Snap - Carol Snow

Madison Sabatini thought she knew who she was: an almost-sophomore with a bright future. The newest photographer on her school paper. A shopaholic with great hair and a fabulous wardrobe. Then, in a flash, everything changed. Now she's stuck in Sandyland, a gloomy beach town in the middle of nowhere, living with her parents in a crappy hotel "suite." Instead of spending the summer with her friends at home, she's hanging out with pink-haired Delilah, an artist who works in a shop called Psychic Photo, and a skater boy named Duncan who's totally not her type. Except, maybe he is...Determined to make the best of things, Madison throws herself into her one passion: photography. But when strange figures start appearing in her pictures—people who weren't there when she snapped the shots, people who are later reported dead—she begins to question everything about who she is...and who she wishes she could be.

It only took me a day to finish this book. It is a quick read, but can be boring in some areas. Over all I'd give this book a 2/5. I like the top half of the cover of this book, but the bottom half just doesn't make any sense to me. I know that it's supposed to be Madison, the main character, but it doesn't show much about anything in the book. I didn't really attach myself with this book, and I didn't connect with Madison, which might be why I gave this book a lower rating than most. Overall it was a good story-line, but I don't think that it was executed properly.

The main character in this book is Madison Sabatini. She is 15 and expects everything to come to her on a silver platter. This aspect of the character annoyed me so much, I almost stopped reading this book entirely. As the story progressed, Madison's snootiness skyrocketed. I found myself internally complaining about her each time I turned the page. It is because of the annoyances of this character that I believe that Carol Snow captured the voice of a privileged teenage girl moving to an almost run down city perfectly. Madison is ignorant to the other side of the fence, and this aspect of her both makes and breaks this book.

My favorite part of this book would have to be Duncan. He is a mysterious character from the start. Mainly because Duncan isn't his legal name, but a name that he has decided to go with. Duncan is protective of the people that he cares about, because he doesn't have much. He has moved around so much throughout his life, and many people have left him, so he doesn't feel like he can completely be himself around others. Duncan knows how to make the best of any situation, and strikes me as an optimist.

Personally, I didn't like this book much. But, those of younger ages might fall in love with it. I would recommend this book to people starting from the age of 12 and up.

Read on!
-Leah