Review: THIS is why I love kids' books...
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 21, 2013
Young Adult.  Whatever.  The synopsis for this one caught my attention right away... High school boy, somewhat disenchanted, and altogether normal -- except for that whole having visions bit.  I half expected a nosedive into the paranormal in a way that wouldn't do justice to the high school backdrop.  Instead, I was completely hooked in just the first chapter.Mike Evans seems like a perfectly normal teenager living in an entirely realistic world.  His mother passed away in childbirth, and his currently unemployed father has a drinking problem, leading to neglect but never quite crossing into abuse.  Mike's just trying to navigate his way through high school, that strange bubble where even the slightest misunderstandings are amplified and the difference between friends and enemies is only a day or two.  While many stories might use these things to dial up the angst, we readers instead get a look inside the mind of teenage boy, understanding of his place in life and just accepting it for what it is.He thinks he's in love with the unattainable girl, the one who used to be his friend, back when life was simpler, and is now dating his arch enemy.  His former best friend has had a sudden personality transplant, all in the name of hanging with the cool kids, and his remaining best friend harbors a quiet devotion Mike is entirely too blind to see.  Enter tragic visions of the future and an otherworldly girl, and the story subtly takes a turn into the paranormal, all while never leaving the crazy that is high school far behind.Natasha/Nadia is an odd one.  She appears out of nowhere and brings some much needed relief from reality.  The nights they spend talking and cementing a friendship for a while appear to be the one bright spot in an otherwise dreary life.  But for all the good she brings him, there's something...not quite right.  She appears suddenly and when he least expects it, she looks like she's fourteen and yet seems to have no ties to anyone but him, and she's suspiciously adept at avoiding Mike's questions.Anita is Mike's anchor to the "real" world.  She's his best friend, one of the guys, and throwing hints at him left and right that she wants to be more.  Mike, of course, has that little problem known in some circles as testosterone, and it makes him dumb as a box of rocks when it comes to seeing Anita as anything more than a buddy.  Anita is refreshingly direct, though, and in a girly, teenage tantrum befitting any high school girl, she just spells it right out for him, figuratively knocking him on his ass while also knocking some sense into his thick boy skull.Mike's visions, though, are pretty much useless.  His attempts to warn people of mortal trouble before it happens are ignored, if not laughed off, and he knows better than speak up too loudly and sound like a mad man.  They do, however, give him better insight into the not-so-normal situation he's in with the not-so-normal girl who sneaks into his room each night.  I'd tell you more, but it would ruin the absolutely brilliant way the author introduces us to the real Nadia.  That's something you'll want to experience for yourself.All in all, it's a healthy dose of the paranormal coupled with the very real dynamic of high school pergatory. I could say I love this book, but that doesn't come close to the obsessive way I read through it in one night.  Luckily, I'm a hell of a speedy reader, since I'm pretty sure if I had called out of work just to read and find out how the story ends, it wouldn't have gone over very well with my boss.  But it sooooo would have been worth it![...]