The Leaving
Tara Altebrando
11 years ago, six children went missing from their school. Now they have returned, with nothing but a few scraps of memory of their time away. Stop there – only five have returned? What happened to Max? Why were they chosen?
I wasn’t won over by the way there were ‘bytes’ of information from the way that Scarlett and Lucas thought. I didn’t like the consciousnesses changing, and I thought Avery was an idiot. A rich, spoilt idiot.
I think that the ‘romance’ in this one was just a distraction from the whole premise of the book. This is apparently a thriller, yet I never felt threatened. In fact, I’m not sure that the kids that returned felt threatened either.
That was one of the most unsatisfactory endings in my whole life. What is this, is it going to be a series? Is it just a discussion of losing your memory?
I’d like to read the science behind this. Brains are fascinating in the way that they forget things and develop false memories. I think it is well documented how dementia patients begin to suffer, and the way memories can be lost in childhood. I could certainly do without some of mine!
I so wanted to like this novel. Look at the pretty cover? Yes yes, it called to me. The blurb? Seemed good. But then it just took my time and I wasn’t even that keen on it. 2 stars from me.
