Review: Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

From Back Cover: The small town of Cryer's Cross is rocked by tragedy when an unassuming freshman disappears without a trace. Kendall Fletcher wasn't that friendly with the missing girl, but the angst wreaks havoc on her OCD-addled brain. When a second student goes missing - someone close to Kendall's heart - the community is in an uproar. Caught in a downward spiral of fear and anxiety, Kendall's not sure she can hold it together. When she starts hearing the voices of the missing, calling out to her and pleading for help, she fears she's losing her grip on reality.. But when she finds messages scratched in a desk at school - messages that could only be from the missing student who used to sit there - Kendall decides that crazy or not, she'd never forgive herself if she didn't act on her suspicions. Something's not right in Cryer's Cross - and Kendall's about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried.

My Rating: 4.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: I was a little hesitant to start reading Cryer’s Cross by Lisa McMann since I didn’t really like Fade and especially, Gone. However, Cryer’s Cross was a quick and creepy read that was hard to put down!

The protagonist, Kendall, was very well-developed and was easy to relate to because she’s an average girl. She helps out her parents on their farm, plays soccer and aspires to get out of her small town. But, Kendall also has OCD and the reader can clearly see how it affects her daily life. What I found really interesting was that despite all the negative effects of having OCD, McMann ultimately chose to make Kendall’s OCD beneficial for her.    

To be honest, I was actually expecting Cryer’s Cross to be scary but I don’t think that’s an accurate description of it. For about half of the story, the only really frightening thing about Cryer’s Cross was that two kids had mysteriously disappeared in a very small town and the passages of “We” that were interspersed between what was happening to Kendall. The pace of the book though picks up when Kendall becomes the next target of “We” – I managed to figure out who “We” was before Kendall – and the tone becomes more ominous. In the end, chilling and disturbing are probably better words to describe Cryer’s Cross. 

Cryer's Cross was released in February 2011 by Simon Pulse.

Comments About the Cover: Call me slow, but I couldn’t figure out what the picture was initially (it’s a desk and chair – the overhead view threw me off). After figuring it out though, I love that the title is inscribed into the desk since in Kendall’s school, a desk full of messages has a very important role to play in the story. I also really like the eerie feel of the cover because of the dark colours that are used.