Kay Bognar

While the premise of the story is interesting, the writing leaves a lot to be desired. It is too direct and "tells" instead of "shows." Everything is spelled out for the reader; there is no subtlety or complexity. This completely eradicates any suspense that the reader might feel for the story, and it also feels like the author is talking down to the reader.

What I really didn't like about this story was how unrealistic it was. Not in the sense of the supernatural events, of course, but with how the characters were portratyed and how they reacted. Much of the events were depicted in a melodramatic fashion, and I just didn't believe their reactions.

All in all it was a somewhat disjointed story, not making much sense from one event to the next. It was especially disappointing because I think the story had a lot of potential.… (meer)

This is the story of Miranda Jenkins, a teenager who lives in a small fishing town dominated by her tyrannical grandfather Elijah Jenkins. Her best friend Phillip threw a note overboard before he went missing at sea and Miranda must find it.

**This review may have spoilers**

I was intrigued by the mystery of what happened to Phillip and although I had it somewhat figured out halfway through I remained interested until the end.

I was bothered by the scene in the book where Miranda smokes. It is explained that smoking is another one of her evil grandfather’s arbitrary rules that she will not follow. I understand that it is meant to show that she rebellious but I think this could have been accomplished in other ways since this is a young adult novel. Also, the relationship between Chuck and Miranda was not believable to me. I couldn’t buy into the intensity of it.

Overall, this was an engaging book and a quick read.… (meer)