Gone Review

Gone - Lisa McMann
*February 9th, 2010 Simon Pulse

Janie thought she knew what her future held. And she thought she'd made her peace with it. But she can't handle dragging Cabel down with her.

She knows he will stay with her, despite what she sees in his dreams. He's amazing. And she's a train wreck. Janie sees only one way to give him the life he deserves--she has to disappear. And it's going to kill them both.

Then a stranger enters her life--and everything unravels. The future Janie once faced now has an ominous twist, and her choices are more dire than she'd ever thought possible. She alone must decide between the lesser of two evils. And time is running out...

Lisa McMann has built up a brilliant track record thus far with the first two books in the Dream Catcher trilogy, Wake and Fade (Fade review). With the final installment, McMann pulls it off again, bringing the story to a brilliant conclusion with Gone.

Writing-wise, Gone basically meets expectations. It's great to get another dose of McMann's unique writing style. The fragmented sentences, the exhilarating rush that accompanies it... there's something almost poetic about the diction choice, and the way they're selectively arranged. It definitely creates a sense of rushed immediacy, which injects tension and suspense into the narrative superbly.

Character development is continued nicely - we get more of a sense of Cabel and Janie - and the minor characters - as people. Getting familiarized with their motivations and thought processes definitely increases intimacy and augments credibility. There seems to be a bit of an exchange of action for character progression in Gone.

One of the great things about the trilogy has been its ability to provoke thought. Gone is no exception - McMann introduces interesting dilemmas which will doubtlessly cause you to self-reflect and wonder what you would do in that situation. The situation continued and rearranged and then posed in a new way in Gone is definitely a difficult, but well laid out, one. Which brings me to another point. Regarding the dilemma, there seems to be one answer that could potentially work out - yet this is neither proved or disproved, and more or less ignored. Hopefully this wasn't an oversight; but alas, as Gone is the final installment, guess we won't find out.

McMann brings the story to a very fitting conclusion with Gone. It's a fulfilling ending, which makes sense (mostly) and brings about a degree of satisfaction. With poetic writing, raw characters and an intriguing plot, Lisa McMann's Gone is bound to be another great success.

Fade Review | Goodreads | IndieBound | Lisa McMann


If you've reviewed Gone as well, link your review below.