In a network of lines that enlace

There’s something about Meg Abbot’s writing that’s all consuming. I read this book very quickly; her language is accessible and she drags you right into the minds of her characters and throws you into their world. Whether or not you want to be in it.

I’m definitely sure I don’t want to be in Lizzie and Evie’s world. The story is told through Lizzie, looking back at the time when her best friend went missing. It’s a confusion of back-and-forth memory, of times with Evie and her family and the events that led up to her friend’s disappearance.

The dark undertones of the novel are subtly terrifying. The novel in many ways is a twisted bildungsroman for both Evie and Lizzie on the cusp of puberty, and the perfect Dusty who approaches eighteen. It looks into the fine line between male adults caring for these young people, and when that line is crossed. It’s terrifying, and awful at times, and I found myself cringing away as the novel develops.

It is a good novel, but the disturbing subject matter may not be for everyone.