6 January 2016

Review #311: From Where I Watch You by Shannon Grogan



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


"There is a fine line between serendipity and stalking."


----David Coleman, an English sports commentator and TV presenter



Shannon Grogan, an American author, pens her debut YA thriller, From Where I Watch You, that unfolds a delicious story of about a young teenager with a passion for baking being stalked like crazy, that not only leaves her on a dangerous trail to find the identity of her stalker but also intrigues her to find out more about her dead elder sister's tragic death.






Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old Kara McKinley is about to realize her dream of becoming a professional baker. Beautifully designed and piped, her cookies are masterpieces, but also her ticket out of rainy Seattle—if she wins the upcoming national baking competition and its scholarship prize to culinary school in California. Kara can no longer stand the home where her family lived, laughed, and ultimately imploded after her mean-spirited big sister Kellen died in a drowning accident. Kara’s dad has since fled, and her mom has turned from a high-powered attorney into a nutty holy-rolling Christian fundamentalist peddling “Soul Soup” in the family cafĂ©. All Kara has left are memories of better times.

But the past holds many secrets, and they come to light as Kara faces a secret terror. Someone is leaving her handwritten notes. Someone who knows exactly where she is and what’s she’s doing. As they lead her to piece together the events that preceded Kellen’s terrible, life-changing betrayal years before, she starts to catch glimpses of her dead sister: an unwelcome ghost in filthy Ugg boots. If Kara doesn’t figure out who her stalker is, and soon, she could lose everything. Her chance of escape. The boy she’s beginning to love and trust. Even her life.



Kara, a high school teenager, has a passion for baking pastries, so much so that she wants to pursue her college degree from the world's best pastry school. Kara is a girl who loves to keep things to herself, despite having a best friend, and after her sister's death, that not only shook up her whole family but also her, she is trying hard to get herself out of her hometown, not only because of her die-hard-Jesus-follower mother, but because of the fact that someone is leaving her handwritten notes thus forcing her to confront her terrible secret from her past. But before it's too late, Kara decides to find out the real identity of her stalker. Will she be able to find out the truth?

Shannon's debut book, in short, is an exciting as well as gripping read and the book might not have done any justice in the genre of proper YA thriller, but it surely managed to creep me out most of the times. The story began with a slower pace that focuses on Kara'a goals to win a pastry competition while dealing with the ghost of her dead elder sister as well as with some creepy stalker notes. The story shuttles between the past and the present - the past which reflects Kara's childhood with her sister and the event that changed her life forever and the present which reflects Kara's teenage days spent dealing with love, crushes, stalker notes, baking, her dead sister's ghost. The story gathers momentum just when the author pulls her readers into the threshold of Kara's life.

The characters are intricately and perfectly etched out from real life characters highlighting their real problems, their flaws and their ambitions. Kara is an inspiring YA heroine who like every other 17-year old wants to own her problems all by herself. The supporting cast is also quite well-developed.

The writing style of the author is fantastic and the way the author engaged the minds of her readers with Kara's life is really brilliant. There are lots of parts of the book which gives a creepy feeling to the whole setting thus making the story quite enthralling. There is a bit of love drama or rather say a love triangle where Kara is torn between Charlie, her childhood pal, and Hayden, her college-boy-crush. The emotions poured into the story are quite apt as well as has the power to make the readers feel it.

So in a nutshell, this book is a page-turner and has been kept closer to reality with it's story line. And if you love baking, then this book is a must read for you.

Verdict: If you love appealing YA thrillers, then do give it a read.

Courtesy: Thanks to the author, Shannon Grogan, for giving me an opportunity to read and review her book.
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Author Info:
Shannon Grogan is a second grade teacher who writes at night (and while her kids are at ballet and baseball) in a small logging town east of Seattle. She holds degrees in education, and graphic design/Illustration. When she isn’t writing, she's baking, reading, watching scary movies, and wishing she were at the beach.
Visit her here


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