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Nearly Boswell #1
Nearly Gone
Keeping secrets is second nature to Nearly Boswell. Living in a trailer park outside Washington, DC, with a mom who works as an exotic dancer, she knows better than to share anything that would make her a target with her classmates. Only her best friends know about her obsession with the personal ads, and Nearly hasn't told anyone about the emotions she can taste when she brushes against someone's skin.
Then a serial killer goes on a murder spree and starts attacking students, leaving cryptic ads in the newspaper. Nearly might be the one person who can put all the clues together, and if she doesn't figure it out soon - she'll be next.
Big, dark, scary, and brilliantly plotted, Nearly Gone will leave you guessing until the very end.
Then a serial killer goes on a murder spree and starts attacking students, leaving cryptic ads in the newspaper. Nearly might be the one person who can put all the clues together, and if she doesn't figure it out soon - she'll be next.
Big, dark, scary, and brilliantly plotted, Nearly Gone will leave you guessing until the very end.
386 pages, Hardcover
First published March 25, 2014
242 people are currently reading
16081 people want to read
About the author
Elle Cosimano
16 books7,702 followersUSA TODAY and New York Times bestselling author, Edgar® Nominee, Bram Stoker® Nominee, & ITW Thriller Award winner.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 848 reviews
March 31, 2014
If I’d spent more time studying instead of chasing after a boy, we wouldn’t be here.Well, then!
This book makes me angry. I'm getting pretty damn sick of these books that tells girls that it's ok to love and trust a potential killer/sociopath if he secretly (very, very secretly) has a heart of gold. It tells the reader that it's fine to forgive every fucking thing stalker/lover boy does if, you know, he's just doing it for your own fucking good. What the fucking kind of victim-blaming apologetic bullshittery is this? This is NOT ok. What kind of backward message is this sending to society's young women?! I AVOID New Adult because of this, and here it is in my YA!
Why is the main character even tempted to fucking trust potential-killer in the first place? Oh, this is YA, so naturally there's going to be hidden deeeeeeeepths to him, but whatever happens to the "fight or flight" reaction when a person comes into contact with someone dangerous? Run away first. Don't trust him because you know, he might be misunderstood. Think of your own safety. Don't leave anything to chance because I can tell you that 90% of the time, a first impression is correct, and I hate the books that send the message that it's fine to put up with fucking stalker behavior and abuse and alpha-male asshattery if he's a fixer-upper project who will turn into the emo-tattooed-pierced-Prince Charming of your dream if you just let yourself get walked over for long enough. If you just seek to understand his feeeeeeeeeelings deep enough.
The main character in this book is named Nearly and she is nearly fucking intolerable. This book's plot is a series of unfortunate decisions. It is the journey of how a promising, brilliant young woman with a shot at a $25,000 chemistry college scholarship turns into a motherfucking idiot. She throws away all her chances at a decent future to chase a shadowy unicorn of a serial killer (and getting herself in legal trouble), while becoming involved in the middle of a truly clichéd love triangle (ok, love square) between her beloved, wonderful childhood best friend and a guy who's practically a fucking serial killer himself.
I muttered an apology, but the guy just shoved me aside, growling, “Watch it.” Then he kicked my books out of reach with a heavy black boot and walked away.
“People say he killed someone.”
Not only is Nearly nearly stupid enough to ruin all her chances, there's also the victim blaming. I thought you were a smart girl, Nearly.
“It wasn’t his fault. I was the one responsible.”OH, IT WASN'T HIS FAULT THAT HE SEXUALLY ASSAULTED YOU IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE SCHOOL? Allow me to clarify, this is the event that "wasn't his fault."
I couldn’t let Reece go back to jail for something that was my fault. He’d only reacted because I’d provoked him. My behavior hadn’t left him any choice.
Reece’s mouth pressed hard against mine. My protests muffled against his tightly closed lips.Oh, please do tell me again how it's your fault for provoking him when he is forcing you into an unwanted kiss? Please, do tell me again how it's YOUR FAULT for provoking him when he fucking slams you into a locker and forces a kiss on you in front of the school?
His hands tangled in my hair, pulling me into him before I could say another word. He tried to kiss me again and I bit down hard. I slapped him hard across the face.
Reece stumbled and grunted, pushing me into a wall of lockers and pinning me with his body. His hands tangled in my hair, pulling me into him before I could say another word. He tried to kiss me again and I bit down hard.And then to make up a story about how it's your fault.
“I wanted him to notice me,” I said, looking at the principal through lowered lashes, trying to gauge his reaction. “So I tried changing my hair and wearing different clothes. It didn’t work, so I did something stupid. I practically attacked him in front of a million people.” I cringed. It wasn’t entirely a lie.What the fuck kind of victim-blaming apologist bullshit is this? Why are we making excuses for this boy? Why is this ever, ever ok?
The summary of this book claims to be for fans of the TV series Bones and Fringe. I love Bones and I would not wish this book on my worst enemy, because it is terrible. The investigation is hardly there, it is supposed to be a "psychic" book because the main character can feeeeeeeeel things through her touch. Don't expect much of that, the only things she feels and senses with her psychic touch is how much she really loves potential serial killer suspect.
"Touch me.” He took my sleeve and drew my hand to his chest. The damp shirt clung hot to his skin. It rose and fell fast with his breath....Bones? Fringe? No.
Slowly, I slid my hand up over his collar, and spread my fingers over his bare skin. His pulse thrummed hard. My heart raced with his fear and the rush of his desire.
The Summary: Nearly Boswell has a hard life. Her father abandoned Nearly and her mother to a life of misery. Her mother makes ends meet as a stripper, there is never any money, they can barely make the rent. Nearly's only hope of getting out of this town and into college is to work hard, study hard, and win a prestigious Chemistry Scholarship. Despite her father's betrayal, Nearly constantly scans the Missed Connection section of the newspaper for potential messages from him. She clings onto the hope that he will return, while completely disregarding her mother, whom she refers to as "Mona."
“Don’t you ever wonder where he is?” I asked, tossing my own hope at her as though it were a life raft. “If maybe he’s thinking of us?”Nearly is able to feel things when she touches people, their emotions, their moods.
She leaned against the door. “He’s never coming home, Nearly. That much I know.” She stubbed out her cigarette in her empty mug, the life raft abandoned and drifting in the murky waters between us. “Get your studying done.”
It was coming from anyone I got close enough to touch. I wasn’t exactly sure how it worked—it’s not like they teach this stuff in AP Physics—but I had a theory. Emotion is energy, and if energy is strong enough, it can travel between two points. Maybe I was like a channel, someone other people’s energies could pass through.As if studying and worrying about her dad wasn't enough of a stressor, girls have started getting assaulted at Nearly's school. They were kidnapped, and in every situation, a number is painted, cut, burned onto their body. There is a connection between them, and rather than focusing on her studies and just leaving it to the police, Nearly is determined to find what happened to the girls.
Emily’s had been ten. Marcia’s was eighteen. But why? What was the connection? The message carved in my lab table in physics suggested there’d be others.Oh, I have to give her credit for trying to enlist the police's aid, only she's not the most convincing witness in the world.
“Did you witness something you think is relevant to the incident?”It is absolutely shocking that the police doesn't believe her testimony. And furthermore, she is now considered a suspect. The cops sends someone after her, Nearly overhears them sending an informant to spy on her. A juvenile delinquent who needs to cut a deal to stay out of prison.
“No . . . I mean, yes . . . I mean possibly.” I shook my head. “What I mean is, I think I may have witnessed something, sort of.”
“We cut him a deal. He stays in school and keeps his nose clean, and in exchange we registered him as a confidential informant. Tell him to get in tight with this Boswell girl and we’ll expunge the last assault and battery charge from his record.So this is the lovely Reece Whelan. A potential killer who was involved in a shooting, a drug dealer who's still buying drugs.
“Actually . . .” Reece’s voice was unwavering. “I was hoping you could help me out with one more thing. I’m looking for a little Special K.”What a gem! The violent, explosive, threatening Reece Whelan is going to get close to Nearly and get all her secrets.
And she pretty much lets him, with a few half-hearted protests.
His fingers loosened in my hair and his mouth softened. He cupped the back of my head, and I clutched his jacket and kissed him back.There's the wonderful Jeremy, her friend since childhood, the one who will steal from his own family in order to help her pay the rent. The one who truly understands her.
But when I’d touched Jeremy, we felt the same. Alone. He was in his own house, in his own neighborhood, and still didn’t fit. I recognized that kind of loneliness, because it was mine too.Jeremy, who instills feelings of jealousy within her when he starts to see another girl. Will Nearly lose her chances for a scholarship because of her own fucking stupidity in getting involved in a case that might get her ass fucking killed?
“Mr. Rankin tells me you’re awfully close to earning the merit scholarship in chemistry. I would hate to see you throw that away over a boy.”Nowhere Nearly Smart: Nearly is the walking proof that you can be book smart, that you can be a genius in AP Chemistry without possessing a single fucking atom of common sense. Not even a proton of common sense. Maybe a quark or a Higgs boson of common sense, which is to say, none at all.
“The police think you’re involved. They just can’t prove anything. They’re looking for any connections. Motives. Accomplices. Even if you didn’t do it, they think you know who did. They’re watching you, waiting. They figure you’ll either do something stupid and incriminate yourself or lead them to the person behind this.”Someone is out there killing people. The police do not know who did it, but they suspect Nearly because:
1. She has tutored all of the people who were killed or injured
2. She went to the police station claiming to know something about the murders, only to stammer and run away (smart), making herself a suspect.
Coming here was stupid. What was I going to say? Hello, Officer. I think there may be a crazy stalker at my school.So now the police are on her ass, they've got ex-convict Reece to watch her. She knows this. And yet she's still a motherfucking idiot about not being caught.
Let's see, I'm going to place myself into Nearly's position. I am a suspect in a few murders. I know what I wouldn't do. For one thing, I wouldn't keep going back to the fucking scene of the crime to check out the body!!!!!!!!
“Why were you so mad back there?”I wouldn't go visiting the fucking murder victim fully knowing it might be a set-up.
He gaped at me, shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe I’d asked the question. “You were trying to run headlong into what may or may not have been the scene of an attempted murder, Nearly.”
Flowers delivered to Room #214. He was tipping me off.
Who was I kidding? That’s exactly what the killer wanted me to do. Exactly where he wanted me to be. This note felt like a set-up. I’d be playing into his hands again, and I hated myself for it. But I had no choice. It was time to pay [her] a visit.
And damn if she didn't fall into the fucking trap when her name is registered on the victim's hospital visitor list.
My name was on the visitor’s log at the hospital anyway. The police would know I’d been there.She makes mistakes, walks herself into stupid fucking situations over and over and over. Bones' Temperance Brennan would NEVER.
