Review: The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leto

Goodreads Summary:

You take it for granted. Waking up. Going to school, talking to your friends. Watching a show on television or reading a book or going out to lunch.

You take for granted going to sleep at night, getting up the next day, and remembering everything that happened to you before you closed your eyes.

You live and you remember.

Me, I live and I forget.

But now—now I am remembering.

For all of her seventeen years, Molly feels like she’s missed bits and pieces of her life. Now, she’s figuring out why. Now, she’s remembering her own secrets. And in doing so, Molly uncovers the separate life she seems to have led…and the love that she can’t let go.

The Half Life of Molly Pierce is a suspenseful, evocative psychological mystery about uncovering the secrets of our pasts, facing the unknowns of our futures, and accepting our whole selves.

Publication Date: July 8, 2014

The Half Life of Molly Pierce was a terrific debut novel! I couldn’t put it down until I found out what had been happening to Molly during her missing pieces of time. I’ve been getting over YA books a bit, but this novel revitalized my love for the genre.

Molly was a great character and despite her psychological issues, including depression, I found her relatable. She was such a well-drawn character and I think it helped that the author wrote the novel in a stream of consciousness style. I liked Molly’s siblings a lot as well as brothers Lyle and the unfortunately named Sayer that come into Molly’s life.

The central mystery at the heart of the novel wasn’t hard to figure out, but there was still a lot that the author kept me guessing over. I would think I had all the mysteries unraveled, but then something would happen and I’d start to question my theories.  

What I loved most about the novel was that although it was dark, there were some wonderful flashes of humor. Many of the plotlines in the novel are depressing and I appreciated the levity. The romance in the book was interesting, but doesn’t overshadow the main plot of trying to figure out what’s happening to Molly.

I really loved everything about this book and can’t recommend it enough to fans of YA contemporaries that want to read a solid novel of psychological suspense.

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the novel for review!