Gardenia - Book Review

Gardenia
by Kelsey Sutton

What is it about:
Seventeen-year-old Ivy Erickson has one month, twenty-seven days, four hours, fifty-nine minutes, and two seconds to live.

Ever since she was a child, Ivy has been able to see countdown clocks over everyone's heads indicating how long before they will die. She can't do anything about anyone else’s, nor can she do anything about her own, which will hit the zero hour before she even graduates high school.

A life cut short is tragic, but Ivy does her best to make the most of it. She struggles emotionally with her deep love for on-again, off-again boyfriend Myers Patripski. She struggles financially, working outside of school to help her mom and her sister. And she struggles to cope with the murder of her best friend, another life she couldn't save. Vanessa Donovan was killed in the woods, and everyone in town believes Ivy had something to do with it.

Then more girls start disappearing. Ivy tries to put her own life in order as she pieces together the truth of who ended Vanessa's. To save lives and for her own sanity.

The clock is always ticking. And Ivy's only hope is to expose the truth before it runs out completely.

What did I think of it:
After reading and loving Some Quiet Place I bought two more books by Kelsey Sutton. Of the two I first picked up Gardenia.

And this is a cool read.

Some Quiet Place was a book that was both suspenseful and atmospheric. Gardenia isn't as atmospheric, but the suspense it racked up high. Ivy can see how long people have left to live and can see her own time running out.

I mostly liked Ivy. She's trying to deal with her coming death, her guilt over the death of her best friend, and on top of that a killer might be on the loose. It's her misguided notion she has to show her family how to live their lives that irked me though. But that aside, I was hooked from the start and had to keep reading to find out if Ivy would solve the murder of her best friend and if she could beat the clock.

All in all this is a well written, suspenseful, and cool read. I will pick up another book by Sutton soon.

Why should you read it:
It's a suspenseful YA read.


Buy from bookdepository