She Nearly had a Future: Nearly needs that scholarship. She desperately needs that Chemistry scholarship. There is no other way she can go to college, but there she goes, chasing after fucking serial killers and flirting with psychopath-with-a-heart-of-gold while neglecting her grades.
Cumulative scores wouldn’t be posted until Friday, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out what a ninetyfour percent would do to my grade.Oh, a 94% is fucking awesome, but it's not good enough to beat out her friend and closest rivals. Competition is cutthroat. A 94 doesn't fucking cut it. Nearly needs to focus, instead, she allows herself to be distracted by stupid things like killers, lovers (same thing), and chasing an elusive deadbeat father, scouring the Personals section for possible messages from him.
This was my year. My only year. My ticket out.
And I was blowing it.
The Psychopath With a Heart of Gold: The heart of gold is there, you just have to look really, really deep. Like beyond the assault at school where he kicks her books away and then slams her into a locker and forces a kiss on her (it's Nearly's fault that he assaulted her, because she wouldn't go along with his ruse to pretend that she was his girlfriend). And beyond the fact that he's unbuttoning her shirt without her consent.
He reached toward my chest and I flinched.Oh, it's ok, he's not trying to feel her up, he's just trying to expose her boobs. I completely fucking understand.
Give me a break was written all over his face. “I’m not trying to feel you up.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, covering the buttons with both hands.
“Trust me.” He reached again before I could object, unfastening the top two buttons and drawing the collar wide across my chest.
You have to look beyond all the names he calls her, like "pain in the ass."
“A thistle?”You have to look beyond the fact that he forces his way into her bedroom.
“Yeah, you know...little...prickly...pain in the ass. It suits you.”
“I thought I told you to wait outside!” I hissed.You have to look beyond the fact that he stalks her while she sleeps.
He inhaled half of my sandwich and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Then he pushed past me into the hall, paused at the No Smoking sign, and let himself into my bedroom.
“You can’t be here! My mother will have a stroke!” It came out as a frantic breathy whisper.
“If you’re quiet, she’ll never have to know.”
“If you didn’t talk to my mom, how did you know I was in bed by nine?” The thought both fascinated and horrified me. “Were you watching my trailer last night?”You have to look beyond the fact that he was paid by the police to spy on her.
No answer.
I bristled, and just like that, the urge to confide in him was gone. Like someone turned on a light, and I could see him for who he was. A narc getting paid to snitch on me.And beyond the fact that he was a drug dealer who might have killed someone.
“He was responsible for the death of a student.”So you see, the heart of gold is still there, you just have to be a little patient. You just have to be like Nearly, that is to say, you only have to be a apologetic fucking doormat.
“Who?” I heard myself ask.
“A senior. Shot and killed at North Hampton last year.”
“You don’t get anything! I can’t keep making this about you! I can’t lose sight of what side I’m on, just because you show up on the hood of Lonny’s car and turn everything upside down.”
If he was so angry, why was he standing so close? If I turned everything upside down, why wasn’t he walking away?
“I don’t understand,” I said, wanting to touch him without feeling drunk.
Fuck this book.
May 21, 2016
3.5/5 stars
This was at a 3 stars until the very end, but the ending was prETTY FANTASTIC.
I enjoyed the plot for the most part, but it took me a while to warm to the romance. It felt pretty forced to start and everything happened so fast that it didn't feel natural. Reece also partially falls into the bad boy with a heart of gold trope which is one of my least favorite tropes OF ALL TIME so that might be why it took me a while to get into this book.
I enjoyed Nearly as a protagonist for the most part, she definitely grew on me throughout the book and I liked her a lot by the end.
The plot was the best part of this book even though it wasn't perfect. Figuring out the clues with Nearly and trying to figure out how everything fit together was so fun, and by the end of the book I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. I also didn't see the ending coming, probably mostly because of a few plot holes and lack of foreshadowing, but I actually was fine with that since it made the ending a shock.
Overall an enjoyable book and was a fun read! Not amazing, but not terrible.
This was at a 3 stars until the very end, but the ending was prETTY FANTASTIC.
I enjoyed the plot for the most part, but it took me a while to warm to the romance. It felt pretty forced to start and everything happened so fast that it didn't feel natural. Reece also partially falls into the bad boy with a heart of gold trope which is one of my least favorite tropes OF ALL TIME so that might be why it took me a while to get into this book.
I enjoyed Nearly as a protagonist for the most part, she definitely grew on me throughout the book and I liked her a lot by the end.
The plot was the best part of this book even though it wasn't perfect. Figuring out the clues with Nearly and trying to figure out how everything fit together was so fun, and by the end of the book I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. I also didn't see the ending coming, probably mostly because of a few plot holes and lack of foreshadowing, but I actually was fine with that since it made the ending a shock.
Overall an enjoyable book and was a fun read! Not amazing, but not terrible.
May 5, 2015
UPDATE: 5/5/15
I was excited about this book before 2014. So of course I read it after a full year of it's release.
Idiot. *hits self*
As for my rating- it's not that good a book.
I had issues with characterization, and some of the actions of the MC, and a bit of the writing.
But fuck that shit. I cannot think objectively when someone wrote the book my 5th grade self would've written
Context: My 5th grade self was AWESOME and **really** into murder mysteries.
Seriously though, the murder chase in this one makes my heart go all fluttery.
I kinda read most of it in one sitting. Cuz excitement levels = HIGH.
(My roommates were slightly concerned. Oops)
I might be reading the wrong genres :P
PRE - READING REVIEW
Bones meets Fringe.
BONES MEETS FRINGE?!
Holy frazzlenuts.
This better not suck.
Also, I need this. Now.
Wait, 2014? What?
*sadface*
I was excited about this book before 2014. So of course I read it after a full year of it's release.
Idiot. *hits self*
As for my rating- it's not that good a book.
I had issues with characterization, and some of the actions of the MC, and a bit of the writing.
But fuck that shit. I cannot think objectively when someone wrote the book my 5th grade self would've written
Context: My 5th grade self was AWESOME and **really** into murder mysteries.
Seriously though, the murder chase in this one makes my heart go all fluttery.
I kinda read most of it in one sitting. Cuz excitement levels = HIGH.
(My roommates were slightly concerned. Oops)
I might be reading the wrong genres :P
PRE - READING REVIEW
Bones meets Fringe.
BONES MEETS FRINGE?!
Holy frazzlenuts.
This better not suck.
Also, I need this. Now.
Wait, 2014? What?
*sadface*
July 11, 2016
Every time I was starting to think I would love this book, something came along and robbed me of much of my enthusiasm. This is an interesting read, very engaging and well-crafted in the way it keeps you guessing all the way to the end. But there was a lot of potential wasted. The entire paranormal aspect had no relevance to the story and its development, and it probably would've been better if it hadn't been there at all. Nearly wasn't exactly a likable protagonist and the overall character development was a bit stunted, even though I did enjoy the moral ambiguity of some of the characters. This novel has a very strong mystery at its core, it was just severely affected by how overdone everything else was.
Nearly, like I said, didn't exactly win me over. I adored that she was brilliant. As soon as I started the novel, I was more than ready to love the novel based on how intelligent and capable Nearly was. But, aside from that, not much else can be said about Nearly that makes her stand out as a protagonist because she worked really hard at being sort of unlikable. Sure, she was brave, but she was foolishly reckless more than she was brave. She was incredibly judgmental, deciding to hate a girl immediately upon meeting her because the girl is beautiful and has a curvy body, and giving crap to her mom for being a stripper when she does it only for Nearly, but glorifying the deadbeat dad that abandoned them at the first sight of trouble. Nearly also had a tendency to play with the feelings of her friend, being jealous about his relationship with another girl and making snide comments about it while repeatedly turning him down. She also looked down upon almost every girl around her. There's this scene in which she's trying to tutor this girl, who she calls a "rent-a-girl", and continually thinks the girl is stupid because of what she does and who she is and hypocritically says she wishes the girl manages to leave the trailer park while thinking about how unlikely that is to happen. The funny thing about all of this is that the novel goes out of its way (maybe accidentally, I don't know) to prove that Nearly is stuck-up and judgmental, because everyone she thinks less of is actually nice to her, for which I applaud the author, but the fact still remains that Nearly is not likeable. She was also pretentious as hell. If you are going to precede a quoting of Shakespeare with a pretentious inner dialogue about how she can be brilliant at both equations and literature, then at least make sure she quotes Shakespeare correctly.
Most of the secondary characters were interesting in theory, but there were a lot of stereotypes in there and a lack of development. It often seemed like there would be something to make the characters break away from their molds, like the suicidal best friend, the dangerous love interest, the seemingly backstabbing best friend, the mysterious foreign student, but none of them amounted to anything. The stayed firmly withing their boxes and showed no development. The same lack of development could also be seen in the victims. There was nothing to them besides a single scene in which they were nice to Nearly and then they were offed.
Almost completely irrelevant, but Spanish is my native language and I've seen many authors making the same mistake of thinking adjectives are gender neutral in Spanish like they are in English. I'm not bashing the author on this, of course. She's a writer and never claimed to dominate the Spanish language, but I've seen this a lot and, since I am a Spanish speaker, I wanted to point out that most adjectives in Spanish have masculine and feminine versions. Gena, the Latina in the novel, says "tranquilo" to Nearly. Since Nearly is a girl, it should've been "tranquila". Okay, moving on.
The actual mystery in the novel is really good and the resolution was very satisfying. I commend Cosimano for how she handled the mystery. It was smart, clever, and although I figured a bit of the mystery before Nearly, most of it still took me by surprise. I also liked the ending of the novel and how a character that had been portrayed in a very negative light throughout the novel showed an entire new dimension that I found deeply enjoyable. There's a lot of suspense in the novel, but the progress was slow at first. It wasn't until halfway through the novel that the pace picked up and the full weight of the suspense finally hit me. The novel is a bit heavy on the romance and it follows the fairly standard good girl/bad boy route.
I keep wanting to give this novel 4 stars. It is a very decent and entertaining novel with a really good mystery. If it depended on the mystery alone, I would have no problem giving it 4 stars, but there's a lot more to the novel than just that and I found all those extra things to be either underwritten or overdone. There needed to be more character development, and less paranormal (probably none at all since it had no importance whatsoever to the plot), and there should've been a little less romance and a bit more focus on the mystery. I did like the novel, but there was a lot of potential wasted here. I think the novel had all the tools to break away from the standard YA mystery/thriller and, although it seemed like it would do just that at first, it then decided to stay within those lines. I do look forward to see what this author publishes next.
