Dead To You

Welp.

First, I'd like to say that our protagonist, Ethan, reminds me of Holden Caufield. He really does. He has that angst about him, not to mention his loving relationship with his precocious little sister.

The writing was conversational and easy to digest, which was kind of surprising for a book dealing with such a dramatic backstory. There's certainly plenty of drama here, but it was surprisingly low-key throughout, considering.

That ending, though. I don't think I've been this angry about an ending since How I Met Your Mother. I'm still going to give this 3/5 for keeping me interested enough to finish it in basically one sitting, but I won't be surprised if I get irrationally upset about this in a week or so and change the rating.

I just love Lisa Mc Mann. It's her voice, I think, that appeals to me so much. I would put this one above Crash and below Cryer's Cross as my favorite. I thought the story was a little unrealistic (I am trying SO hard to stay away from spoilers) and I blame the adult characters for not doing what they needed to do to prevent what happens in the big, surprise ending. I got stuck on the idea of the system and checks and balances that are in place to prevent stuff like this from happening....and the red flags are all waving boldly in the story (I just thought they were so obvious that they HAD to be red herrings-mostly because I expected something paranormal to be revealed because of the title of the book and because of other Mc Mann stories I have read. That's fair, yes?)

That said, Ethan is a character who is easy to love right away and while his loss of memory may frustrate readers because of the lack of background, it all comes together in the end. Normally, I dislike any kind of a romance in a story, but it fit here and was done so sweetly. It wasn't insta-love, but there was a bond between them that existed before, was severed, and was being repaired. The tension is very high, and I could feel myself squirming through the family scenes. I felt so badly for all of them.
This is a perfect summer read with short, exciting chapters and a fast pace overall. With a recent recovery of several lost children still primed on the news, I appreciate the timeliness of the topic. I like to give Mc Mann's books to reluctant readers (I think I think of her as a modern Lois Duncan-and I mean that as a compliment).