Review: Choker by Elizabeth Woods

Title: Choker

By: Elizabeth Woods

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Publisher: Simon and Schuster (January 4th, 2011)

My Copy: Advanced Reading Copy via Publisher

BookWhisperer Rating:

 

About the book:

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

Choker is a truly terrifying realistic story. True horror is what you find when you read a book such as this. Cara Lange is what seems a totally ordinary child; it is incredible to experience a novel such as this. The reality of this novel will keep readers on the edge of their seat, and reflecting on the story well after the last pages. Slower pace seems to add minimal struggle through the story, but overall it is captivating and an intriguing read. The ending was so unexpected that it blew me away. Having read other books that follow the same kind of storyline it had crossed my mind that it could fall apart this way, but I had wrote it off finally believing that it was not possible. The suspense that Woods offers in Choker is incredible powerful promising for a surprise.