Nearly, like I said, didn't exactly win me over. I adored that she was brilliant. As soon as I started the novel, I was more than ready to love the novel based on how intelligent and capable Nearly was. But, aside from that, not much else can be said about Nearly that makes her stand out as a protagonist because she worked really hard at being sort of unlikable. Sure, she was brave, but she was foolishly reckless more than she was brave. She was incredibly judgmental, deciding to hate a girl immediately upon meeting her because the girl is beautiful and has a curvy body, and giving crap to her mom for being a stripper when she does it only for Nearly, but glorifying the deadbeat dad that abandoned them at the first sight of trouble. Nearly also had a tendency to play with the feelings of her friend, being jealous about his relationship with another girl and making snide comments about it while repeatedly turning him down. She also looked down upon almost every girl around her. There's this scene in which she's trying to tutor this girl, who she calls a "rent-a-girl", and continually thinks the girl is stupid because of what she does and who she is and hypocritically says she wishes the girl manages to leave the trailer park while thinking about how unlikely that is to happen. The funny thing about all of this is that the novel goes out of its way (maybe accidentally, I don't know) to prove that Nearly is stuck-up and judgmental, because everyone she thinks less of is actually nice to her, for which I applaud the author, but the fact still remains that Nearly is not likeable. She was also pretentious as hell. If you are going to precede a quoting of Shakespeare with a pretentious inner dialogue about how she can be brilliant at both equations and literature, then at least make sure she quotes Shakespeare correctly.
Most of the secondary characters were interesting in theory, but there were a lot of stereotypes in there and a lack of development. It often seemed like there would be something to make the characters break away from their molds, like the suicidal best friend, the dangerous love interest, the seemingly backstabbing best friend, the mysterious foreign student, but none of them amounted to anything. The stayed firmly withing their boxes and showed no development. The same lack of development could also be seen in the victims. There was nothing to them besides a single scene in which they were nice to Nearly and then they were offed.
Almost completely irrelevant, but Spanish is my native language and I've seen many authors making the same mistake of thinking adjectives are gender neutral in Spanish like they are in English. I'm not bashing the author on this, of course. She's a writer and never claimed to dominate the Spanish language, but I've seen this a lot and, since I am a Spanish speaker, I wanted to point out that most adjectives in Spanish have masculine and feminine versions. Gena, the Latina in the novel, says "tranquilo" to Nearly. Since Nearly is a girl, it should've been "tranquila". Okay, moving on.
The actual mystery in the novel is really good and the resolution was very satisfying. I commend Cosimano for how she handled the mystery. It was smart, clever, and although I figured a bit of the mystery before Nearly, most of it still took me by surprise. I also liked the ending of the novel and how a character that had been portrayed in a very negative light throughout the novel showed an entire new dimension that I found deeply enjoyable. There's a lot of suspense in the novel, but the progress was slow at first. It wasn't until halfway through the novel that the pace picked up and the full weight of the suspense finally hit me. The novel is a bit heavy on the romance and it follows the fairly standard good girl/bad boy route.
I keep wanting to give this novel 4 stars. It is a very decent and entertaining novel with a really good mystery. If it depended on the mystery alone, I would have no problem giving it 4 stars, but there's a lot more to the novel than just that and I found all those extra things to be either underwritten or overdone. There needed to be more character development, and less paranormal (probably none at all since it had no importance whatsoever to the plot), and there should've been a little less romance and a bit more focus on the mystery. I did like the novel, but there was a lot of potential wasted here. I think the novel had all the tools to break away from the standard YA mystery/thriller and, although it seemed like it would do just that at first, it then decided to stay within those lines. I do look forward to see what this author publishes next.
October 17, 2015
VIDEO REVIEW: Coming Soon!
The best and most accurately way to describe this novel is Veronica Mars meets Scream meet Pretty Little Liars. If any of those trip your trigger then you need to continue on and read this review because I think I found your next great mystery read.
I've heard really great things about Nearly Gone, so I was very excited to add it to my Halloween TBR this month. This was the first Halloween book I picked up for the month and I am so glad I did. I should also mention this is the first YA book I picked up since July, and I am so happy it was this book that I decided to pick up. Nearly Gone tells a story of a girl named Nearly, an extremely bright person who lives in a trailer park in the Washington D.C. area. She lives alone with her stripper mother and her father left them when she was younger. She also has this strange unexplained ability to "taste" people's emotions when she touches them, so rule for her: never touch anyone. Nearly has this fascination of looking through the Personal Ads in the newspaper. So now you're probably wondering where's the mystery in this book? Here it is: There is a serial killer leaving clues for Nearly in the personal ads and using people in her class as the victims.
Like I said, I really really enjoyed this book. I found the mystery to be super engaging and I loved trying to figure out who the killer was. There was a ton of really original elements in this thriller that I enjoyed. My favorite thing about this book was definitely the characters. We're introduced to a lot of secondary characters that Nearly knows through her trailer park and at school and all the characters have an outwardly sinister side to themselves where you know, as a reader, you can't completely trust them. The characters were my favorite part and I loved trying to figure them out. Nearly was a great heroine. Homegurl has brains and I enjoyed that intelligence that she has... even if she made me myself feel stupid at times, haha! Reece is the homeboy of this story as well as the love interest and I really liked how his and Nearly's relationship developed, it was cute and also exciting.
I am very interested to see how this story progresses - specifically with Nearly's gift of tasting people's emotions. It felt out-of-place yet necessary in this book if that makes sense and based off her family history and things we discovered towards the end, it is clear the author is going to develop that side of Nearly very much, and unravel THAT mystery, because this gift of hers felt pretty secondary in this novel, I forgot about it most of the time until it was referenced. I almost would have liked to see her use it more.
I do with that the setting would have been pulled into the story more. While Nearly's trailer park was extremely visual and interesting with the neighbors and the criminal activity I just wanted more, somehow. Also, I was utterly fascinated with the fact that it takes place in Washington D.C but I never would have known it did if it wasn't mentioned in the book's summary. I wanted more a sense of place. DC also has a seedy underside to it - I would have liked to see that more.
*I did receive this book from PenguinTeen, but it no way has that influenced my opinion on the book.*
The best and most accurately way to describe this novel is Veronica Mars meets Scream meet Pretty Little Liars. If any of those trip your trigger then you need to continue on and read this review because I think I found your next great mystery read.
I've heard really great things about Nearly Gone, so I was very excited to add it to my Halloween TBR this month. This was the first Halloween book I picked up for the month and I am so glad I did. I should also mention this is the first YA book I picked up since July, and I am so happy it was this book that I decided to pick up. Nearly Gone tells a story of a girl named Nearly, an extremely bright person who lives in a trailer park in the Washington D.C. area. She lives alone with her stripper mother and her father left them when she was younger. She also has this strange unexplained ability to "taste" people's emotions when she touches them, so rule for her: never touch anyone. Nearly has this fascination of looking through the Personal Ads in the newspaper. So now you're probably wondering where's the mystery in this book? Here it is: There is a serial killer leaving clues for Nearly in the personal ads and using people in her class as the victims.
Like I said, I really really enjoyed this book. I found the mystery to be super engaging and I loved trying to figure out who the killer was. There was a ton of really original elements in this thriller that I enjoyed. My favorite thing about this book was definitely the characters. We're introduced to a lot of secondary characters that Nearly knows through her trailer park and at school and all the characters have an outwardly sinister side to themselves where you know, as a reader, you can't completely trust them. The characters were my favorite part and I loved trying to figure them out. Nearly was a great heroine. Homegurl has brains and I enjoyed that intelligence that she has... even if she made me myself feel stupid at times, haha! Reece is the homeboy of this story as well as the love interest and I really liked how his and Nearly's relationship developed, it was cute and also exciting.
I am very interested to see how this story progresses - specifically with Nearly's gift of tasting people's emotions. It felt out-of-place yet necessary in this book if that makes sense and based off her family history and things we discovered towards the end, it is clear the author is going to develop that side of Nearly very much, and unravel THAT mystery, because this gift of hers felt pretty secondary in this novel, I forgot about it most of the time until it was referenced. I almost would have liked to see her use it more.
I do with that the setting would have been pulled into the story more. While Nearly's trailer park was extremely visual and interesting with the neighbors and the criminal activity I just wanted more, somehow. Also, I was utterly fascinated with the fact that it takes place in Washington D.C but I never would have known it did if it wasn't mentioned in the book's summary. I wanted more a sense of place. DC also has a seedy underside to it - I would have liked to see that more.
*I did receive this book from PenguinTeen, but it no way has that influenced my opinion on the book.*
September 23, 2021
4,5
Uno degli fattori che fa di un thriller un ottimo thriller, è quando sopraggiunge la smania di girare le pagine per arrivare alla risoluzione del mistero, perché fino ai capitoli finali non hai alcuna certezza, solo tanti sospetti e vuoi, o meglio pretendi, di sapere la verità. Oltre a questo, se c'è anche una tensione che ti fa quasi leggere in apnea perché la protagonista fa tante scelte discutibili che mettono a repentaglio la sua vita, sai che hai tra le mani quell'ottimo thriller di cui dicevo all'inizio.
La protagonista, tale Nearly Boswell, è una studentessa brillante all'ultimo anno di college e si ritrova, suo malgrado, ad assistere a diversi omicidi che avvengono nella sua cerchia di conoscenze. Per una serie di motivi si sente "responsabile" e vorrebbe da sola risolvere il mistero, ben congegnato dal serial killer. Eppure Nearly dovrebbe ricordare le tre semplici regole stabilite da sua madre.
"Mia madre aveva solo tre regole:
A) niente brutti voti
B) niente guai
C )nessun contatto fisico
A+B+C=ammissione a un buon college.[..]
A volte l'unico modo per trovare una soluzione è infrangere le regole."
L'elemento più ammaliante del romanzo è la costruzione del disegno criminale da parte del killer, la corsa contro il tempo per decifrare gli indizi che manda a Nearly e stare lì, insieme a lei, ad analizzarli, andando a ritroso con le pagine per comprendere cosa possa essere sfuggito per la risoluzione del caso.
Oltre a questo un tocco di young adult, un pizzichino di paranormal che rende il tutto anche più affascinante e tanta tanta adrenalina.
E ora non mi rimane che tampinare la CE per il secondo volume della serie, perché a mio avviso Nearly ha ancora tanto da raccontare.
Uno degli fattori che fa di un thriller un ottimo thriller, è quando sopraggiunge la smania di girare le pagine per arrivare alla risoluzione del mistero, perché fino ai capitoli finali non hai alcuna certezza, solo tanti sospetti e vuoi, o meglio pretendi, di sapere la verità. Oltre a questo, se c'è anche una tensione che ti fa quasi leggere in apnea perché la protagonista fa tante scelte discutibili che mettono a repentaglio la sua vita, sai che hai tra le mani quell'ottimo thriller di cui dicevo all'inizio.
La protagonista, tale Nearly Boswell, è una studentessa brillante all'ultimo anno di college e si ritrova, suo malgrado, ad assistere a diversi omicidi che avvengono nella sua cerchia di conoscenze. Per una serie di motivi si sente "responsabile" e vorrebbe da sola risolvere il mistero, ben congegnato dal serial killer. Eppure Nearly dovrebbe ricordare le tre semplici regole stabilite da sua madre.
