14 August 2019

REVIEW: When by Victoria Laurie

When by Victoria Laurie
Published by Disney Hyperion on 13th January 2015
Pages: 336

Maddie Fynn is a shy high school junior, cursed with an eerie intuitive ability: she sees a series of unique digits hovering above the foreheads of each person she encounters. Her earliest memories are marked by these numbers, but it takes her father’s premature death for Maddie and her family to realize that these mysterious digits are actually death dates, and just like birthdays, everyone has one.

Forced by her alcoholic mother to use her ability to make extra money, Maddie identifies the quickly approaching death date of one client's young son, but because her ability only allows her to see the when and not the how, she’s unable to offer any more insight. When the boy goes missing on that exact date, law enforcement turns to Maddie.

Soon, Maddie is entangled in a homicide investigation, and more young people disappear and are later found murdered. A suspect for the investigation, a target for the murderer, and attracting the attentions of a mysterious young admirer who may be connected to it all, Maddie's whole existence is about to be turned upside down. Can she right things before it's too late?
It's the age old question: would you rather know when you die, or how you die? To which the answer never is agreed upon. In this gripping and unpredictable mystery, that will have you pointing the accusatory finger at everyone, it explores the concept of knowing when you will die, and whether given the chance to know, it is better left unanswered.

The concept of this novel is what intrigued me most. The manner in which it was handled and portrayed was brilliant, as realistic as it could be and painted in a way that one could possibly expect to be realistic. I thought Laurie tackled some interesting perspectives on the matter, and the different ways people would emotionally approach such a topic and revelation. It explored disbelief, denial, acceptance, and relief, and I feel the way in which Laurie portrayed it was really well done. It was an intriguing concept that was pulled off well.

The plot of this was brilliant; it was engaging, quick paced and mysterious. I find it quite hard nowadays to be surprised by a result of "Who done it?" novels, they are one of my favourite genres to read because of the fact that you are problem solving. However, due to the sheer amount of them I have read, I am often left unsurprised. Though, this, I was surprised by. And not in a completely random result that is completely unjustified, but a very tightly knit, and planned surprise culprit. It made sense, and I was so pleased to have that as the resulting climax of the novel. Laurie paints a great picture of the plot, you could feel the tension, the coldness of the characters, and the believability of the occurrences.

My issues mainly surrounded our protagonist Maddie. For a girl of around sixteen years old, her voice and narrative was incredibly young and childish. She seemed more like the age of a ten year old, and for a girl in her position, I would have certainly expected her voice to sound that of her age, and maybe a bit more mature. This meant that she came across as sadly a little whiney at times, and in complete disregard of what was going on around her, there were things that were obvious she should be doing, and yet she wasn't. And that left disappointment with me. She had a certain lack of maturity, and although I guess this is what caused the problems that made the plot of this novel, it just felt unrealistic for her age.

Secondly, what even was the point in including Aiden? I get it, typical teen novels will have a love interest, but it wasn't needed. The novel would switch to having these random daydreams about this guy, and how they have this 'connection' despite saying hi to one another once. And this also sparked my interest, why was his and her death dates never mentioned until the very end!? Like, their connection is because their death dates are consecutive? I just thought it was a waste of space in the novel and sort of dulled it down a little; the plot held its own without it.

The ending of this novel. Although the resulting culprit was a surprise and left the problem solver in me content, the ending was just, wrapped up too neatly. Characters went back to happy chappies after everything they went through, and everything was just wrapped up too neatly for the emotional toll what they had been through would have on them. I was left disappointed due to how unrealistic their emotions and actions were; Laurie just seemed to want to give the perfect, neatly wrapped present ending, and for a novel like this, it just did not fit.


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