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The Opposite of Hallelujah by Anna Jarzab (Review #41)

"Caro Mitchell considers herself an only child - and she likes it that way. After all, her much older sister, Hannah, left home eight years ago, and Caro barely remembers her. So when Caro's parents drop the bombshell news that Hannah is returning to live with them, Caro feels as if an interloper is crashing her family. To her, Hannah's a total stranger, someone who haunts their home with her meek and withdrawn presence, and who refuses to talk about her life and why she went away. Caro can't understand why her parents cut her sister so much slack, and why they're not pushing for answers.

Unable to understand Hannah, Caro resorts to telling lies about her mysterious reappearance. But when those lies alienate Caro's new boyfriend and put her on the outs with her friends and her parents, she seeks solace from an unexpected source. And when she unearths a clue about Hannah's past - one that could save Hannah from the dark secret that possesses her - Caro begins to see her sister in a whole new light."

Review:
This book was interesting. I don't really know how to respond, to be honest. It was good, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. The story starts off with this girl who has a complete stranger coming into her home and just invades her family. So, of course, she doesn't know how to respond and gets angry and acts out. At first I sympathized with her, but there was a point where she just took things to a whole new level. A "spoiled brat" level and it was difficult to cooperate with the character's rationale. The romance bit was definitely unique and I liked it. However, Hannah's "problem" that the family didn't figure out till the end was extremely obvious and it amazed me (I'm not sure if it was in a good way) how the Caro seemed to blow off all the signs. I came around, finally, when Pawel shoved it in her face and made her come to terms with it all. So the good weighs out the bad for this book. I'm feeling pretty indifferent about it. Henceforth, I neither recommend this book, nor do I cast it out.



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