"Mia madre aveva solo tre regole:
A) niente brutti voti
B) niente guai
C )nessun contatto fisico
A+B+C=ammissione a un buon college.[..]
A volte l'unico modo per trovare una soluzione è infrangere le regole."
L'elemento più ammaliante del romanzo è la costruzione del disegno criminale da parte del killer, la corsa contro il tempo per decifrare gli indizi che manda a Nearly e stare lì, insieme a lei, ad analizzarli, andando a ritroso con le pagine per comprendere cosa possa essere sfuggito per la risoluzione del caso.
Oltre a questo un tocco di young adult, un pizzichino di paranormal che rende il tutto anche più affascinante e tanta tanta adrenalina.
E ora non mi rimane che tampinare la CE per il secondo volume della serie, perché a mio avviso Nearly ha ancora tanto da raccontare.
July 19, 2015
Review also posted at Young Adult Hollywood.
I never planned on picking this book up, but I bought a bulk of Young Adult books and it was right there. I was bored then things happened. Like me, falling in love with almost every aspect of this book.
From someone who binged watched nine seasons of Criminal Minds on one month, I know the premise of Nearly Gone sound so banal for YA, but it is not entirely. Cosimano perfectly stringed the suspense element of the book with a believable world building.
Nearly Gone’s character is stellar filled with so much life. I love, hate and guess along with them. I won’t mind reading more books from this character, especially told from Oleksana’s point of view. It took me awhile to warm up at the romance though I do admit the pairing eventually did some real damage on me.
I'd highly recommend this book to all YA fans who enjoy suspense and thriller story.
I never planned on picking this book up, but I bought a bulk of Young Adult books and it was right there. I was bored then things happened. Like me, falling in love with almost every aspect of this book.
From someone who binged watched nine seasons of Criminal Minds on one month, I know the premise of Nearly Gone sound so banal for YA, but it is not entirely. Cosimano perfectly stringed the suspense element of the book with a believable world building.
Nearly Gone’s character is stellar filled with so much life. I love, hate and guess along with them. I won’t mind reading more books from this character, especially told from Oleksana’s point of view. It took me awhile to warm up at the romance though I do admit the pairing eventually did some real damage on me.
I'd highly recommend this book to all YA fans who enjoy suspense and thriller story.
March 31, 2014
Rating: 4.5
Nearly has a rough life. Her mother is a stripper, they barely have enough money to eat, and her father is gone. She spends her days studying hard to have a chance at a scholarship which will allow her to improve her future. Once a week she buys a paper to read the personals section, hoping for a message from her dad.
Her life is about to get rougher. Someone starts knocking off the kids that Nearly tutors and leaving cryptic messages for her in the personals. Nearly becomes the main suspect and she must solve the killer's clues and pair up with a CI who is undercover at her school in order to clear her name. Of course, she might be next on the chopping block ...
There is so much to unpack in this novel, so bear with me. This is going to be a long review.
The Mystery
Nearly's best subjects are math and science, and the puzzles that the killer leaves for her via the personals take advantage of her skills. The puzzles are clever (and I'm clever, too, because I figured out the mystery 70 pages before Nearly did) and a unique frame for the story. However, it requires a pretty big suspension of belief to swallow that the police would be so bumbling and make such a mess of the investigation. Also, I find it extraordinarily difficult to imagine that national media wouldn't be all over a school beset by so many homicides in such a short period of time.
If you really think hard about it, the killer is pretty easy to narrow down. It has to be someone with a motive to frame Nearly, with the smarts to pull off complicated puzzles, and with close access to Nearly. That's a very short list. That said, I suspect most casual readers will be surprised by the killer's identity as there are numerous plausible red herrings embedded throughout.
Nearly's Paranormal Power
Nearly is an empath who can "taste" others emotions when she touches them. Unexpectedly perhaps, her paranormal ability mostly serves to inform her character rather than the plot. (There is one showy scene during a rave where Nearly is knocked out due to touching drugged dancers that has a slight bearing on the plot, but that's about it) What I found so fascinating about Nearly is that despite being an empath, she is very cut off from her own emotions. She hates touching people, and goes out of her way to be a loner. I also think this dissociation is what makes her so reckless. She doesn't have much of a reaction when acquaintances are killed because she doesn't allow herself to feel. She does however start to open up to Reece. And that brings us to:
The Romance
Nearly and Reece don't get off to a great start. Rumor is that he's dangerous and she overhears a detective at the police station assigning Reece to get close to her in order to spy on her.
And then there's a uncomfortable scene that I've seen some reviewers label as victim blaming, though I read it a different way. Nearly comes to school to confront Reece. She shouts that she knows what he is and is about to reveal that he's a CI (which would put Reece in mortal danger). Desperate to silence her, Reece pushes her up against a locker and kisses her. Nearly freaks out (remember - she hates being touched) and ends up biting and slapping him, which attracts the attention of the school staff and results in Reece being expelled. Nearly feels bad then, going to the principal and saying:
“It wasn’t his fault. I was the one responsible.” I couldn’t let Reece go back to jail for something that was my fault. He’d only reacted because I’d provoked him. My behavior hadn’t left him any choice.
Is Nearly the victim of a sexual assault? I agree that you could argue that she is and that Reece should definitely learn that there are better ways to shut someone up than to kiss them without their permission. BUT. The reason she felt guilty? Not because he kissed her and she reacted badly to it. It was because she was about to reveal information that could get Reece killed.
In any case, Reece awakens feelings in Nearly that she pretty much thought were dead. Once she learns more about him as a person (that he's essentially a kind person pushed to extremes), she decides to confide in him in a heartbreaking scene. She confesses that she doesn’t want to touch him because then she’ll know for sure how much he hates her. Reese counters with:
“You think you know how I feel about you? Then touch me.” He took my sleeve and drew my hand to his chest. Slowly, I slid my hand up his collar, and spread my fingers over his bare skin. His pulse thrummed hard. My heart raced with his fear and the rush of his desire.
Empath abilities FTW!
In Summary
NEARLY GONE is the rare mystery that is both character and plot driven. Definitely worth a look, especially if you like puzzles.
Nearly has a rough life. Her mother is a stripper, they barely have enough money to eat, and her father is gone. She spends her days studying hard to have a chance at a scholarship which will allow her to improve her future. Once a week she buys a paper to read the personals section, hoping for a message from her dad.
Her life is about to get rougher. Someone starts knocking off the kids that Nearly tutors and leaving cryptic messages for her in the personals. Nearly becomes the main suspect and she must solve the killer's clues and pair up with a CI who is undercover at her school in order to clear her name. Of course, she might be next on the chopping block ...
There is so much to unpack in this novel, so bear with me. This is going to be a long review.
The Mystery
Nearly's best subjects are math and science, and the puzzles that the killer leaves for her via the personals take advantage of her skills. The puzzles are clever (and I'm clever, too, because I figured out the mystery 70 pages before Nearly did) and a unique frame for the story. However, it requires a pretty big suspension of belief to swallow that the police would be so bumbling and make such a mess of the investigation. Also, I find it extraordinarily difficult to imagine that national media wouldn't be all over a school beset by so many homicides in such a short period of time.
If you really think hard about it, the killer is pretty easy to narrow down. It has to be someone with a motive to frame Nearly, with the smarts to pull off complicated puzzles, and with close access to Nearly. That's a very short list. That said, I suspect most casual readers will be surprised by the killer's identity as there are numerous plausible red herrings embedded throughout.
Nearly's Paranormal Power
Nearly is an empath who can "taste" others emotions when she touches them. Unexpectedly perhaps, her paranormal ability mostly serves to inform her character rather than the plot. (There is one showy scene during a rave where Nearly is knocked out due to touching drugged dancers that has a slight bearing on the plot, but that's about it) What I found so fascinating about Nearly is that despite being an empath, she is very cut off from her own emotions. She hates touching people, and goes out of her way to be a loner. I also think this dissociation is what makes her so reckless. She doesn't have much of a reaction when acquaintances are killed because she doesn't allow herself to feel. She does however start to open up to Reece. And that brings us to:
The Romance
Nearly and Reece don't get off to a great start. Rumor is that he's dangerous and she overhears a detective at the police station assigning Reece to get close to her in order to spy on her.
And then there's a uncomfortable scene that I've seen some reviewers label as victim blaming, though I read it a different way. Nearly comes to school to confront Reece. She shouts that she knows what he is and is about to reveal that he's a CI (which would put Reece in mortal danger). Desperate to silence her, Reece pushes her up against a locker and kisses her. Nearly freaks out (remember - she hates being touched) and ends up biting and slapping him, which attracts the attention of the school staff and results in Reece being expelled. Nearly feels bad then, going to the principal and saying:
“It wasn’t his fault. I was the one responsible.” I couldn’t let Reece go back to jail for something that was my fault. He’d only reacted because I’d provoked him. My behavior hadn’t left him any choice.
Is Nearly the victim of a sexual assault? I agree that you could argue that she is and that Reece should definitely learn that there are better ways to shut someone up than to kiss them without their permission. BUT. The reason she felt guilty? Not because he kissed her and she reacted badly to it. It was because she was about to reveal information that could get Reece killed.
In any case, Reece awakens feelings in Nearly that she pretty much thought were dead. Once she learns more about him as a person (that he's essentially a kind person pushed to extremes), she decides to confide in him in a heartbreaking scene. She confesses that she doesn’t want to touch him because then she’ll know for sure how much he hates her. Reese counters with:
“You think you know how I feel about you? Then touch me.” He took my sleeve and drew my hand to his chest. Slowly, I slid my hand up his collar, and spread my fingers over his bare skin. His pulse thrummed hard. My heart raced with his fear and the rush of his desire.
Empath abilities FTW!
In Summary
NEARLY GONE is the rare mystery that is both character and plot driven. Definitely worth a look, especially if you like puzzles.
November 2, 2015
I find the comparison of Nearly Gone to the television shows Bones and Fringe an unfair one. It sets the reader up for disappointment and lets the book down as well, because while there might be elements that you could make that comparison to, it would be a loose one. I kind of felt like this was a grittier homage to Nancy Drew, with more blood and fewer sweater sets and penny loafers.
I could NOT put Nearly Gone down, I devoured it in a matter of hours. Nearly was nerdy, intelligent and relatable (minus the part where she's running after a murderer - me, personally, I'd totally be holed up somewhere hiding like a big baby). The story had a tinge of romance to it, but it was mostly in the background - for which I was grateful (my whole point behind reading Nearly Gone was the sheer fact that I was utterly tired and disgusted with the ooey-gooey love stories I kept picking up, I wanted some murder and mayhem, damn it!).
I thought it was compulsively readable, the plot was interesting and twisty and the ending was satisfying.
I received Nearly Gone as an ARC through Netgalley.com via Penguin Young Readers Group.
