Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield

Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield

Review of Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone

Title & Author:
Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield
Publisher:
Dutton Juvenile
Publication Date:
July 05, 2012
Pages:
304
Source:
LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Becca has always longed to break free from her small, backwater hometown. But the discovery of an unidentified dead girl on the side of a dirt road sends the town–and Becca–into a tailspin. Unable to make sense of the violence of the outside world creeping into her backyard, Becca finds herself retreating inward, paralyzed from moving forward for the first time in her life.

Short chapters detailing the last days of Amelia Anne Richardson’s life are intercut with Becca’s own summer as the parallel stories of two young women struggling with self-identity and relationships on the edge twist the reader closer and closer to the truth about Amelia’s death. – Goodreads

Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield was a beautifully written debut and haunting in its subject matter.

I’m such a huge fan of murder mysteries and beautifully written prose, so I was kind of a sucker for Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone from the get-go. I just fell in love with Kat Rosenfield’s storytelling – the way the past (usually involving the history of the town or Becca and James’ relationship) was mixed in with the future to help connect certain events.

And the ending and the killer and how the mystery was solved and the lives ruined. I don’t know, it was just so…much. I had my suspicions about little parts of the whole thing, but the way Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone came together – I never saw it all coming.

I loved the alternating points of view – Becca’s and Amelia’s. They were both connected through their immense desire for things they weren’t given. They both had dreams, like Becca and her dream of going far away and Amelia’s acting career. I just thought it really helped connect the two in a way that made sense, even though they never knew each other.

Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield is a book I had to read in small doses. The writing is beautiful and overwhelming at points. If you’re looking for a haunting contemporary with beautiful writing, be sure not to miss Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone.

While you’re here, you can subscribe to my feed :)