Review: Cryer's Cross (audio book)

Author: Lisa McMann
Narrator: Julia Whelan
Publish date: 2011
Source: Library
"Kendall loves her life in small town Cryer's Cross, Montana, but she also longs for something more. She knows the chances of going to school in New York are small, but she's not the type to give up easily. Even though it will mean leaving Nico, the world's sweetest boyfriend, behind. 

But when Cryer's Cross is rocked by unspeakable tragedy, Kendall shoves her dreams aside and focuses on just one goal: help find her missing friends. Even if it means spending time with the one boy she shouldn't get close to... the one boy who makes her question everything she feels for Nico.

Determined to help and to stay true to the boy she's always loved, Kendall keeps up the search--and stumbles upon some frightening local history. She knows she can't stop digging, but Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried..."

Cryer's Cross is one of those books that has a great premise and some good elements, but just ultimately did not work out for me. I wanted to like it, but it was just disappointing.

The setting in Cryer's Cross was one of the best things about the book. The tiny town in Montana is the same as the title of the book and only had about 200 residents. I love tiny towns that no one has ever heard of, especially ghost or near ghost towns, so I was really excited while listening to the description of the setting. The small town feeling was like another character.

However...there just wasn't enough of anything else in the novel. I didn't feel like Kendall was fleshed out enough as a main character and I didn't like the third person present tense narration. For me, at least, past tense would have been better. Unfortunately, the plot wasn't enough to overshadow the characters. There just wasn't...enough. There could have been a lot more to the mystery and overall plot. It was almost boring at times.

As an audio book, I wasn't too impressed either. The narrator's voice was flat and didn't have much emotion, although my guess is that a different narrator wouldn't have changed my mind about the book.