Review: Glimpse by Carol Lynch Williams

Title: Glimpse
Author: Carol Lynch Williams
Series: N/A
Book #: 1
Pages: 484
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: .7
Goodreads Rating: 3.86
Published: June 22th, 2010

In one moment it is over.

In one moment it is gone.

Twelve-year-old Hope’s life is turned upside down when her older sister, Lizzie, becomes an elective mute and is institutionalized after trying to kill herself. Hope and Lizzie have relied on each other from a young age, ever since their dad died. Their mother, who turns tricks to support her family, is a reluctant and unreliable parent—at best. During the course of this lyrical and heartbreaking narrative, told in blank verse from an exceptionally promising YA voice, readers will discover the chilling reason why Lizzie has stopped speaking—and why Hope is the only one who can bring the truth to light and save her sister.

Taschima's POV:

Fantastic, powerful story, yet it felt incomplete. It left me with a ton of questions by the end and with an unfinished feeling in my stomach. Just when it was getting good and when we were finally getting some answers I turn to the next page and I see the two most undesired words in the english language The End. What the... The story sort of feels like an inverted checkmark, only we get a solution to the problem along with no answers.

The story is about a girl (Hope) who is trying to come to terms with her sister's (Elizabeth) suicide attempt and her mother's (Momma, lol) debauchery. It has nothing to do with the paranormal or supernatural, but instead it is a somber contemporary. It is also a quick read. So we spend the entire novel learning about Hope's life, how she and Liz have this incredible bond, and their relationship with the mother. It really was a very dark and powerful read that was cut short. It left me with questions mostly regarding Elizabeth, and the sister's future. How will things turn out? What will happen to these girls? Why did some things happen? The world will never know!

Nevertheless, beautiful writing. I have a soft spot for books that are written in verse format. The writer has to be damn good to be able to write a book like this and make it engaging, and I am happy to say that Carol Lynch is that good a writer. The way she lets you in into the main characters mind... I felt like I was wearing her skin. The first few pages got me entirely hooked, I felt like the middle dragged a little at times but it still passed fairly quick, and the end, well it was interesting but lacking.

The "big secret" that moved the story along was, at least for me, painfully obvious. When it was finally revealed I was mostly interested in seeing how the characters would handle it and how it actually transpired because it was so obvious through the novel what happened that I am surprised the main character didn't catch on sooner (then again, maybe not since Hope seems to live with a blindfold on most of the time).

Will I read more work by Carol Lynch? Hell yes, I love her writing! It was just the partly un resolved ending that made me give this book a 3.7 star rating.

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