Shine Review

Shine by Lauren Myracle is about a girl named Cat who lives in a backwater town in North Carolina. When her friend Patrick is brutally attacked and in a coma, Cat becomes determined to find out who did this to her friend, knowing that the police in town won't do anything.

Though this book has a definite plot, I would not consider it a plot driven book. To a point, you want to find out who did this horrible thing but you also care about the characters. The reader gets an excellent picture of rural Southern life. All the characters are believable as to where they come from. Myracle also deals with a lot of social issues- rape, homosexuality, drugs, etc. Pretty much any social issue you can think of, she brings up within this book. Under normal circumstances, I would find this annoying, however, Myracle is a strong enough writer to where it's not like, "Okay, kids, let's take a paragraph to talk about drugs." The fact that she doesn't do this only proves Myracle to bring a strong writer. Also, she excellently points out that these social issues often get swept under the rug in Southern culture, which is true.

I would recommend this book to anyone. I have not read much else of Myracle works, only her short story in Let It Snow with John Green and Maureen Johnson two authors I adore, and Peace, Love, and Baby Ducks which was also good, but a decidedly different novel. I love it when authors branch out from different genres and do it well. That is the make of great author, in my opinion.As for this book, I would recommend it to everyone, because I think everyone can relate to it in one way or another.

Also, look at how beautiful the cover is.