Choker by Elizabeth Woods

Title: Choker
Author: Elizabeth Woods
Release Date: January 4, 2011
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Pages: 240
Format: Hardcover
Acquired: Bought
Age Group: Young Adult
Challenge: 2011 Debut Author
Rating: 5

Sixteen-year-old Cara Lange has been a loner ever since she moved away from her best and only friend, Zoe, years ago. She eats lunch with the other girls from the track team, but they're not really her friends. Mostly she spends her time watching Ethan Gray from a distance, wishing he would finally notice her, and avoiding the popular girls who call her "Choker" after a humiliating incident in the cafeteria.

Then one day Cara comes home to find Zoe waiting for her. Zoe's on the run from problems at home, and Cara agrees to help her hide. With her best friend back, Cara's life changes overnight. Zoe gives her a new look and new confidence, and next thing she knows, she's getting invited to parties and flirting with Ethan. Best of all, she has her BFF there to confide in.

But just as quickly as Cara's life came together, it starts to unravel. A girl goes missing in her town, and everyone is a suspect—including Ethan. Worse still, Zoe starts behaving strangely, and Cara begins to wonder what exactly her friend does all day when she's at school. You're supposed to trust your best friend no matter what, but what if she turns into a total stranger?

I'm not going to lie; I was completely and utterly surprised by the ending. Like my jaw dropped.

Right from the first few pages you understand that there is something twisted and wrong about the friendship between Zoe and Cara and I believe that Elizabeth does a wonderful job getting to the core of this friendship and slowly watching the decay of it.

Cara at first is a character that you sympathize with because being in an unfamiliar surrounding, not really having friends, and then getting bullied by the popular girl's, you really want things to end well for her.

Another thing that Elizabeth did well was giving slight hints into the actual mind set of Cara, but you really don't get the full force until the end, which makes things far more interesting.

The pace was well done, and frankly the novel wasn't too long, but it also wasn't too short either.

I read this in one day. If you have yet to read this book pay attention to Zoe throughout the novel and Cara, very closely. At first I didn't really get the correlation between the two besides these were best friends and Zoe was the classic troubled teen who was abused by her step father, type of thing, and Cara was desperate for some familiarity in her life. But as the story progresses there is something about the two of them that connects, and I can't reveal what because that would be telling you everything.

Mysterious, twisted, and dark this is the best psychological thriller I have read the entire year. I say that you should really pick up a copy and read this. You'll be so into this you'll finish it in one sitting most likely. I loved this book and I'm surprised that I have nothing terribly bad to say about it. Elizabeth Woods is the best debut thus far, though you really get a sense that this author is really private since it's almost impossible to find anything about her, but if someone can like get an article or anything else that she's written I would appreciate that. I tried her website and it took me somewhere else, so besides living in Ohio we know nothing about her.

I would love to know where this idea came from.

All I have to say is pick it up and read it. You won't regret it.