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Eric
Marier
Genre: 
Young Adult

NEW ADULT:  Sam Henderson is an odd guy...slightly nerdy, not really book smart, always on the outskirts of the party, looking in. Since graduating high school, he dropped out of college and started his own business, which is on the cusp of success. He is invited to housesit an investor's spooky old mansion, and since he is recently homeless, Sam moves in despite the lurking, disapproving servants. When he encounters an old classmate (and crush) Michelle, who is in need of some quiet space, he invites her to stay in the Gothic house also to get away from the world and her troubles.

This was an uncommon and sometimes unclear romance. There are old loves and new loves, wannabe loves and disdainful hookups taking place. Above all, though, it is a wonderfully introspective, darkly intuitive look into the mind of these young people. They are at the stage of life in which they are finding their true direction and leaving all of childhood behind. Some of this is forced upon them as they deal with big life lessons such as death and great achievement. They learn that as you get older, appearances don't matter as they did when you were younger. It's the friendships that you make and keep, and the hardships that you endure and overcome that make you who you are. Amid the New Adult feel of the book is a mysterious paranormal element that only comes in around the halfway point of the story, and felt a little out of place. This is a great story for the eclectic reader with an open mind to an undefined plot with extremely unconventional characters.

 

Nicole Duke