Wednesday 9 December 2020

Conversion - Book Review

 


Conversion
by Katherine Howe

What is it about:
It’s senior year at St. Joan’s Academy, and school is a pressure cooker. College applications, the battle for valedictorian, deciphering boys’ texts: Through it all, Colleen Rowley and her friends are expected to keep it together. Until they can’t.
 
First it’s the school’s queen bee, Clara Rutherford, who suddenly falls into uncontrollable tics in the middle of class. Her mystery illness quickly spreads to her closest clique of friends, then more students and symptoms follow: seizures, hair loss, violent coughing fits. St. Joan’s buzzes with rumor; rumor blossoms into full-blown panic.
 
Soon the media descends on Danvers, Massachusetts, as everyone scrambles to find something, or someone, to blame. Pollution? Stress? Or are the girls faking? Only Colleen—who’s been reading The Crucible for extra credit—comes to realize what nobody else has. Inspired by true events—from seventeenth-century colonial life to the halls of a modern-day high school, this is the mystery that raises the question, what’s really happening to the girls at St. Joan’s? 

What did I think of it:
I loved Howe's The House of Velvet and Glass so that's why I put this book on my wishlist and got it as a present back in 2016. I only just now picked it up.

And this is a really cool read.

I loved reading about the Catholic school Colleen goes to and was eager to find out what was going on. The story switches between Colleen, who describes what happens at her school in 2012, and Ann, who in 1706 confesses to what transpired during the Salem witch trials. 

I was kept guessing as to what was going on, and kept reading to see if Colleen would figure things out. The ending was very satisfying in my opinion, and I'll definitely will read more by Howe in the future.

Why should you read it:
It's a really intriguing YA read 


No comments: