Solitary was pitched to me as Travis's take on Twinkle by the author himself. I took a brief two-week class with him through my school in January (which I loved), and one of the things he did was give away a free book to anyone who wanted it. After we chatted after the class for a while, he said that I would love this book.
Boy, he was right. I was hooked on it before I was even done with the first chapter. I couldn't put it down. I was, quite unfortunately, interrupted and forced to go to bed in the middle of it. I was not pleased by that, to say the least. Anyway, when I finally did get a chance to finish it, I couldn't put it down again.
Chris Buckley is a normal kid who moves to a town called Solitary in North Carolina after his parents split up. There, he meets a mysterious girl named Jocelyn who is the most beautiful creature he has ever laid eyes on. Their relationship has a very interesting dynamic - one moment they're friends, then the next she pushes him away. As Chris becomes more involved with her, things start happening. For one thing, he decides to go down this hole in the neighbor's yard. Not a good idea, Chris. Suddenly, a creepy voice floats out of the darkness, and Chris bolts because it scares the heck out of him. Much later: new creepy hole beneath the cabin. The creepy voice returns, saying 'I see you, Chris.' It scared me half to death, but in a good way.
Between said dark hole and creepy/scary/probably demonic voice and something else that happens, I was scared half to death. I have never been so scared after reading a book. The weird thing? I loved it. I don't know why, but this seemed like a good kind of scared. I wanted to know what was going on. I wanted to know what was happening and I was really mad at Travis when the book ended because it just wasn't fair.
I found Chris's narration easy to read and very easy to get into. It was like I was actually Chris. I felt his pain when he was upset and I could easily relate to everything he felt. He was a great narrator and an awesome character in general. I really felt bad for him because he was really the only responsible one in the house with his mom acting as she was...which was probably because of the divorce. Then there's his missing uncle. It's like he disappeared without a trace. Yet another thing for Chris to wonder about as he has to get used to a new town, new friends, and people acting weird.
Then there's Gus. He was a good character and a believable bully. I didn't like him because of that, but I think he really made Chris's situation really realistic.
I really liked Jocelyn, too. She was another really great character and she was really sympathetic. I really felt bad for her as things went on and how things went down as time went on. Her relationship with Chris was really well done and she seemed very real.
Overall, I really loved this book. The plot was amazing and left me hanging on every word. I fell in love with the characters and I want to know what's going to happen next. This book easily rates five stars out of five for me.
Yes, it's better than Twilight.
And now, I'm going to go bother my mom to make an Amazon order. I want Gravestone...
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