Friday, November 9, 2012

Review: Lark

Author: Tracey Porter
Publish date: 2011
Source: Classroom library
"When sixteen-year-old Lark Austin is kidnapped from her Virginia hometown and left to die in a snowy forest, she leaves behind two friends who are stunned by the loss. As Lark's former best friend, Eve can't shake the guilt that this tragedy was somehow her fault. Meanwhile, Nyetta is haunted each night by Lark's ghost, who comes through the bedroom window and begs Nyetta to set her soul free. Eve and Nyetta realize that Lark is trapped in limbo, and only by coming together to heal themselves will they discover why." (Goodreads)

I had never heard of Lark until we ordered it for our classroom libraries and my coworker took it home one night and read it in one sitting. She told me about it the next day and since it was a short book and I was jonesing for one of those "read in one sittings" kind of books, I took it home and shockingly, read it all that night. It's a short book and I enjoyed it, although I don't think it's for everybody.

This book is told from the point of view of all three main characters, Lark, Eve, and Nyetta. I normally don't like that many narrators, but I think it really worked for this book, mostly because of the length. There was a LOT packed into less than 200 pages, but I don't think the book would have been as good if it were longer. I do wish there was more of an ending, though--I felt like Porter could have gone a bit further with the characters.

The writing in this book is beautiful, almost poetic, and I really enjoyed reading it. There is one chapter in particular toward the end, told from Lark's POV, that I thought was amazing and an interesting choice in the narration. If you've read the book, you know which one I'm talking about.

This book isn't for everyone, but if you are looking for a short, sad book, mostly based on character development, Lark will work for you. Expect to read it in one sitting!

No comments:

Post a Comment