I could NOT put Nearly Gone down, I devoured it in a matter of hours. Nearly was nerdy, intelligent and relatable (minus the part where she's running after a murderer - me, personally, I'd totally be holed up somewhere hiding like a big baby). The story had a tinge of romance to it, but it was mostly in the background - for which I was grateful (my whole point behind reading Nearly Gone was the sheer fact that I was utterly tired and disgusted with the ooey-gooey love stories I kept picking up, I wanted some murder and mayhem, damn it!).
I thought it was compulsively readable, the plot was interesting and twisty and the ending was satisfying.
I received Nearly Gone as an ARC through Netgalley.com via Penguin Young Readers Group.
Read
January 27, 2023I asked for amazing YA thriller recs 2 weeks ago and someone told me to read this. I don't remember who rec'd it on Goodreads because I can't find the old post, but it was amazing -thank you!!! Started slow and I wasn't sure I'd enjoy, but around 25% it picked up and I binge read in one night. Good romance, strong mystery, creepy, and totally kept me guessing!
lost-interest
September 17, 2014Want a chance to win a brand new hardback of this?
- Open internationally!
- Winners selected at random.
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You can enter here: https://www.leafmarks.com/lm/#/giveaways
- Open internationally!
- Winners selected at random.
- Earn extra entries by liking/following/tweeting.
You can enter here: https://www.leafmarks.com/lm/#/giveaways
August 2, 2025
Trama/Plot ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Personaggi/Characters ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Stile/Style ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Che bel libro e che bei personaggi! Un mistery che si legge tutto d'un fiato, trama intricata e molto interessante, una “caccia al tesoro” scientifica , un'atmosfera un po' cupa e disperata, personaggi che vivono al limite della legalità. L'aspetto paranormal è talmente marginale e trascurabile, che non si percepisce quasi, ma comunque non è “dannoso” ai fini della storia.
***
What a beautiful book and what beautiful characters! A mystery that can be read in one go, an intricate and very interesting plot, a scientific "treasure hunt", a somewhat dark and desperate atmosphere, characters who live on the edge of legality. The paranormal aspect is so marginal and negligible that it is almost not perceived, but in any case it is not "harmful" for the purposes of the story.
Personaggi/Characters ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Stile/Style ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Che bel libro e che bei personaggi! Un mistery che si legge tutto d'un fiato, trama intricata e molto interessante, una “caccia al tesoro” scientifica , un'atmosfera un po' cupa e disperata, personaggi che vivono al limite della legalità. L'aspetto paranormal è talmente marginale e trascurabile, che non si percepisce quasi, ma comunque non è “dannoso” ai fini della storia.
***
What a beautiful book and what beautiful characters! A mystery that can be read in one go, an intricate and very interesting plot, a scientific "treasure hunt", a somewhat dark and desperate atmosphere, characters who live on the edge of legality. The paranormal aspect is so marginal and negligible that it is almost not perceived, but in any case it is not "harmful" for the purposes of the story.
February 1, 2014
I received this book from Penguin Publishers in exchange for an honest review. I award this book 3.5 stars.
Nearly Gone by Elle Cosimano stars Nearly, who lives in a trailer park. Her mom is a stripper, and her dad left them with almost nothing. She's one of the top students in her class and is up for a prestigious scholarship, which is her ticket out of this town. At the same time, she's always pouring through the personal ads for clues because once she was convinced her dad left her a message there. Instead, kids start dying, and Nearly is getting set up for their murders. Strange ads start populating the personal ads, and Nearly knows they are clues for her. Will she be able to stop the murderer before it's too late?
This book started off with a bang. I loved the whole idea of puzzles in the personal ads that she needed to figure out, and I liked pretty much everything about the mystery. Cosimano has a nice turn of phrase and her prose is nicely done. There are tons of twists in this novel, and that's what keeps it going.
This said, I think I struggled with the rest of it. Nearly is tough to like. She's had it rough, no doubt, but she kind of uses people around her to get what she needs, which makes sense from where she comes from, but it makes it hard for her to be a sympathetic character. Her friends are rather lackluster, and I didn't find their side stories interesting at all. There's a "bad boy" interest, where I felt like there could be more sparks. I found that I kept flipping through all the parts in between bits of the mystery. And lastly, I was disappointed in the ending because I just didn't believe the reveal and the motivations that got everyone there. Plus, I kind of had a problem with a serial killer teen in general. This might be believable if done right, but it just seemed like it was going a bit far and out of realism for me since the rest of it was really grounded.
Overall, this is a promising debut by Cosimano, and it's obvious that she has some plotting chops. I feel like once she wins us over with her characters more, she'll be unstoppable.
Nearly Gone by Elle Cosimano stars Nearly, who lives in a trailer park. Her mom is a stripper, and her dad left them with almost nothing. She's one of the top students in her class and is up for a prestigious scholarship, which is her ticket out of this town. At the same time, she's always pouring through the personal ads for clues because once she was convinced her dad left her a message there. Instead, kids start dying, and Nearly is getting set up for their murders. Strange ads start populating the personal ads, and Nearly knows they are clues for her. Will she be able to stop the murderer before it's too late?
This book started off with a bang. I loved the whole idea of puzzles in the personal ads that she needed to figure out, and I liked pretty much everything about the mystery. Cosimano has a nice turn of phrase and her prose is nicely done. There are tons of twists in this novel, and that's what keeps it going.
This said, I think I struggled with the rest of it. Nearly is tough to like. She's had it rough, no doubt, but she kind of uses people around her to get what she needs, which makes sense from where she comes from, but it makes it hard for her to be a sympathetic character. Her friends are rather lackluster, and I didn't find their side stories interesting at all. There's a "bad boy" interest, where I felt like there could be more sparks. I found that I kept flipping through all the parts in between bits of the mystery. And lastly, I was disappointed in the ending because I just didn't believe the reveal and the motivations that got everyone there. Plus, I kind of had a problem with a serial killer teen in general. This might be believable if done right, but it just seemed like it was going a bit far and out of realism for me since the rest of it was really grounded.
Overall, this is a promising debut by Cosimano, and it's obvious that she has some plotting chops. I feel like once she wins us over with her characters more, she'll be unstoppable.
April 12, 2015
Nearly Boswell not only has a unique first name but also a unique ability, when she touches somebody she feels that person's emotions.She also has a strange fixation with personal adds that a serial killer uses to attract her attention.
I googled baby names for a while ( soooo unlike me) to see if that name was even possible, I guess nowadays you can call a baby almost anything . The most original website that I found was http://nameberry.com/. After reading the book a bit more I learnt that she had got her name nearly by mistake.
Well, the book is the best YA mystery book I have read in a long time . A real page-turner, I read it so fast that I felt a little bit disappointed when I reached the end. It is not a disappointing ending though, but it is something you can figure out but I missed ,even if all the clues are there for the reader to find.
Elle Cosimano, the writer ,is a self-confessed book worm and this is unbelievably her first novel. The sequel Nearly Found won't be published until next year and we will read about Nearly's internship at a local forensics lab.
Elle attended The Writer's Police Academy and according to her this is the reason why the plot, setting and characters are much richer than in many YA novels. The paranormal pinch and the romance with the bad guy makes the novel even more interesting.
www.theleisurediaries.blogspot.com
I googled baby names for a while ( soooo unlike me) to see if that name was even possible, I guess nowadays you can call a baby almost anything . The most original website that I found was http://nameberry.com/. After reading the book a bit more I learnt that she had got her name nearly by mistake.
Well, the book is the best YA mystery book I have read in a long time . A real page-turner, I read it so fast that I felt a little bit disappointed when I reached the end. It is not a disappointing ending though, but it is something you can figure out but I missed ,even if all the clues are there for the reader to find.
Elle Cosimano, the writer ,is a self-confessed book worm and this is unbelievably her first novel. The sequel Nearly Found won't be published until next year and we will read about Nearly's internship at a local forensics lab.
Elle attended The Writer's Police Academy and according to her this is the reason why the plot, setting and characters are much richer than in many YA novels. The paranormal pinch and the romance with the bad guy makes the novel even more interesting.
www.theleisurediaries.blogspot.com
February 23, 2017
Originally, I was going to give it 2.5 stars, but I'm feeling generous and the ending was good.
So 3 stars.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking. If you've been keeping up with my updates with this book, you would know how much I didn't like Nearly and her stupid decisions. And I didn't, believe me. I've never met a more stupid character in my life. But I'll get to that in a bit. For now, let me talk about Nearly Gone.
Mind you, this book will not be for everyone so if you decide to check it out, go with low or no expectations. Check it out from the library, if I were you.
Nearly Gone is about a girl named Nearly (I'm not joking, her name is Nealy. Let that sink in) who is trying to get a scholarship to get out of her trailer park home and have a decent future. What with her dad leaving years ago and her mom working at a gentleman's club, she doesn't have a nice upbringing. The scholarship is her ticket out of there. However, when reading the newspaper for the ads, she notices a strange message. After that, people are getting hurt and killed. What's worse is that the police are now suspecting her. Nearly must find out what is going on and who the killer is before it's too late.
Sounds like a good plot. Add in the use of math and science, and you got yourself a decent mystery/thriller, right?
Well... Yes and no.
Let me explain: The book wasn't bad per say, but it did have its flaws. Specifically, Nearly and her dumb decisions were what made the book unbearable at some points. And boy was she stupid.
Nearly is book smart. She's on the way to receiving a scholarship and is good with numbers. However, she isn't street smart. She doesn't seem to understand what common sense means. Especially when it gets her in trouble. Not to mention how the police are suspecting her because of her words and decisions.
There's no mistaking it: Nearly made some terrible and stupid decisions that put her in danger with the killer and the police.
Nearly reads a cryptic message on a newspaper and is given a certain amount of time to solve it. The problem is, the more she tries to solve the puzzle, she is putting herself in danger. It's bad enough that a killer is on the lose, but when the police are suspecting her, she still continues to be reckless. There's was one clue where if she followed the riddle, it would lead her to an answer. Except that she knew she would be followed and the police would have even more evidence to warrant an arrest for her. And what does she do? She follows the clue anyway and gets into even more trouble.
I'm not saying this is a bad thing. I've read other mystery/thriller novels where the protagonists try to find the clues to solve a murder or crime. And most of the time, they do it well that they don't risk getting in trouble. Of course, they make mistakes along the way. I get that. We all make honest mistakes and learn from them so we don't repeat it again.
Nearly on the otherhand, doesn't learn from her mistakes and doesn't even try to be cautious with her investigating. This irritated me through most of the book and only near the end was it good enough for me to give it 3 stars.
If I’d spent more time studying instead of chasing after a boy, we wouldn’t be here.
No shit, Sherlock.
While Nearly is trying to investigate, herein comes Reece, an ex-juvie student who seems to know more about the killings than she does. He's the bad boy with a golden heart. Listen, I like bad boys as much as the next person, but I like them if they're good, treat the main character and others with respect, and have a little bit of angst but not too much. Reece on the other hand, I was mixed about. I won't say much about his character but there is a reason he's an ex-juvie. You don't go to juvie just because. Nearly then starts interacting with him and... eh.
