Dead to You is the story of Ethan De Wilde, who was abducted from his front yard when he was seven and is reunited with his family when he is sixteen. Ethan has no memory of his childhood, his parents, his younger brother, or the kids who were his friends before his abduction. He had no clue he was even abducted until the idea came to him one day and he began to search missing children on a computer at a library. After being reunited with the De Wildes, they and Ethan struggle to acclimate back into the old family unit.
The story has an interesting premise, but is poorly executed. The author chose to tell the story through Ethan's first person perspective, which greatly limits the narrative and makes all of the other characters in the book one dimensional, especially his parents. The author also failed at creating the right voice for the character. Ethan is a sixteen year old boy who has lived on the streets for two years and had a bad childhood. But not once does this come across in Ethan's voice. The entire narrative feels more like it's being narrated by a girl from an affluent family instead than a boy who has lived on the streets and had to fight for his life. The author also fails to capture any of the street patois Ethan would obviously have picked up on the streets. I've met eight year-olds with more attitude than Ethan De Wilde. This is the primary reason I gave the book only one star. The author presents a story as being told directly by a sixteen year old, tough, male but never even comes close to accomplishing this.
Then there is the "twist" ending. To me, it wasn't much of a twist as the author telegraphs it almost from the beginning of the story, and drops enough hints throughout the give it away. Ethan's strange form of amnesia being the most obvious. And as another reviewer stated, the ending is way too abrupt. Things are going along, then boom, "twist" and it's over with no resolution.
And finally, there is Ethan himself. He isn't very likeable or sympathetic; he's whiny at times and a tad creepy.
It's very unfortunate because it's an interesting book and the author has an interesting voice, only it's the wrong one for this story. I'd actually check out some of her other work if like Dead to You, I had access to them for free (i.e. local library).
The story has an interesting premise, but is poorly executed. The author chose to tell the story through Ethan's first person perspective, which greatly limits the narrative and makes all of the other characters in the book one dimensional, especially his parents. The author also failed at creating the right voice for the character. Ethan is a sixteen year old boy who has lived on the streets for two years and had a bad childhood. But not once does this come across in Ethan's voice. The entire narrative feels more like it's being narrated by a girl from an affluent family instead than a boy who has lived on the streets and had to fight for his life. The author also fails to capture any of the street patois Ethan would obviously have picked up on the streets. I've met eight year-olds with more attitude than Ethan De Wilde. This is the primary reason I gave the book only one star. The author presents a story as being told directly by a sixteen year old, tough, male but never even comes close to accomplishing this.
Then there is the "twist" ending. To me, it wasn't much of a twist as the author telegraphs it almost from the beginning of the story, and drops enough hints throughout the give it away. Ethan's strange form of amnesia being the most obvious. And as another reviewer stated, the ending is way too abrupt. Things are going along, then boom, "twist" and it's over with no resolution.
And finally, there is Ethan himself. He isn't very likeable or sympathetic; he's whiny at times and a tad creepy.
It's very unfortunate because it's an interesting book and the author has an interesting voice, only it's the wrong one for this story. I'd actually check out some of her other work if like Dead to You, I had access to them for free (i.e. local library).
