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Saturday, February 16, 2019

Novel Review: Shackled by Tom Leveen


Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5
Genre: YA Realistic, Thriller, Romance
Publisher: Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster)
Release Date: 2015
Spoilers?: No.

Goodreads Synopsis:

From author Tom Leveen comes a taut, suspenseful novel about a girl’s abduction that leaves her best friend emotionally paralyzed, until a chance encounter points her toward the truth…and a terrifying new danger.

Sixteen-year-old Pelly has a master plan. After years of therapy, medication, and even a stint in a mental hospital, she’s finally ready to re-enter the world of the living. Pelly has been suffering from severe panic attacks ever since her best friend, Tara, disappeared from a mall six years ago.

And her plan seems to be working, until an unkempt girl accompanied by an older man walks into the coffee shop where she works. Pelly thinks she’s seen a ghost, until the girl mouths “help me” on the way out, and Pelly knows she’s just seen Tara.

Too shocked to do anything, Pelly helplessly watches Tara slip away again as she steels herself against a renewed spiral of crippling anxiety. But rather than being overcome by anxiety, Pelly feels more energized than she has in years. Determined to track down enough evidence to force the police to reopen Tara’s file, Pelly’s master plan takes a turn for the dangerous.

Pelly decides she cannot be shackled by her past—and the anxiety, fear, and grief that comes with it—any longer if she wants to save Tara. But in seeking answers through whatever means necessary, she’ll come face-to-face with true evil. And not all the shackles are in her head...

The Cover:

I really like this cover. It's simple, and not a cheesy YA one, but shows exactly what's important with this book and what you're getting. It displays the scary elements, the anxiety, well, I think.

Review:

Pelly can barely keep her job, what with her fear of being outside her home. She can't go to school. And then she thinks she sees her best friend from childhood who was kidnapped. And she has to do something.
I really admire the way that Leveen can make so many different voice so very realistic. I love reading his books so much, because each time you're right inside the characters' head, and every time it is very different. Pelly is afraid of being outside, and she's terrified of a lot of things, and has panic attacks. And it's very evident in the writing.
I really liked the way that Pelly pushes herself. She's terrified, but she makes herself keep going. She makes herself do something about the girl she sees, even when no one else believes her. She even drags one of her co-workers along, even when he doesn't believe her but wants to help anyway.
I wasn't terribly surprised by the twist at the end regarding who the girl was, but I did like it. I really liked how Pelly got out of the situation, too. It was exciting, and it made sense.
I'm definitely a reader of Leveen at this point. This book was fast and intriguing, and it was an easy read to the end.

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