And here's where I talk about the elephant in the room. If you have read Khanh's review, then you would know that there was a scene wherein Nearly was kissed by Reece. Nearly obviously didn't want to be kissed so she pushed him away and even drew blood. Reece gets in trouble and is going to be expelled when Nearly steps in and says: "It was my fault. I provoked him."
........ Really? Are you being serious, Nearly? Blame yourself for something you didn't even do. Nice one, Nearly.
There's also a little bit of paranormal because of Nearly's 'ability.' I put emphasis on ability because it isn't prominent throughout the story nor did it really help. Nearly can taste what a person is feeling through touch. So if she touches someone, she can taste what they're really feeling. Her ability is strange, to say the least. Did it help? Not really. I'm not sure why this was even in the story. But, eh.
Even though most of the book annoyed me, I did like the mystery aspect of the story. Also how numbers and science were used to solve some of the riddles. As for solving who the murderer was, I didn't know who it was beforehand. Usually, I sometimes know who the killer is and most of the time I'm right. Granted, it's different for everyone, not to mention how the story is told. It varies for everyone. For this one, I didn't know who the killer was, so that was nice.
Verdict
Nearly and her stupid decisions were what made the book not as good as it should've been. Take away the mistakes, add a little bit of common sense for Nearly, and you would've gotten a good mystery/thriller. But that didn't happen. The mystery and the use of math and science were a nice touch, so I decided to give Nearly Gone 3 stars. And I will be reading the sequel since this is a duology.
Thanks for reading my review!
-Cesar
So 3 stars.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking. If you've been keeping up with my updates with this book, you would know how much I didn't like Nearly and her stupid decisions. And I didn't, believe me. I've never met a more stupid character in my life. But I'll get to that in a bit. For now, let me talk about Nearly Gone.
Mind you, this book will not be for everyone so if you decide to check it out, go with low or no expectations. Check it out from the library, if I were you.
Nearly Gone is about a girl named Nearly (I'm not joking, her name is Nealy. Let that sink in) who is trying to get a scholarship to get out of her trailer park home and have a decent future. What with her dad leaving years ago and her mom working at a gentleman's club, she doesn't have a nice upbringing. The scholarship is her ticket out of there. However, when reading the newspaper for the ads, she notices a strange message. After that, people are getting hurt and killed. What's worse is that the police are now suspecting her. Nearly must find out what is going on and who the killer is before it's too late.
Sounds like a good plot. Add in the use of math and science, and you got yourself a decent mystery/thriller, right?
Well... Yes and no.
Let me explain: The book wasn't bad per say, but it did have its flaws. Specifically, Nearly and her dumb decisions were what made the book unbearable at some points. And boy was she stupid.
Nearly is book smart. She's on the way to receiving a scholarship and is good with numbers. However, she isn't street smart. She doesn't seem to understand what common sense means. Especially when it gets her in trouble. Not to mention how the police are suspecting her because of her words and decisions.
There's no mistaking it: Nearly made some terrible and stupid decisions that put her in danger with the killer and the police.
Nearly reads a cryptic message on a newspaper and is given a certain amount of time to solve it. The problem is, the more she tries to solve the puzzle, she is putting herself in danger. It's bad enough that a killer is on the lose, but when the police are suspecting her, she still continues to be reckless. There's was one clue where if she followed the riddle, it would lead her to an answer. Except that she knew she would be followed and the police would have even more evidence to warrant an arrest for her. And what does she do? She follows the clue anyway and gets into even more trouble.
I'm not saying this is a bad thing. I've read other mystery/thriller novels where the protagonists try to find the clues to solve a murder or crime. And most of the time, they do it well that they don't risk getting in trouble. Of course, they make mistakes along the way. I get that. We all make honest mistakes and learn from them so we don't repeat it again.
Nearly on the otherhand, doesn't learn from her mistakes and doesn't even try to be cautious with her investigating. This irritated me through most of the book and only near the end was it good enough for me to give it 3 stars.
If I’d spent more time studying instead of chasing after a boy, we wouldn’t be here.
No shit, Sherlock.
While Nearly is trying to investigate, herein comes Reece, an ex-juvie student who seems to know more about the killings than she does. He's the bad boy with a golden heart. Listen, I like bad boys as much as the next person, but I like them if they're good, treat the main character and others with respect, and have a little bit of angst but not too much. Reece on the other hand, I was mixed about. I won't say much about his character but there is a reason he's an ex-juvie. You don't go to juvie just because. Nearly then starts interacting with him and... eh.
And here's where I talk about the elephant in the room. If you have read Khanh's review, then you would know that there was a scene wherein Nearly was kissed by Reece. Nearly obviously didn't want to be kissed so she pushed him away and even drew blood. Reece gets in trouble and is going to be expelled when Nearly steps in and says: "It was my fault. I provoked him."
........ Really? Are you being serious, Nearly? Blame yourself for something you didn't even do. Nice one, Nearly.
There's also a little bit of paranormal because of Nearly's 'ability.' I put emphasis on ability because it isn't prominent throughout the story nor did it really help. Nearly can taste what a person is feeling through touch. So if she touches someone, she can taste what they're really feeling. Her ability is strange, to say the least. Did it help? Not really. I'm not sure why this was even in the story. But, eh.
Even though most of the book annoyed me, I did like the mystery aspect of the story. Also how numbers and science were used to solve some of the riddles. As for solving who the murderer was, I didn't know who it was beforehand. Usually, I sometimes know who the killer is and most of the time I'm right. Granted, it's different for everyone, not to mention how the story is told. It varies for everyone. For this one, I didn't know who the killer was, so that was nice.
Verdict
Nearly and her stupid decisions were what made the book not as good as it should've been. Take away the mistakes, add a little bit of common sense for Nearly, and you would've gotten a good mystery/thriller. But that didn't happen. The mystery and the use of math and science were a nice touch, so I decided to give Nearly Gone 3 stars. And I will be reading the sequel since this is a duology.
Thanks for reading my review!
-Cesar
October 28, 2014
I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! A mystery thriller done RIGHT!
September 29, 2014
I feel like this is the year of the suspense book for me… over the last few months I’ve read a handful, and would put Nearly Gone right at the top with the best of them.
Nearly Boswell hasn’t had the easiest of lives. Her mom’s profession, her life in the trailer park and her obsession with personal ads make her an easy target. She has to focus to keep her eyes on the goal - that being a scholarship that will get her out of this place. But a strange ad in the personals catches her attention and suddenly there is a serial killer targeting students that are all linked to her. Only Nearly can break the code and figure out who is trying to set her up… or so she thinks. Nearly finds herself drawn to Reece Whelen who is the epitome of bad boy. But he’s got a story that she doesn’t fully know and he’s holding all his secrets close.
Let me just tell you what I didn’t care for right off the bat and get it out of the way. I struggled with the paranormal aspect to this story. Nearly has the ability to sense what other people are feeling when she touches their skin. While interesting and an intriguing idea, I don’t think this was fleshed out enough to actually have the correct impact on the story. I guess part of me wonders why it is even a part of this story to begin with. I didn’t understand why she had to have this ability and in my opinion it really didn’t have that big of an impact on the story to even include.
I also struggled a bit with Nearly as a character. She’s intelligent and knows her shit… she’s had to practically raise herself. Yet she repeatedly does some of the stupidest stuff she ever could in this story. Our serial killer baits her and tries to set her up more than once and she practically falls for it each time and she only has Reece there to save her ass. I wanted her book smarts to somewhat match her street smarts, and since she didn’t exactly grow up in a sheltered environment I kind of expected more from her.
On the other hand, what did I like… I really enjoyed the suspense to the story. Cosimano does a good job of never letting on who the big bad is. The end was cleverly done and really well plotted out - it was a surprise when everything was finally revealed.
I liked the secondary characters we’re introduced to… Ahn and Jeremy are nicely done, though If only on a superficial level. There is something of a love triangle/square type thing going on here that is obvious from the get go, and at times it was frustrating to read simply because I felt like Nearly kept giving Jeremy some mixed signals.
Reece, on the other hand, we get to know quite well… eventually. He’s been tasked with the police department to keep an eye on Nearly - she’s become a main suspect and the police department practically owns him so he does just that. If you’re looking for a real bad boy… look no further. Fresh out of juvie and an attitude that doesn’t end… he has the tattoos and the motorcycle but he wants to help Nearly and when he finds she’s in more trouble than he could have imagined, he will do anything to keep her safe even if it lands him in the trouble he's been trying to avoid.
Overall, I completely enjoyed the story. Is it perfect? No… but I found myself intrigued by the story and the mystery and that works for me! Definitely pick this one up if you’re looking for something with some major suspense and thrills as well as some YA romance! I think you’ll enjoy it too!
Nearly Boswell hasn’t had the easiest of lives. Her mom’s profession, her life in the trailer park and her obsession with personal ads make her an easy target. She has to focus to keep her eyes on the goal - that being a scholarship that will get her out of this place. But a strange ad in the personals catches her attention and suddenly there is a serial killer targeting students that are all linked to her. Only Nearly can break the code and figure out who is trying to set her up… or so she thinks. Nearly finds herself drawn to Reece Whelen who is the epitome of bad boy. But he’s got a story that she doesn’t fully know and he’s holding all his secrets close.
Let me just tell you what I didn’t care for right off the bat and get it out of the way. I struggled with the paranormal aspect to this story. Nearly has the ability to sense what other people are feeling when she touches their skin. While interesting and an intriguing idea, I don’t think this was fleshed out enough to actually have the correct impact on the story. I guess part of me wonders why it is even a part of this story to begin with. I didn’t understand why she had to have this ability and in my opinion it really didn’t have that big of an impact on the story to even include.
I also struggled a bit with Nearly as a character. She’s intelligent and knows her shit… she’s had to practically raise herself. Yet she repeatedly does some of the stupidest stuff she ever could in this story. Our serial killer baits her and tries to set her up more than once and she practically falls for it each time and she only has Reece there to save her ass. I wanted her book smarts to somewhat match her street smarts, and since she didn’t exactly grow up in a sheltered environment I kind of expected more from her.
On the other hand, what did I like… I really enjoyed the suspense to the story. Cosimano does a good job of never letting on who the big bad is. The end was cleverly done and really well plotted out - it was a surprise when everything was finally revealed.
I liked the secondary characters we’re introduced to… Ahn and Jeremy are nicely done, though If only on a superficial level. There is something of a love triangle/square type thing going on here that is obvious from the get go, and at times it was frustrating to read simply because I felt like Nearly kept giving Jeremy some mixed signals.
