Book Review: Choker by Elizabeth Woods

I think we're close enough to the release of Choker that I can go ahead and review it.  It was the last in my string of YA reads while I finished up grad school (more on that in a later post!) and it was an excellent one to read before taking a break from the genre for a few weeks.  It was a great story and didn't have the same themes I feel like I've really just overloaded on (namely dystopia and love triangles).  It is the story of a teenage girl who is severely bullied at school.  Just when she feels she cannot take anymore, her childhood friend Zoe returns to town.  But Zoe is a little bit...ok maybe a lot bit...creepy.  And then people start dying.

Writing
Well-written, although the plot "twist" isn't much of a secret.  If you've ever read a similar book, you'll probably pick up on what the ending will be.  To give the author credit, however, she added several elements that had me wondering if I had accurately predicted the ending while I was reading. 

MST3K
Entertainment value is great.  Even though the ending wasn't a complete surprise, I really enjoyed the time I spent reading it and trying to figure out if I was right (which, of course, I was).  I read it all in one sitting over the course of a few hours.  It was interesting enough that I was willing to stay up later than normal to finish it, which hasn't happened in a while.  Definitely recommend to those who are interested in YA contemporary or suspense.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster for a review copy of this title!