Half in Love with Death

by Emily Ross

Overview

It's the era of peace and love in the 1960s, but nothing is peaceful in Caroline's life. Since her beautiful older sister disappeared, fifteen-year-old Caroline might as well have disappeared too. She's invisible to her parents, who can't stop blaming each other. The police keep following up on leads even Caroline knows are foolish. The only one who seems to care about her is Tony, her sister's older boyfriend, who soothes Caroline's desperate heart every time he turns his magical blue eyes on her. Tony is convinced that the answer to Jess's disappearance is in California, the land of endless summer, among the street culture of runaways and flower children. Come with me, Tony says to Caroline, and we'll find her together. Tony is so loving, and all he cares about is bringing Jess home. And so Caroline follows, and closes a door behind her that may never open again, in a heartfelt thriller that never lets up.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440589034
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	12/16/2015
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	610L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Emily Ross is the author of the International Thriller Writers Thriller Awards finalist, Half in Love with Death.

Editorial Reviews

Named a 'Book to Watch For' by BookRiot

"The 60s setting is a great backdrop for this psychological thriller.... The final reveal is chilling. Mesmerizing coming of age psychological thriller where readers wonder what is real and what is a lie." —YA Books Central

"This story will grab teen's attention. Ross succeeds brilliantly in conveying the confusion, passion, trepidation, fearlessness, and terror that every 15-year-old can relate to. Fans of Lois Duncan will appreciate the gentle spine tingles offered here. The power and beauty of the prose make this novel a standout." —School Library Journal

"The plot goes by very fast, and...it's enjoyable...the book is put together well. The mystery of Jess is definitely one compelling story. The villain is definitely disturbing, and his traits are subtle in nature. And the ending. My. It's chilling. Entertaining story/mystery." —YA Books Central

"Half in Love with Death captivated me beyond the last page, leaving me with so many thoughts and praises for this fantastic story.... A haunting novel with elements of mystery and romance. The characters are extremely well-developed, which makes the mystery even more difficult to solve.... Chilling and enthralling." —TeenReads.com

"Half in Love with Death paints a beautifully disturbing picture of a fairly typical 1960s family. The juxtaposition of such a sweet, innocent, naive girl against the potential horrors of what happened to her sister is a theme that has been skillfully threaded throughout the book. Half in Love with Death sneaks up on you.... It pulls you in with its beautiful prose, only to set you up for a thriller so true to life it will make you question how well you truly know your neighbors." —Hypable

From the Publisher

"An incredible debut by Emily Ross. The book’s characters were gripping and intense, the ‘60s setting was gorgeously written, and the suspense kept me up late into the night, my heart racing, almost afraid to turn the pages."

YA Interrobang

11/01/2015
Gr 7 Up—With the tone and pacing of free verse poetry counterbalanced by the taut suspense of a mysterious disappearance, this debut effort transports readers back to 1965 through the voice of 15-year-old Caroline. In the last days of summer, Caroline's sister Jessica sneaks out of the house to see her boyfriend and disappears. As the police force's search for her sister stalls, the protagonist begins to investigate on her own with the assistance of Jessica's boyfriend. As her parents try to drown their grief in alcohol and angry accusations, Caroline reaches out to a world of hippies, druggies, drop-outs, and drifters in hopes of finding Jessica alive. Rather than finding her sister, she discovers that another missing girl has connections to Jessica and her friends. Can Caroline figure out who she can trust before she becomes the next victim of a serial killer? The brisk tempo and vividly described setting of this story will grab teen's attention from the opening pages. Caroline's viewpoint is at the heart of this novel, and Ross succeeds brilliantly in conveying the confusion, passion, trepidation, fearlessness, and terror that every 15-year-old can relate to. Fans of Lois Duncan will appreciate the gentle spine tingles offered here. VERDICT The power and beauty of the prose make this novel a standout that will be a positive addition to junior high and high school fiction collections.—Kelly Kingrey-Edwards, Blinn Junior College, Brenham, TX

School Library Journal

2015-10-06
A girl experiences firsthand the clash between innocence and knowledge in a relatively innocent place and time: Tucson in the 1960s. Jess is daring, confrontational, a rebel—everything her younger sister, Caroline, is not. But when Jess goes missing after sneaking out of the house, Caroline needs to know what happened. Maybe it's all because of Jess' unfinished request to Caroline before she left: "Would you.…" Amid a simplistic web of questions and evidence, suspicion of course falls on Jess' boyfriend, the magnetic, brooding Tony. Caroline wants to believe Tony's story, wants to believe him when Tony promises her that together they will go to California and find Jess. In a facile transformation, Caroline turns herself into Caro, a girl Tony's type, a girl like her older sister. Yet when the body of another missing girl is discovered—a girl who also had a connection with Tony—Caroline is left to wonder whom to trust: Tony or herself. Caroline's narrative voice is flat and unconvincingly naïve, and together with the clumsy juxtaposition of Jess' disappearance against continuing normalcy, it mutes the novel's innate suspense. Tony is never convincing as the villain, and secondary characters fail to come to life. Barely keeps the reader turning the pages until the lackluster ending. (Historical thriller. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews