Choker by Elizabeth Woods
Simon and Schuster, 2012. ISBN 9780857072863.
(Age: 13+) Recommended. 'Sixteen-year-old Cara Lange has been a
loner ever since she moved away from her best and only friend, Zoe,
years ago. Mostly she spends her time watching Ethan Gray from a
distance, wishing he would finally notice her, and avoiding the
popular girls who call her "Choker" after a humiliating incident in
the cafeteria. Then one day Cara comes home to find Zoe waiting for
her. Zoe's on the run from problems at home, and Cara agrees to help
her hide. With her best friend back, Cara's life changes overnight.
Zoe gives her a new look and new confidence, and next thing she
knows, she's getting invited to parties and flirting with Ethan.
However just as quickly as Cara's life came together, it starts to
unravel. A girl goes missing in her town, and everyone is a suspect,
including Ethan. Worse still, Zoe starts behaving strangely, and
Cara begins to wonder what exactly her friend does all day when
she's at school. You're supposed to trust your best friend no matter
what, but what if she turns into a total stranger?' Blurb.
Behind a flashy cover, this book contained far more excitement then
I expected it to have. Choker by Elizabeth Woods is a
teenage novel, which draws a perfect picture of a typical high
school, where Cara, a loner and also the main character, spends day
after day avoiding the popular girls and watching Ethan Gray from a
distance, wishing he would finally notice her. Frankly, the
storyline promised to be very unoriginal, yet something about this
book told me that things weren't exactly spot-on and unchanging in
Cara's life, especially after her best friend Zoe returned and an
unexpected death of Sydney Powers, her arch-enemy at school, had
occurred.
Choker, which is a steady paced novel, never promised or even
given a slightest hint that it would take this shocking twist
somewhere in the middle and undertake something as epic as the end.
Elizabeth Woods detailed every single sentence, motivating the
reader to go on with the book. Details of the characters were also
very accurate, forming a decent idea of what they were like.
This book is definitely worth reading, since the style of the
writing and a shocking ending leave you wondering about it for days.
People will either love or hate this book, depending on their
favourite genres. Overall I would say that good endings make good
books, and Choker is definitely one of those novels.
I recommend this book.
Nika Aroutiounian