Feral

Feral by Holly Schindler

Publisher: Harper Teen

August 2014

ISBN: 978-0-06-222020-2

Pages: 432

Contemporary, Young Adult

Chicago, Illinois & Peculiar, Missouri

Claire Cain is trying to deal with the after affects of a brutal beating she took months ago in Chicago.  She is haunted by the words she keeps hearing “it’s too late for you.  You’re dead.”  Now her father has been offered a job in another state and Claire hopes that means a new start for her. 

When Claire arrives in Peculiar what she ends up finding is an overwhelming sense of danger.  That is confirmed when she discovers the body of a popular high school student in the icy woods behind the school.  A body that is surrounded by the feral cats that occupy the town.  Claire is determined to find the truth because she is sure there is more to the accident than meets the eye.  The closer she gets to the truth though the closer she gets to discovering more about herself.

This is a story that will take the reader on one very wild ride.  While there are some romantic elements in the story this is more of suspense story.  Reading how Claire is trying to cope with what happened to her really give the reader a prospective of what others that have dealt with in a similar situation and really makes readers think.  It manages to do this with a story that will keep readers on the edge of their seats wondering just what is happening in the town of Peculiar.  This takes some great twists and turns while keeping the reader guessing just what happened to the dead high school student. When the truth comes to light it makes for an excellent ending to a story that keeps turning everything on its head.  This proves to be a hard book to put down even with the heavy subject that is covered.  A subject that is handled in such a way that it doesn’t overwhelm the reader and makes for story that will be hard to forget even after the reader finishes the book.

I give this one 5 red roses

LRH