryer’s Cross—and Kendall’s about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried. 

Trailer : 

 

 

Review : 

Kendall Fletcher lives in the small town of Cryer's Cross.  Nothing bad has ever happened there, and everyone knows everyone.  The high school is a one room classroom, so when one girl goes missing, the whole town knows about it.  Kendall takes it very hard when the girl goes missing, because she already has really bad OCD as it is.  Now Kendall has added on new tasks to her daily life, because she fears that she might be the next person to go missing.

Things are even worse for her when someone she truly cares about is the next one to go missing.  She even begins to think that the stress of the missing children has made her crazy, because she starts to hear their voices.  Words scratched into a desk at school are her only clue that she's not crazy, so she uses those clues to try to find her missing friend.

I'll be quite honest, I didn't even read the synopsis of this book before I started it.  The cover just looked so interesting that I wanted to read it from that image alone.  I was about half-way through the story, wondering whether or not there was a paranormal element when I decided to read the synopsis.  While this book does have some paranormal elements, you don't see them until close to the end of the book.  It all just seemed like a regular mystery novel to me for quite some time.

I liked Kendall, although she wasn't my favorite main character.  She really enlightened me on how a person with OCD goes throughout their day, and what they really do go through.  Most people don't realize how difficult life can be for a person with OCD, but McMann easily portrayed how a person with this disorder would live their life.  At times I thought Kendall was a little too judgmental, especially to the new boy in town, although he wasn't the nicest person to her either. 

This was the first book that I've read by Lisa McMann, and honestly I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.  I've heard a lot of good things about her writing, but it felt like it lacked something, although I can't put my finger on it.  I'm not saying that this story wasn't good, because it was, but it was a little slow moving.  I did however, think it was good enough to read more of her work, so I'll be going back and reading her Wake Series.

Where did I get this book? : 

I received my e-galley from the Simon & Schuster Galley Grab for my honest review.

Amazon Affiliates : 

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