Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann Review

Title: Cryer’s Cross

Author: Lisa McMann

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal

Page Count: 233 pages, 263 KB

Book Type: Kindle e-book

Publisher: Simon Pulse

ISBN: 9781416994815

ASIN: B004NEW0KM

Picture from Amazon

From Goodreads: 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: "The smaller the town, the bigger the secrets." Ohh, scandalous. I like this cover. What I like even more is that it is significant to the book. Does anyone else get annoyed when covers have nothing to do with the book?

This was a very quick read. 233 pages isn’t a lot to begin with and the story was very easy to get drawn into. I didn’t find the story necessarily “scary,” but that doesn’t make this a bad paranormal book. I liked how a lot of reality was present throughout the book and that is wasn’t all paranormal. The characters build relationships and participate in activities just as any normal teenager would do.

The characters seemed very real in this story and I feel like most of the time they had normal reactions to the circumstances around them. They are unsure of themselves and are trying to figure life out. I don’t always see that in YA books.  I really liked the segments that were narrated by the “paranormal entity.” I even found them a little creepy at times, which takes a bit.

I also really appreciate the fact that this was a standalone book! It seems as if all new books are part of a series these days and it was nice to read a book and leave those characters behind.

Have you read this one yet? What is your favorite Lisa McMann book?