It's OK, I'll wait.
The Outliers - Kimberly McCreight
From the New York Times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia comes a fast-paced teen series where one girl learns that in a world of intrigue, betrayal, and deeply buried secrets, it is vital to trust your instincts.
It all starts with a text: Please, Wylie, I need your help. Wylie hasn’t heard from Cassie in over a week, not since their last fight. But that doesn’t matter. Cassie’s in trouble, so Wylie decides to do what she has done so many times before: save her best friend from herself.
This time it’s different, though. Instead of telling Wylie where she is, Cassie sends cryptic clues. And instead of having Wylie come by herself, Jasper shows up saying Cassie sent him to help. Trusting the guy who sent Cassie off the rails doesn’t feel right, but Wylie has no choice but to ignore her gut instinct and go with him.
But figuring out where Cassie is goes from difficult to dangerous, fast. As Wylie and Jasper head farther and farther north into the dense woods of Maine, Wylie struggles to control her growing sense that something is really wrong. What isn’t Cassie telling them? And could finding her be only the beginning?
In this breakneck tale, New York Times bestselling author Kimberly McCreight brilliantly chronicles a fateful journey that begins with a single decision—and ends up changing everything.
I'm going to start with the negatives, just to get them out of the way. First, Wylie is kind of a whack a doodle and I'm sorry, but I have such a hard time relating to people with such debilitating anxiety and general issues. Never mind the fact we spend so much time establishing the fact she's kind of a whack job yet SOMEHOW, she miraculously pulls her crap together to get through the rest of the book? Sure, she has anxious moments, is on the edge of falling apart, but she never really does and it's like- why couldn't you do that to get to school? I mean, you're functioning pretty well considering the danger you're in but school or a visit to your therapist's office is just TOO much? So that's not very believable and pretty eye-roll worthy. Secondly, can we talk about how annoying it is that teenagers in books like this are just so incredibly stupid? They just think they know the solution to everything and that also is very annoying. Thirdly, I'm not sure I totally get the whole scientific study of emotional intelligence aspect of the book but considering this is now a series (which I didn't know when I started it), I'm assuming we are going to learn more in future books so it's not only an interesting aspect of the book but it starts to make sense.
So that's the boos.
Let's talk about the yay-ness of this book. First, this book is one you cannot put down. I tried, so I could go to the bathroom, but then I was at such a great part and so I managed to go to the bathroom while holding a hard cover book. Take THAT, e-reader losers. I really could not stop reading this and the entire time I'm trying desperately to figure out who is who, who is really who, what the hell is going on, and I started to feel like Wylie. Like the obvious pieces are right there, we just don't know how they fit into the greater puzzle.
Once Wylie finds Cassie, I feel like the book kind of stunted a little bit, we spend a lot of time just at this weird camp in Maine and it almost feels like the author isn't 100% sure where she wants to go with the story but then out of NOWHERE, all hell breaks loose. It all breaks loose, and it's chaotic and awesome, and then I realized I'm almost at the end of the book. With no possible way this is all going to get wrapped up inside of 30 pages or so. But the ending?
You guys.
I had to go to the bathroom again and my stomach absolutely dropped.
Why am I having to wait? Why do authors do this to me? Why do I have to wait to find out what the hell happens? Is Jasper OK? What's going to happen to Wylie? Who are these people? What is even going on in the world?!
*calming breath*
I just... this book was so good and unexpectedly what I needed. I've been on a romance novel kick as of late and you know I love that. But every once in awhile you need something that makes you fly through it and weigh the pros/cons of a bladder infection. Some books are worth it and this was one of them. I mean, can you give higher praise? This book is worthy of a bladder infection.
Also cool? It's already been optioned for film by Lionsgate with Mandeville and Reese Witherspoon's Pacific Standard to produce. Obviously, you know my rear end will be in line for a ticket. The book itself becomes available May 3, 2016 but you can pre-order it now on Amazon as well as Barnes & Noble. This is going to be a book I'm recommending to everyone who likes a good "what the hell is happening" kind of book, for sure. In the meantime, you can check out author Kimberly McCreight's website and Twitter for information on her other books, too!
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