Tuesday, October 24, 2017

The Hanging Girl ~ Eileen Cook (earc) review [@HMHKids @eileenwriter]

The Hanging Girl
HMH Books for Young Readers
October 03, 2017
320 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depository/or Amazon

Skye Thorn has given tarot card readings for years, and now her psychic visions are helping the police find the town’s missing golden girl. It’s no challenge—her readings have always been faked, but this time she has some insider knowledge. The kidnapping was supposed to be easy—no one would get hurt and she’d get the money she needs to start a new life. But a seemingly harmless prank has turned dark, and Skye realizes the people she’s involved with are willing to kill to get what they want and she must discover their true identity before it’s too late.

The Hanging Girl was another one of those books where I had forgotten what it was supposed to be about by the time I started reading it. Not knowing what was to come for Skye - and not knowing what it was she was getting herself involved in, was a lot of fun.

I liked the setup of a girl who makes money from tarot card readings but who does not believe, at all, that she has some sort of psychic ability. Rather, he readings rely on her ability to read people, to keep things enough open to interpretation to please people - and using any other knowledge she has of them.

It works really well that we get to see not only what Skye does (her tarot card readings, charging for them) but also her financial situation and how desperate she is to get out after graduation before finding out what she's involved in. Though you don't know at first just what it is Skye got into (and maybe she doesn't, either) or why exactly, you can still understand her acquiescence.

Life is not awesome for Skye and this is her way to fix that. Somehow. Maybe.

When things started to go wrong, I both wanted Skye to tell someone- and really be honest, not tell them more of her 'psychic visions' - but I could also understand her hesitancy to do so. Skye was not someone who seemed to make great choices (even aside from the big, obvious one) and I did not think she had really thought through oa lot of the logistics or facts of how things were supposed to go. Still, trying to piece together the mystery, of what Skye should do and what would happen if she did (or didn't) was a thrilling read.

The Hanging Girl definitely, definitely had some surprising and shocking twists and turns. Even the pieces that seemed simple were not and the pieces I was able to guess still added to the mystery because I had no idea how the characters would react if (or when) they put things together. The Hanging Girl is an original, thrilling tread that will keep you guessing right to the last page.






digital review copy received from publisher, via NetGalley

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