Reviews

Tout près d'ici by Katrina Leno

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issianne's review against another edition

3.0

This book is definitely speculative fiction at its most confusing. Magpie is dealing with the consequences of catching her father cheating on her mother with her aunt, her sister moving out because of it, the abandonment of her best friend, and the drunkenness of her mother ever since. It's heavy; it's sad; it's confusing; it's creepy. If you're looking for an explanation at the end, you're not going to get it. But in a way, it's one of the most satisfying parts of the book.

honnari_hannya's review against another edition

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3.0

Ended up being slower than I wanted it to be, and anti-climactic. I got what it was going for, but at the same time thought that Leno could have done a lot more with the story she had, as it felt like it plateaued towards the middle and the stakes never really escalated. Especially at the very end, when everyone Magpie took revenge on suddenly found themselves placed back into their own lives—it was a little too neat, and ended up feeling twee because of it.

dembury's review against another edition

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4.0

Don't let the happy pink cover deceive you. Look closer and see the fainter picture of the screaming girl in the background, and pay attention to the words "Imagine the perfect revenge", and then you'll have a better idea of what this book is going to be like.

"You Must Not Miss" is the book that would be made if you put Neil Gaiman's "Coraline" and Laurie Halse Anderson's "Speak" into a blender. It's about a young girl, Magpie, who has very much been abandoned by the people closest to her, so she is left with imagining up a perfect place of her own in a tattered yellow notebook. But this place begins to warp, and the shadowy things Magpie doesn't really want to acknowledge begin to creep out and send her down a very dark path.

Leno has a talent for just wrapping the reader up in false sense of security with her writing, just before dumping them off the deep end with Mags. There wasn't a single moment I wasn't interested in what was happening. Also, the characters feel very thought-out and real; even the supporting characters add a lot of substance to the book.
The only thing that I wish had been a little different was the plot pacing: the ending happened so quickly, and I think it could have benefited from a bit more build up. It hit a certain point where the reader knew what was going to happen and I think that took away too much of the suspense that had been so good until that point.

If you want a freshly creepy YA story with a dose of magic realism, or just want to read a book that's going to leave you feeling vaguely unsettled like someone is watching you from the shadows, then "You Must Not Miss" is the book for you.

janagaton's review against another edition

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4.0

Lovelovelove Katrina Leno's writing style. I've now read all her books so far & I cannot wait for more weirdness from her!! I loved how this started pretty light with some familial issues and minor high school drama, and then progressively got darker & darker the same way that Horrid did, which is my favorite by her.

tatyanavogt's review against another edition

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3.0

I'm going to be honest, I dont know how I feel about this one. I just finished it and I am happy with and not happy with the end. It was a fun weird time once it got to the fun weird stuff at the end but I didn't enjoy all the highschool drama that a majority of the book focused on. Yeah, I dunno.