Red Heart Tattoo by Lurlene McDaniel

Summary:

At 7:45 a.m. on the day before Thanksgiving break, a bomb goes off at Edison High. Nine people die instantly. Fifteen are critically injured. Twenty-two suffer less severe injuries. And one is blinded. Those who survive, struggle to cope with the loss and destruction. All must find new meaning for their lives as a result of something they may never understand.

Lurlene McDaniel's signature expertise and finesse in dealing with issues of violence, death, and physical as well as emotional trauma in the lives of teens is immediate and heartrending.

Summary taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 224 pages

Source: NetGalley ARC

Publication Date: July 24th 2012

I love this author! I first discovered her when I was 11 and I found a copy of her book that I inherited from my older sister, ever since then I've loved her books so when I saw that the fabulous people at NetGalley had this one available I had to get it!

However my elation was short lived. In the past few years Lurlene has been straying further and further from the style of writing she used to use. I know that times are changing but I miss the way she used to write her old books.

Don't get me wrong I still love her writing, and I did enjoy this book. But, for me it fell short in several ways. The characters seemed flat, especially Morgan. I thought her character was very one dimensional which sucked since she is one of the main characters. The story was slow, and it felt like it was typed by someone trying to hard to write a good book and I also didn't like how the book was switching back and forth from Morgan to Roth's POVs they didn't flow seamlessly into each other as well as her other books have.

Still it was an enjoyable read, it was actually surprising to me that it dealt with a school bombing. I don't often come across that stuff in YA or Juvenile fiction. I thought that while there were some weaknesses in terms of the write the story over all was a neat concept. Like always Lurlene delivered another heart wrenching tale even if it lacked the strength to make me tear up a bit like her others have.

I think for me it'll take some more getting used to before I really embrace her new writing style but despite my thoughts on this book I still highly recommend it to people who love realistic YA fiction. The author may have fallen a tad bit short in my estimation in writing this book but it's still worth the read. So mark it on your calenders people!

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*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my free and honest review.

★ ★ ★1/2