Scan barcode
A review by missprint_
The Opposite of Here by Tara Altebrando
5.0
"There's always somewhere else I want to go, but when I get there I always want to leave."
The last thing Natalie wants to do for her seventeenth birthday is go on a "sail-a-bration" cruise with her parents and best friends. Even nine months after her boyfriend died in a car accident it still feels too soon.
But once the plan is in motion, Natalie realizes there's nothing she can do to stop it.
Her best friends Lexi, Nora, and Charlotte are excited so Natalie tries to be too. Lexi is ready for all the fun the cruise has to offer--especially if her boyfriend Jason never has to hear about it. Nora has been down for a while and Natalie hopes that maybe the cruise will do her some good. Maybe she'll even find a new guy to like, it's been a while. Charlotte is used to keeping a low profile at school and following the rules. On the cruise no one cares if she's black enough or white enough--she can just be herself.
Natalie's low expectations for the cruise rise when she unexpectedly meets a cute guy. He's funny and exciting and Natalie's attraction is immediate. But she doesn't see him after their moonlit conversation and he blows off their plans to meet later.
At first the rejection stings and Natalie is prepared to move on. But then she starts to wonder if there might be more to it than that. How can a guy disappear on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean? Is it crazy to think he might have jumped?
Natalie isn't sure where to start when she doesn't even know his name. But she knows she has too look. The only problem is that the harder Natalie looks for answers, the more questions she seems to uncover in The Opposite of Here (2018) by Tara Altebrando.
Altebrando's latest standalone thriller is a perfect balance of suspense and intrigue as Natalie begins to investigate the bizarre disappearance of the guy she meets on the first night.
Instead of chapters the novel is broken into days with the cruise itinerary marking the start of each new section. Natalie is a film buff and examines the cruise with the detachment of an observer as she tries to piece together what's really happening. Assigned by her film studies teacher to shoot a two line film during the cruise, Natalie also imagines various scenarios in short screenplay snippets.
While not quite unreliable, Natalie is a restrained narrator holding back information from readers and maybe even form herself as she tries to move past the worst events of the last year. She is sardonic, capable, and singular in her search for the (possibly) missing boy.
Because of its short length and close focus on Natalie the rest of the characters in The Opposite of Here can feel less dimensional by comparison although they do each have their own arcs--something Natalie and readers realize together as Natalie comes to understand that she wasn't the only one affected by her boyfriend's death.
Taut pacing and menace imbue the pages as the narrative toes the line between reality and the power of suggestion in this story that asks readers to separate fact from fiction. The Opposite of Here is a tense thriller sure to keep readers guessing right until the last page. Highly recommended.
Possible Pairings: Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen, Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart, One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus, Fragments of the Lost by Megan Miranda, Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roerhig, The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma, Bad Girls With Perfect Faces by Lynn Weingarten
*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*
The last thing Natalie wants to do for her seventeenth birthday is go on a "sail-a-bration" cruise with her parents and best friends. Even nine months after her boyfriend died in a car accident it still feels too soon.
But once the plan is in motion, Natalie realizes there's nothing she can do to stop it.
Her best friends Lexi, Nora, and Charlotte are excited so Natalie tries to be too. Lexi is ready for all the fun the cruise has to offer--especially if her boyfriend Jason never has to hear about it. Nora has been down for a while and Natalie hopes that maybe the cruise will do her some good. Maybe she'll even find a new guy to like, it's been a while. Charlotte is used to keeping a low profile at school and following the rules. On the cruise no one cares if she's black enough or white enough--she can just be herself.
Natalie's low expectations for the cruise rise when she unexpectedly meets a cute guy. He's funny and exciting and Natalie's attraction is immediate. But she doesn't see him after their moonlit conversation and he blows off their plans to meet later.
At first the rejection stings and Natalie is prepared to move on. But then she starts to wonder if there might be more to it than that. How can a guy disappear on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean? Is it crazy to think he might have jumped?
Natalie isn't sure where to start when she doesn't even know his name. But she knows she has too look. The only problem is that the harder Natalie looks for answers, the more questions she seems to uncover in The Opposite of Here (2018) by Tara Altebrando.
Altebrando's latest standalone thriller is a perfect balance of suspense and intrigue as Natalie begins to investigate the bizarre disappearance of the guy she meets on the first night.
Instead of chapters the novel is broken into days with the cruise itinerary marking the start of each new section. Natalie is a film buff and examines the cruise with the detachment of an observer as she tries to piece together what's really happening. Assigned by her film studies teacher to shoot a two line film during the cruise, Natalie also imagines various scenarios in short screenplay snippets.
While not quite unreliable, Natalie is a restrained narrator holding back information from readers and maybe even form herself as she tries to move past the worst events of the last year. She is sardonic, capable, and singular in her search for the (possibly) missing boy.
Because of its short length and close focus on Natalie the rest of the characters in The Opposite of Here can feel less dimensional by comparison although they do each have their own arcs--something Natalie and readers realize together as Natalie comes to understand that she wasn't the only one affected by her boyfriend's death.
Taut pacing and menace imbue the pages as the narrative toes the line between reality and the power of suggestion in this story that asks readers to separate fact from fiction. The Opposite of Here is a tense thriller sure to keep readers guessing right until the last page. Highly recommended.
Possible Pairings: Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen, Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart, One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus, Fragments of the Lost by Megan Miranda, Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roerhig, The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma, Bad Girls With Perfect Faces by Lynn Weingarten
*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*