Title: ChokerAuthor: Elizabeth Woods
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release date: January th 2011
Pages: 223
Genre: Contemporary YA; mystery
Source: Bought
Sixteen-year-old Cara Lange has been a loner ever since she moved away from her best and only friend, Zoe, years ago. She eats lunch with the other girls from the track team, but they're not really her friends. Mostly she spends her time watching Ethan Gray from a distance, wishing he would finally notice her, and avoiding the popular girls who call her "Choker" after a humiliating incident in the cafeteria.
Then one day Cara comes home to find Zoe waiting for her. Zoe's on the run from problems at home, and Cara agrees to help her hide. With her best friend back, Cara's life changes overnight. Zoe gives her a new look and new confidence, and next thing she knows, she's getting invited to parties and flirting with Ethan. Best of all, she has her BFF there to confide in. But just as quickly as Cara's life came together, it starts to unravel. A girl goes missing in her town, and everyone is a suspect—including Ethan. Worse still, Zoe starts behaving strangely, and Cara begins to wonder what exactly her friend does all day when she's at school. You're supposed to trust your best friend no matter what, but what if she turns into a total stranger?
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Whoa. I finished Choker last night, and I'm still completely shocked, I still don't really know what to think. This book turned out to be so, so different from what I'd expected - it's crazy, unlike anything I've read before. Choker is a hard book to review without spoiling anything, but I'm going to give it a try.
The suspense is what's best about Choker. The atmosphere is so, so creepy - I was so scared while reading it. I read the entire book in one sitting. I read right before going to bed (and stayed up way too long to finish it), but I still had to get back up before going to sleep to brush my teeth and stuff, but this book had me so creeped out I was terrified to get up - I almost went to bed without brushing my teeth because Choker scared me so much! The atmosphere and suspense, the whole mystery around Sydney's death and Alexis's disappearance are really, really well done and had me on the edge of my seat the entire time while reading.
Cara's an okay character. She's kind of bland and a little annoying at times, but with the revelation at the end, it works. Her friendship with Zoe is dynamic and complex, and I enjoyed reading about Cara's struggles with Zoe. And Zoe is such a good character - so creepy and crazy! Wow. Ethan is one character I don't think is fully-developed - he's kind of bland, and I didn't like him all that much. Going out with another girl when your girlfriend is missing? Not cool.
There's not much I can saying about the ending without spoiling it, but wow. I did not see that coming. I've heard a few people say they predicted the ending, but I had no idea what was going on. The ending completely blew me away.
***I can't keep this review completely spoiler-free, so this next paragraph will include spoilers. Don't read on if you haven't read the book!***
Even though I loved the relevation at the end, I was a kind of confused by the last paragraph - what is that supposed to mean? I wanted to know more on what happens to Cara, and what happens to everyone else in the book, how they deal with finding out. Also, finding out about Cara made me very, very mad at the parents - they know their daughter is mentally ill, but they work way too much and leave her home alone all day. Seriously? How is that ever going to end well?
This book isn't perfect, and it left a lot of questions unanswered, but it's definitely unlike anything I've read before. It's a great psychological thriller with a really good mystery storyline - why are there so few YA contemporaries that include mystery? Anyways, I definitely recommend Choker. Don't be discouraged if it doesn't grab your attention right away - the mindblowing twist at the end makes it worth it.
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