Reece, on the other hand, we get to know quite well… eventually. He’s been tasked with the police department to keep an eye on Nearly - she’s become a main suspect and the police department practically owns him so he does just that. If you’re looking for a real bad boy… look no further. Fresh out of juvie and an attitude that doesn’t end… he has the tattoos and the motorcycle but he wants to help Nearly and when he finds she’s in more trouble than he could have imagined, he will do anything to keep her safe even if it lands him in the trouble he's been trying to avoid.
Overall, I completely enjoyed the story. Is it perfect? No… but I found myself intrigued by the story and the mystery and that works for me! Definitely pick this one up if you’re looking for something with some major suspense and thrills as well as some YA romance! I think you’ll enjoy it too!
July 29, 2015
WOW! Such an amazing book. I read it in a day. Between work and two kids, that's hard for me to do but I had to know how the book ended. I'd say this is a Young Adult Thriller. I believe it has a little paranormal to it as the main character can feel emotions when she touches other people. I've been looking forward to reading this book for a long time and when I found in on bookoutlet.com (an AMAZING site to order bargain books) I had to get it. Just ordered book number two, can't wait to get my hands on it!!
So the main character is Nearly Boswell. I know, kind of a strange name but the reason behind it is really cool. She's never loved her name so she has her best friends call her Leigh. She lives in a trailer park with her mom. Her dad left them a while back. He got into some trouble and had to leave town. She's a really smart girl and is one of three other juniors in her school trying to get a scholarship. The one student that has the highest GPA in their chemistry class wins the scholarship. So it makes it kinda hard when one of the other students is one of her best friends. Nearly has always had this thing of reading the personal ads in the newspaper. She thought her dad had posted in it once to let her know he was okay and ever since then she's been hoping to hear from him again. But instead she starts seeing these ads that look more like an equation and she needs to figure them out. Then students start dying and the killer is trying to frame Nearly.
"And Leigh? I always knew you were worth it."
Reece Whelan is the bad boy that every parent tries to keep there daughter away from. To me... he's just a guy that made some bad decisions and he's trying to make up for them. Part of his parole (from juvie) is the he has to get close to Nearly so he can go back to the cops and let them know if she's really dangerous. But of course things don't go as planned and they start developing feelings for each other. ( I love it!)
He leaned in slowly, tilting his head to brush his lips against mine. Every rule, every shred of hesitation I'd felt before, dissolved away. I wanted him, every part of him, and we could mess with the outcome later.
This book seriously leaves you guessing till the very end who did it. NOBODY is who you think they are. I was constantly second guessing myself in who I thought the killer really was. You will be surprised! I highly recommend this book. Fantastic read. Top favorite read for sure.
So the main character is Nearly Boswell. I know, kind of a strange name but the reason behind it is really cool. She's never loved her name so she has her best friends call her Leigh. She lives in a trailer park with her mom. Her dad left them a while back. He got into some trouble and had to leave town. She's a really smart girl and is one of three other juniors in her school trying to get a scholarship. The one student that has the highest GPA in their chemistry class wins the scholarship. So it makes it kinda hard when one of the other students is one of her best friends. Nearly has always had this thing of reading the personal ads in the newspaper. She thought her dad had posted in it once to let her know he was okay and ever since then she's been hoping to hear from him again. But instead she starts seeing these ads that look more like an equation and she needs to figure them out. Then students start dying and the killer is trying to frame Nearly.
"And Leigh? I always knew you were worth it."
Reece Whelan is the bad boy that every parent tries to keep there daughter away from. To me... he's just a guy that made some bad decisions and he's trying to make up for them. Part of his parole (from juvie) is the he has to get close to Nearly so he can go back to the cops and let them know if she's really dangerous. But of course things don't go as planned and they start developing feelings for each other. ( I love it!)
He leaned in slowly, tilting his head to brush his lips against mine. Every rule, every shred of hesitation I'd felt before, dissolved away. I wanted him, every part of him, and we could mess with the outcome later.
This book seriously leaves you guessing till the very end who did it. NOBODY is who you think they are. I was constantly second guessing myself in who I thought the killer really was. You will be surprised! I highly recommend this book. Fantastic read. Top favorite read for sure.
April 27, 2014
This book was SO SO SO GOOD! I definitely LOVED it! Now THIS is what I call a Mystery/Thriller book! Nearly Gone was just a roller coaster ride for me. It really creeped me out, and it was so addicting as well! Through out the whole book, I just never expected who the killer was! At the end, I was just so shocked! The main character, Nearly Boswell is a genius. When she receives some messages that "hint" about the murders that have been happening, she thinks it's her responsibility to solve the puzzle, and tries to save the next target before he/she gets killed. It is so cool to see the clues she receives, how she perceives them, and what she does to try to figure it out! Nearly was such a great character, and you can see her develop throughout the story. She grows into a better person, and even develops a better relationship with her mother. The romance is just SO GOOD! I loved all the characters, all the relationships that developed, and everything about the story! I definitely did not expect Nearly Gone to actually be this good,and I'm so glad I got to read it!
June 6, 2014
I was really looking forward to reading this one, but it ended up being a huge disappointment.
Nearly was an okay character, but she had her annoying moments.
The rest of the characters weren't very good ones unfortunately.
The pacing was too slow, and very very dull. I was bored by chapter four, and it only got worse as the story progressed.
The ending was the best bit, but even that was quite boring.
Overall, slow, dull, disappointing.
Nearly was an okay character, but she had her annoying moments.
The rest of the characters weren't very good ones unfortunately.
The pacing was too slow, and very very dull. I was bored by chapter four, and it only got worse as the story progressed.
The ending was the best bit, but even that was quite boring.
Overall, slow, dull, disappointing.
price-check
March 30, 2014DC has trailer parks? Maybe it's on the outskirts. Lol. I think I would've noticed them.
Want to read
January 4, 2014oh this looks gooood *rubs hands together*
September 9, 2021
La recensione di Cassie sul blog --> https://www.leggereromanticamente.com...
Nel totale darei 4 stelle piene a Nearly Gone e lo consiglierei a tutte le amanti del genere YA mystery a cui piace anche il paranormale. Non è troppo presente, ma rimane comunque una caratteristica fondamentale della protagonista.
Nel totale darei 4 stelle piene a Nearly Gone e lo consiglierei a tutte le amanti del genere YA mystery a cui piace anche il paranormale. Non è troppo presente, ma rimane comunque una caratteristica fondamentale della protagonista.
July 4, 2017
3.5/5 stars
spoiler-free
This book was a quick, easy read of mystery. I enjoyed the characters and the plot was generally consistent.
Contemporary mysteries are not my usual genre of book; I tend to lean toward the action based novels, so it did not earn full stars for me.
At times, I found myself resisting the urge to scream at the characters for various reasons. First of all, who names their kid "Nearly"?! I found it a bit strange. Sometimes Nearly clearly didn't use her head, and that got to me. Some things were a bit unrealistic and difficult to understand why that would happen in a present day novel.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, but, again, was not the full-star-earner I was hoping for.
spoiler-free
This book was a quick, easy read of mystery. I enjoyed the characters and the plot was generally consistent.
Contemporary mysteries are not my usual genre of book; I tend to lean toward the action based novels, so it did not earn full stars for me.
At times, I found myself resisting the urge to scream at the characters for various reasons. First of all, who names their kid "Nearly"?! I found it a bit strange. Sometimes Nearly clearly didn't use her head, and that got to me. Some things were a bit unrealistic and difficult to understand why that would happen in a present day novel.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, but, again, was not the full-star-earner I was hoping for.
December 29, 2017
Huge thank you to the publisher for letting me read an advanced copy of this. I'm writing this honest review to say thank you!
2.5 Stars
Ughhhhhh, I wanted to love this SO MUCH MORE than I did. I was DYING for this book and so excited when I got an ARC. It sounded so dark and edgy and fast paced and weird and it just... fell so flat. Basically, the romance killed it for me. Nearly Boswell is a brilliant girl living in a trailer park, her mother is a stripper, and her best friend is in love with her (but he has his own mental issues to deal with) and SHE CAN TOUCH PEOPLE AND FEEL THEIR EMOTIONS. This aspect of the story should have been SUPER IMPORTANT right? But it felt like it was just this random thing that sometimes benefited her but like... it was never really IMPORTANT. She has a rule not to touch people and then I thought she'd be out there using this ability to figure out who the murderer was and... it was just such an afterthought the entire novel. So that was a bust.
Then Reece, this bad-boy-new-guy who becomes her newest mentee (after all of her previous mentee's get KILLED) and she's all I WILL NOT TUTOR YOU one minute and then the next she's busting into drug deals to save him and having to 'pretend to be his girlfriend' to keep the local drug dealer off their back and in order to do that she has to basically check off a list of annoying tropes that have wormed their way into YA. He dresses her for school? CHECK. He makes her ride his motorcycle? CHECK. He finds random times to touch her even though she ~totally~ doesn't want to be touched? CHECK. He dressed her AGAIN (this time for a rave) CHECK. He forces himself on her in school? CHECK. Just... ugh. All of her interactions with Reece felt SO CONTRIVED. Nothing felt natural, nothing flowed, and while it wasn't insta-love she DID end up falling in love with him and I was just like WHY????
The mystery WAS pretty cool though. I will give this book credit for a suspenseful and creative mystery. I didn't see the killer coming and I didn't even SUSPECT him/her from the beginning. So that was cool. I just wish that the actually mystery would have been more of a central focus than her relationship with Reece and how he could make her do dumb stuff to force them together.
And I really liked a lot of the characters. Some of them were surprising, and I even think that Lonny was my favorite (which is quite questionable self...)
2.5 Stars
Ughhhhhh, I wanted to love this SO MUCH MORE than I did. I was DYING for this book and so excited when I got an ARC. It sounded so dark and edgy and fast paced and weird and it just... fell so flat. Basically, the romance killed it for me. Nearly Boswell is a brilliant girl living in a trailer park, her mother is a stripper, and her best friend is in love with her (but he has his own mental issues to deal with) and SHE CAN TOUCH PEOPLE AND FEEL THEIR EMOTIONS. This aspect of the story should have been SUPER IMPORTANT right? But it felt like it was just this random thing that sometimes benefited her but like... it was never really IMPORTANT. She has a rule not to touch people and then I thought she'd be out there using this ability to figure out who the murderer was and... it was just such an afterthought the entire novel. So that was a bust.
Then Reece, this bad-boy-new-guy who becomes her newest mentee (after all of her previous mentee's get KILLED) and she's all I WILL NOT TUTOR YOU one minute and then the next she's busting into drug deals to save him and having to 'pretend to be his girlfriend' to keep the local drug dealer off their back and in order to do that she has to basically check off a list of annoying tropes that have wormed their way into YA. He dresses her for school? CHECK. He makes her ride his motorcycle? CHECK. He finds random times to touch her even though she ~totally~ doesn't want to be touched? CHECK. He dressed her AGAIN (this time for a rave) CHECK. He forces himself on her in school? CHECK. Just... ugh. All of her interactions with Reece felt SO CONTRIVED. Nothing felt natural, nothing flowed, and while it wasn't insta-love she DID end up falling in love with him and I was just like WHY????
