Description
Temporarily out of stock
Title: That Night
Author: BALOG CYN
Format: PAPERBACK
Publication date: 15/05/2019
Imprint: SOURCEBOOKS
Price: $18.00
Publishing status: Active
Kirkus Reviews (04/01/2019):
A girl struggles to understand her boyfriend’s suicide–or to discover if it really was a suicide. For years, Hailey’s life has revolved around the charismatic stepbrothers across the street. Popular, handsome Kane’s her childhood best friend–they lost their virginity together as fumbling, awkward 15-year-olds. Then there’s his equally charismatic stepbrother–brilliant, talented, devout Declan–a gorgeous multiracial boy (Hailey fetishizes his ethnically ambiguous features). Told from Hailey’s point of view, the story jumps back and forth between the present–a year after Declan’s death–and flashbacks to her intense, romantic relationship with Declan and the lead-up to his death. Hailey, whose life has fallen to pieces since that night (after a lengthy in-patient stay, she’s self-harming and drinking), suffers from what her therapist calls selective retention, her brain refusing to process painful memories as suicide runs so counter to the Declan she knew. Then Declan’s mother finds a strange photograph and threatening message among his things. Soon, Hailey’s seeing hints of something suspicious everywhere she turns. Desperate, Hailey pushes hard, slowly unraveling relationships and secrets in her own memories. The vividly-drawn characters are consumed by the drama of their powerful feelings. The truth she finally finds is downright chilling. Most characters default to white. A twisted, engrossing tale of relationships intermingling to disaster. (Thriller/mystery. 15-18) COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks (05/01/2019):
Hailey moves on from Kane, her first sexual partner, by falling in love with Declan; meanwhile, Kane has started dating Hailey’s best friend, Luisa. As Hailey and Declan get closer, she learns that devoutly Catholic Declan is saving himself for their eventual marriage and presumes that she is too. When Declan is found dead by apparent suicide, Hailey’s mind erases her memory not only of the day he died but the weeks preceding it, so the narrative proceeds by the slow recovery of the events that led to Declan’s death, events that somehow resulted in her complete estrangement from Luisa and an overly protective, even stifling attitude from Kane. While the truth that eventually emerges could be shattering for both Hailey and Kane, Kane and eventually Hailey develop a mature perspective about the truth. The devastation of Declan is the real tragedy here, and it is underplayed by Hailey’s limited and emotionally stunted point of view, but sensitive readers will be able to fill in the blanks. The book gives full weight to the complexities and consequences of teenage sex and obsessive relationships, giving readers much food for thought. KC
ISBN: 9781492679042
Dimension: 210mm X 140mm