Made For You by Melissa Marr
Eva Tilling comes from a wealthy, influential family and reigns supreme at school - she is well thought of and has expectations to live up to - nothing ever changes for her, but that’s just how things are in obsolete Jessup: nothing unusual or unexpected ever happens…
| Made For You by Melissa Marr | |
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| Category: Teens | |
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Reviewer: Mollie Randtoul
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| Summary: There is something so dauntingly brilliant about that chill you get when all the details click together in their formidable puzzle - I would recommend ‘Made For You’ to anyone who likes to be kept on the edge of their seat in constant suspense! | |
| Buy? yes | Borrow? yes |
| Pages: 336 | Date: March 2015 |
| Publisher: Harper Collins Children’s Books | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-0007584208 | |
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Eva, upholding her position of queen bee, feels obliged to attend as many social events as possible, and after a typical high school house party with her equally-reputable clique, Eva finds herself alone and unguarded in the dead of night. But what could possibly go wrong? This is uneventful Jessup, after all.
With a sudden twist of events, Eva wakes up in hospital as the victim of a hit-and-run - the event has left her plagued by the ability to foresee people’s deaths and now she must understand who in the sleepy town of Jessup would want to hurt her, because the killer will stop at nothing to get what they want…
Marr has not missed a beat when dropping clues; keeping a secret from both reader and characters whilst actually writing from the killer’s perspective, she's still managed to maintain the element of mystery. I had expected with so much insight that I would have predetermined who the killer was, however, Marr has concealed the information and revealed it not a moment too soon!
The story is told through three characters: Eva, Grace (Eva’s best friend) and 'Judge', the criminal. The three are utterly distinct, and all of them bring something different to the storyline - you are not stuck in the same head for too long, the opinions and perspectives vary to keep you absorbed. Judge’s viewpoint was utterly enthralling - there is something so intriguing about being inside a psychopath’s mind; feeling their obsession and obscurity is so eerie!
Our minds are overstimulated with stereotypical mystery dramas - Marr has put a blindfold on that expectation and presented us with a very different idea: the novel is a mixture of romance, horror, comedy and suspense - it is a web of mystery we are left to find the centre of. Furthermore, I felt as though all these aspects belonged, although the romance is very subtle and can easily be overlooked due to the mystery being so relentlessly intense. Similarly, the secondary characters are - though amusingly realistic and very relatable - not particularly memorable, with simple personalities; however, I liked that Eva was unique and unchanged by her social standing - she is benevolent to those lower on the hierarchy than herself. The relationship between Eva and her boyfriend escalates rapidly, but I loved the connection built between Eva and her parents, and how their bonds strengthen throughout the story - this makes the story even more unusual because not many teen books focus on the parents’ portrayal.
During the story, Eva is put through a rather traumatising set of events. The book is respectful to those who may have been in similar situations - for example, our protagonist suffers from permanent injury: Marr is honest and does not romanticise the situation. Eva reacts like you would expect anyone to, given the state of affairs.
My favourite type of ending is a plot twist, and Made For You did not disappoint! I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black or The Diviners by Libba Bray.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Made For You by Melissa Marr at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Made For You by Melissa Marr at Amazon.com.
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