The pervasive feeling of dread builds to a shocking twist.Ī lush and darkly twisted modern fairy tale.Ī devastating tale of greed and secrets springs from the summer that tore Cady’s life apart.Ĭady Sinclair’s family uses its inherited wealth to ensure that each successive generation is blond, beautiful and powerful. Iris’ smart and assured narration easily carries a fast-paced story entwining themes of grief and loss with elements of folklore and some very inventive body horror. Their search takes on a new urgency when they find a decomposing body blooming with white flowers in Grey’s apartment and they are pursued by a murderous man wearing a horned bull’s skull mask. When Grey, now an internationally famous fashion designer and model, goes missing, Iris and Vivi, with help from Grey’s Korean British boyfriend, Tyler, set out to find her and the truth behind their disappearance. Since then, the story of now 17-year-old Iris and her older sisters has been like catnip to online sleuths, and their ethereal beauty and uncanny ability to bend people to their wills and intoxicate them with dangerous desire add to their mystique.
However, their father soon began to believe that they were not really his daughters, a conviction that led to his suicide. Despite their altered appearances, their parents were elated to return home to London with them. They sported identical hook-shaped scars on their necks. Their dark hair turned white, and their blue eyes became black. When Iris, Vivi, and Grey returned, they couldn’t remember anything of their ordeal. Ten years ago, the three Hollow sisters disappeared from an Edinburgh street while on holiday. This astonishing book will generate much needed discussion. Throughout, readers get a vivid picture of Will and the people in his life, all trying to cope with the circumstances of their environment while expressing the love, uncertainty, and hope that all humans share. Reynolds masterfully weaves in textured glimpses of the supporting characters. There is considerable symbolism, including the 15 bullets in the gun and the way the elevator rules parallel street rules.
The structure of the novel heightens the tension, as each stop of the elevator brings a new challenge until the narrative arrives at its taut, ambiguous ending. Told in free-verse poems, this is a raw, powerful, and emotional depiction of urban violence.
As each “ghost” speaks, Will realizes how much of his own story has been unknown to him and how intricately woven they are. They also force Will to face the questions he has about his plan. As he travels down on the elevator, the door opens on certain floors, and Will is confronted with a different figure from his past, each a victim of gun violence, each important in his life. Though the African-American teen has never held one, Will leaves his apartment with his brother’s gun tucked in his waistband. After 15-year-old Will sees his older brother, Shawn, gunned down on the streets, he sets out to do the expected: the rules dictate no crying, no snitching, and revenge.
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