Review: Feral by Holly Schindler

Book Title: Feral

Author: Holly Schindler

Published Date: August 26th, 2014

Publisher: HarperTeen

Genre: YA Thriller

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Link: Amazon

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The Lovely Bones meets Black Swan in this haunting psychological thriller with twists and turns that will make you question everything you think you know.

It’s too late for you. You’re dead. Those words continue to haunt Claire Cain months after she barely survived a brutal beating in Chicago. So when her father is offered a job in another state, Claire is hopeful that getting out will offer her a way to start anew.

But when she arrives in Peculiar, Missouri, Claire feels an overwhelming sense of danger, and her fears are confirmed when she discovers the body of a popular high school student in the icy woods behind the school, surrounded by the town’s feral cats. While everyone is quick to say it was an accident, Claire knows there’s more to it, and vows to learn the truth about what happened. 

But the closer she gets to uncovering the mystery, the closer she also gets to realizing a frightening reality about herself and the damage she truly sustained in that Chicago alley….

Holly Schindler’s gripping story is filled with heart-stopping twists and turns that will keep readers guessing until the very last page.

Disclaimer: I received this book from HarperTeen via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

What a mind blowing, confusing, twisty book this turned out to be. I wasn't sure what to expect when I first started it and even now that I finished it I am still unsure of exactly what I read.

But I'm unsure in the best way possible. Because this book was confusing and I kept having a million and one questions and theories. It took me awhile to really get into the book and a couple times I contemplated not finishing it because it was taking so long for me to get into it. If I hadn't been looking forward to this book so much, i probably would have decided not to finish it.

But I'm so glad I stuck through it because it was totally worth it. The way Schindler used the cats in this story added an extra level of creepiness in it. Bonus being that I love cats so to see them featured so prominently in this book was an awesome treat. 

Claire Cain was a great main character. She was dealing with her attack in Chicago as best a person can deal with it. I loved that she had a father who was so present in her life. Usually in YA books, the father is AWOL or he's a total douche-canoe, so yay for good fathers. An added bonus was that he was a single dad. Those are featured even less often in YA, so kudos to Schindler for that. 

I really loved that Claire wanted to go into journalism and that he desire to work on certain projects wasn't hindered by a guy. She stayed focused on what she was trying to accomplish.

The only secondary character I really liked was Rich. Becca, Chas and Owen were overall pretty bland characters. I didn't feel like I got to know Becca, Chas or Owen very well throughout the story. There was definitely some lackluster character development here.

The ending was my favorite part. It was fast paced and totally creepy. It kept me guessing all the way to the end. Even when I thought things would end one way, I was wrong and things ended a completely different way. I give this book 4 stars. It did take me awhile to get into it and there was lackluster character development for the secondary characters. But definitely read this book if you like creepy stories that keep you guessing.