Wowie.
This one is FABULOUSLY written! I have never read any of Lauren
Myracle's books, only the short story she wrote "The Corsage" in
Prom Nights from Hell. That story was seriously creepy...kinda like
this one! The detail was so rich in this story, and the words just
flowed. I had to read this in one sitting, because the suspense in
WHO did it was just too hard not to want to know...if you
understand what I mean.
Shine is set in the south, and it's portrayed quite...darkly. I
mean, the only other books I've read (which I can name off the top
of my head) which was set in the south was Beautiful Creatures and
In Front of God and Everybody. Both were quite flimsy in portrayal,
as I can compare from reading Shine. It's quite brooding, dark,
mysterious (I'm not sure what it's REALLY like, I'm pretty sure not
so much like it's described, but then again, I haven't been there
have I?) and it just kinda gives me shivers thinking about it. I
love it when authors can do that. It's like getting the full effect
of the story, transported to the south and actually feeling what
it's like living there through our protagonist's eyes. With
poverty, drugs (Meth plays a part here) and secrets, we can feel
Cat's uneasiness with the different characters she interacts with.
Cat is amazing! I love her character. She's determined to find out
who did the horrible things to her best friend, and I really think
that's REAL determination. She's just this shy character, who's
fallen away from her friends and doesn't talk to anyone much. She
opens up her shell to find out what happened and I find that
amazingly strong for a girl with a past like that.
Speaking of which, I didn't like one thing in this story. The part
where Cat reveals the event in which lead her to stay away from
most people, was quite disturbing. I mean, it was kinda detailed
and I kinda got freaked out, so I had to skip a bunch of lines and
keep reading past that event. It's such a strong event though, that
was can feel her emotions, how scared she is, but I think it was
too overwhelming for me. This was the only part I hated from the
story.
I find Cat's relationship with her family quite sad, as her mom
died, her father's a drunk, her aunt doesn't pay much attention to
her and her brother, Christian, seems the most attentive and
protective over her out of the whole family, yet he still hangs out
with the wrong crowd. It's all pretty sad and we can see how
important Patrick was for her and how his friendship with her
helped her kind of overcome that.
Now, onto the Mystery of the story. I love how all characters
contribute some sort of information towards the crime and what
happened that night, and that the small detail pieces everything
together. The ending with the motive and all took me quite by
surprise, but maybe that's because I don't usually read many
mysteries other than reading an occasional Agatha Christie. I kind
of had a 'gut-feeling' though, I thought maybe that the one who
actually did do it, did it, but then pushed that away and had other
thoughts. It was such a big twist though, how everything turns out
in the end.
Overall, I thought that Shine is an interesting insight on a very
different lifestyle, with a deadly mystery with a hint of hope and
a happy ending. Lauren Myracle has written an amazing YA book, and
it's enough to convince me to read more of her. Dark, Beautiful and
Profound, Shine is not a book to be taken lightly.