The mystery WAS pretty cool though. I will give this book credit for a suspenseful and creative mystery. I didn't see the killer coming and I didn't even SUSPECT him/her from the beginning. So that was cool. I just wish that the actually mystery would have been more of a central focus than her relationship with Reece and how he could make her do dumb stuff to force them together.
And I really liked a lot of the characters. Some of them were surprising, and I even think that Lonny was my favorite (which is quite questionable self...)
June 19, 2014
I love when an author can remind me why I fell in love with a certain genre to begin with and why I love a good mystery.
It's rare in YA that a good thought out, keep you guessing until the end mystery can not only be delivered but signed and sealed as well.
Let's face it, most mysteries in this genre fall flat, aren't well set up and you see them coming from a mile away or they just don't deliver in the end and you are left feeling let down and bereft that things wrapped up too quickly or too conveniently.
I am happy to say that wasn't the case at all in Nearly Gone.
What first drew me to this story was the synopsis claiming and very alluring concept of , Bones meets Fringe it was a pretty irresistible lure for someone like me having watched both tv series and loving them both. How could I resist?
Not only are there paranormal elements weaved into the story line but the protagonist is a nerd. A smart girl that knows what she wants and holds her own against others. A very much Temperance Bennan fell to her, if not genius then close.
The clues left behind each incident really leave you thinking about everything, sometimes even over thinking it. They make you question everything and everyone and will draw you, the reader in and bring you on the edge of your seat wondering what will come next. You can't help but want to know what kind of sick person would play on another in such a way. Would so easily harm others in a game of cat and mouse and have no remorse while doing so. There is an almost eerie, creepy feeling to it all that adds that something extra to keep us on our toes and question everyone around Nearly.
I had fun with this one. The storyline was engaging and sometimes even heart pounding as Nearly raced to get to the victims before the killer could. Throw in some great moments between Nearly and the new guy and you had just enough tender moments and romance to once again leave you light headed and questioning everything.
It's rare in YA that a good thought out, keep you guessing until the end mystery can not only be delivered but signed and sealed as well.
Let's face it, most mysteries in this genre fall flat, aren't well set up and you see them coming from a mile away or they just don't deliver in the end and you are left feeling let down and bereft that things wrapped up too quickly or too conveniently.
I am happy to say that wasn't the case at all in Nearly Gone.
What first drew me to this story was the synopsis claiming and very alluring concept of , Bones meets Fringe it was a pretty irresistible lure for someone like me having watched both tv series and loving them both. How could I resist?
Not only are there paranormal elements weaved into the story line but the protagonist is a nerd. A smart girl that knows what she wants and holds her own against others. A very much Temperance Bennan fell to her, if not genius then close.
The clues left behind each incident really leave you thinking about everything, sometimes even over thinking it. They make you question everything and everyone and will draw you, the reader in and bring you on the edge of your seat wondering what will come next. You can't help but want to know what kind of sick person would play on another in such a way. Would so easily harm others in a game of cat and mouse and have no remorse while doing so. There is an almost eerie, creepy feeling to it all that adds that something extra to keep us on our toes and question everyone around Nearly.
I had fun with this one. The storyline was engaging and sometimes even heart pounding as Nearly raced to get to the victims before the killer could. Throw in some great moments between Nearly and the new guy and you had just enough tender moments and romance to once again leave you light headed and questioning everything.
November 19, 2015
I was really excited to read Nearly Gone. Let me tell you: I am not disappointed. I love this book. The characters, the setting(s), the writing. All of it. I even love the cover. I even love the title. The title is so sneaky!
Nearly Gone is really good. I was so swept up in the story that I actually ended up finishing the book in one sitting. And that ending! The ending was something that I hadn’t expected at all! Talk about plot twist, hello.
The writing is excellent. The story has a great plot. There are awesome characters in this book. Everything fits together well. There is so much character development within the characters, and main character; Nearly, as well. So much so that Nearly is practically a different person by the time the book ends.
I really like the main character. Nearly – I don’t even know how to describe her. She doesn’t like being touched. Thats for sure. She’s also really smart. Like, one of the smartest in her class. She knows when to pick her battles, and what ones to just slip by. She’s kind of idiotic, really. Some of the stuff she did she could’ve ignored entirely; but like I said: Nearly knows which battles to choose.
One of the other characters, Reece, HAS GOTTEN UNDER MY SKIN. He’s very, um, morally ambiguous, I’d say. Reece has had a rough go in his time. And frankly, the decisions he’s made in his time are what brought him to this story. Reece is both bad guy, and the safe guy. Without Reece really being the safe guy, Cosimano has somehow written Reece into being one of my two favourite characters in the story. I LOVE REECE. AGGHHHH.
I can’t really say much about Nearly Gone without getting into much too detail because this book is actually a Young Adult thriller, and I don’t want to spoil anything.
All in all, I absolutely love this book!
Nearly Gone is really good. I was so swept up in the story that I actually ended up finishing the book in one sitting. And that ending! The ending was something that I hadn’t expected at all! Talk about plot twist, hello.
The writing is excellent. The story has a great plot. There are awesome characters in this book. Everything fits together well. There is so much character development within the characters, and main character; Nearly, as well. So much so that Nearly is practically a different person by the time the book ends.
I really like the main character. Nearly – I don’t even know how to describe her. She doesn’t like being touched. Thats for sure. She’s also really smart. Like, one of the smartest in her class. She knows when to pick her battles, and what ones to just slip by. She’s kind of idiotic, really. Some of the stuff she did she could’ve ignored entirely; but like I said: Nearly knows which battles to choose.
One of the other characters, Reece, HAS GOTTEN UNDER MY SKIN. He’s very, um, morally ambiguous, I’d say. Reece has had a rough go in his time. And frankly, the decisions he’s made in his time are what brought him to this story. Reece is both bad guy, and the safe guy. Without Reece really being the safe guy, Cosimano has somehow written Reece into being one of my two favourite characters in the story. I LOVE REECE. AGGHHHH.
I can’t really say much about Nearly Gone without getting into much too detail because this book is actually a Young Adult thriller, and I don’t want to spoil anything.
All in all, I absolutely love this book!
November 19, 2014
Wow I ended up liking this a lot more than I thought I would. I really loved the first 200 pages of this book and I was very intrigued by the story and curious to see where it was going. Then, Nearly did something so shockingly stupid and it pissed me off so much that I set the book down for 3 days and I didn't know if I wanted to finish reading it. Then, I finally decided I should just finish the book, and I'm genuinely impressed with how the rest of the story turned out. This book is mysteriously and suspenseful and everything you would want in a thriller. The only problem I had with this book was Nearly's relationship with Reece. I just didn't like it and he was part of the reason why I didn't want to finish it. He made Nearly act stupid sometimes and he seemed a bit controlling at times. If he wasn't in the story it would've been an easy 5 stars, but he really bugged me.
Nearly has a rough life because she grew up in a trailer park and her Mom is a stripper and her father abandoned them and she's trying to figure out why. I love that her name is Nearly because she was born premature and she barely made it and her parents "nearly" lost her. I love creative names like that that actually mean something. It kind of reminded me of Teen Wolf with the way she would find dead bodies before anyone else (like Lydia in Teen Wolf) which was awesome cause I love that show. I really liked Nearly's relationship with Jeremy and I thought they were cute childhood friends.
The mystery in this book was really well done and it had me guessing till the end. the ending was surprising and I never could have guessed it even if I tried. The reason for the numbers on the wrists of the dead bodies was so cool and I totally wasn't expecting it. Very original idea. I am glad this will be a series because the ending is quite a cliffhanger. Can't wait to read the next one next year! :)
Nearly has a rough life because she grew up in a trailer park and her Mom is a stripper and her father abandoned them and she's trying to figure out why. I love that her name is Nearly because she was born premature and she barely made it and her parents "nearly" lost her. I love creative names like that that actually mean something. It kind of reminded me of Teen Wolf with the way she would find dead bodies before anyone else (like Lydia in Teen Wolf) which was awesome cause I love that show. I really liked Nearly's relationship with Jeremy and I thought they were cute childhood friends.
The mystery in this book was really well done and it had me guessing till the end. the ending was surprising and I never could have guessed it even if I tried. The reason for the numbers on the wrists of the dead bodies was so cool and I totally wasn't expecting it. Very original idea. I am glad this will be a series because the ending is quite a cliffhanger. Can't wait to read the next one next year! :)
April 7, 2014
Oh. My. Gosh!!! It was so good! I loved the writing and it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time! I didn't want to put it down for a second!
Nearly (strange name, but I loved her character!) was unassuming and very bright. She's set her sights on the junior scholarship so that she has money to pay for college and get out of Sunny View. She's also looking in the personals for a message from her dad who left her and her mom 5 years ago. But she comes across these stange ads that seem to be speaking to her, clues about students that are getting killed. Not to mention she also has to worry about touching people because she feels their emotions.
I was suspicious of everyone! There was no one that I didn't think they could have done it! Right up until the end! And even then I still wanted to change who I thought it was! Definitely kept me guessing to the very end!
I thought it was original and fast paced. I seriously couldn't get it out of my head when I wasn't reading it! I would recommend this to anyone who likes thillers with a little paranormal mixed in. It was Brilliant!
Nearly (strange name, but I loved her character!) was unassuming and very bright. She's set her sights on the junior scholarship so that she has money to pay for college and get out of Sunny View. She's also looking in the personals for a message from her dad who left her and her mom 5 years ago. But she comes across these stange ads that seem to be speaking to her, clues about students that are getting killed. Not to mention she also has to worry about touching people because she feels their emotions.
I was suspicious of everyone! There was no one that I didn't think they could have done it! Right up until the end! And even then I still wanted to change who I thought it was! Definitely kept me guessing to the very end!
I thought it was original and fast paced. I seriously couldn't get it out of my head when I wasn't reading it! I would recommend this to anyone who likes thillers with a little paranormal mixed in. It was Brilliant!
March 29, 2014
Nearly Gone is a story that acts as a beautiful reminder of everything we love about reading, sucking us in with a well-executed murder mystery and just a touch of romance; the combination of the two allowing for a couple of late nights as we race against the clock to find out the who and why of it all. The mystery itself is just complicated enough to ensure our minds are working overtime to solve the myriad of literal puzzles the murderer leaves behind for Nearly, but not so convoluted as to create distance between us and the story. We do figure one or two things out with regard to the numbers well before Nearly does, but many times those who are closest to something are the ones who can’t see as clearly, so her inability to make certain connections isn't overly bothersome. The killer and his or her reasons remain intriguingly hidden from us throughout though, a good size suspect pool keeping us on our toes and guessing until the final showdown...
Full review available at: http://supernaturalsnark.blogspot.com...
Full review available at: http://supernaturalsnark.blogspot.com...
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