Choker by Elizabeth Woods

Choker

Elizabeth Woods

Simon & Schuster BFYR

Released January 4, 2011

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 and tries to avoid the popular girls who, after an embarrassing incident in the cafeteria, endlessly torture her, calling her Choker. But mostly she spends her time watching Ethan Gray from a distance, wishing he would finally notice her.

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 the next thing she knows, she's getting invited to parties and flirting with Ethan. Best of all, she can talk about everything with her BFF.

But just as quickly as Cara's life comes together, it starts to unravel. A girls 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 while Cara's at school. You're supposed to trust your best friend no matter what... but what if she turns into a total stranger?

GoodReads

When I finished this book, wow. I just kind of sat there and thought about it. I love when books do that! I kind of predicted the ending, but I loved watching it unravel itself. There were a lot of things I wasn’t expecting at all along the way and I literally gasped at a couple parts. This book isn’t scary in the horror sense. It is a thriller/mystery and some parts are definitely creepy, even though there isn’t anything paranormal about it. I think it would make a great movie. But the movie wouldn’t be better than the book, of course.

I liked the writing style. I think it flowed well. I would have liked to see this in first-person narrative rather than third-person, but putting the ending into consideration I can see why third-person was a good choice. I liked Cara’s character because she surprised me in some parts and that made me interested in her. Zoe’s character also kept me interested because of all the mystery surrounding her. I also liked Cara’s crush Ethan, but I wish he had been in the book more.

When I’m not reading paranormal, I love books that focus on friendships, especially friendships between girls. Girls can be so evil! It’s truly fascinating. Unfortunately I’ve had a lot of experience with mean girls, so I can relate to these kinds of stories. But that’s one awesome thing about books, isn’t it? That you can read something on a page that reminds you of your own life, and for better or for worse at least you know you’re not alone. Then again, there are some parts of this book that I thankfully don’t relate to, but you’re going to have to read it to figure that out because it is a huge spoiler.

This book is also a 2011 author debut, so if you’re doing Kristi’s challenge (and even if you’re not) you should pick it up. And you’ll want to read it again to find all the little hints along the way.