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melanie_t 's review for:
The Face on the Milk Carton
by Caroline B. Cooney
slow-paced
I've had this book in my TBR for years and now I've finally gotten around to reading it.
Summary
Pictures of missing children on the backs of milk cartons are common in Janie's High School lunchroom. But these children have been missing for over 10 years, who could ever recognize a teenager by a picture of a three year old? Janie does, because the child is her.
Spoiler-free Review
Sounds like a super exciting book to me. Sadly, the first half of the book just isn't as fast-paced or suspenseful as I thought it would be, but it picks up a bit towards the end. I also think there is some confusion with the "young adult" classification: the writing style feels younger, but the conversations feel on the older (high school) side. I liked it enough to read the sequel (eventually), but the fact that there is a sequel irritates me.
Spoiler Warning!
After she heard her parents' story I was afraid she was going to believe it. Their explanation was kind of weak, and it ignored a lot of things like why her parents said she had a milk allergy right when her picture started showing up on cartons, but she didn't appear to have any aversion to milk later. All that set-up of her lying parents in the beginning really had me thinking through, and preparing, conspiracies for her kidnapping, but none of it was needed because their lame story ended up being mostly true! Believe it or not, that turn of events was not nearly as annoying as the book ending in the middle of conversation. I don't mind sequels when the 1st book is so compelling I need more, but I hate when I have to read them to finish up the story of a 200 page book that wasn't incredibly gripping to begin with.
Summary
Pictures of missing children on the backs of milk cartons are common in Janie's High School lunchroom. But these children have been missing for over 10 years, who could ever recognize a teenager by a picture of a three year old? Janie does, because the child is her.
Spoiler-free Review
Sounds like a super exciting book to me. Sadly, the first half of the book just isn't as fast-paced or suspenseful as I thought it would be, but it picks up a bit towards the end. I also think there is some confusion with the "young adult" classification: the writing style feels younger, but the conversations feel on the older (high school) side. I liked it enough to read the sequel (eventually), but the fact that there is a sequel irritates me.
Spoiler Warning!
After she heard her parents' story I was afraid she was going to believe it. Their explanation was kind of weak, and it ignored a lot of things like why her parents said she had a milk allergy right when her picture started showing up on cartons, but she didn't appear to have any aversion to milk later. All that set-up of her lying parents in the beginning really had me thinking through, and preparing, conspiracies for her kidnapping, but none of it was needed because their lame story ended up being mostly true! Believe it or not, that turn of events was not nearly as annoying as the book ending in the middle of conversation. I don't mind sequels when the 1st book is so compelling I need more, but I hate when I have to read them to finish up the story of a 200 page book that wasn't incredibly gripping to begin with.