When by Victoria Laurie Review

Title:When

Author: Victoria Laurie

Maddie Fynn is a shy high school junior, cursed with an eerie intuitive ability: she sees a series of unique digits hovering above the foreheads of each person she encounters. Her earliest memories are marked by these numbers, but it takes her father’s premature death for Maddie and her family to realize that these mysterious digits are actually death dates, and just like birthdays, everyone has one.

Forced by her alcoholic mother to use her ability to make extra money, Maddie identifies the quickly approaching death date of one client's young son, but because her ability only allows her to see the when and not the how, she’s unable to offer any more insight. When the boy goes missing on that exact date, law enforcement turns to Maddie.

Soon, Maddie is entangled in a homicide investigation, and more young people disappear and are later found murdered. A suspect for the investigation, a target for the murderer, and attracting the attentions of a mysterious young admirer who may be connected to it all, Maddie's whole existence is about to be turned upside down. Can she right things before it's too late?

Maddie has had a speical gift since she was born. She could see everyone's deathdate. Her parents didn't know until her father died on the date she had told them. Her mother, now an alcoholic, used Maddie's gift to make money. Charging people in exchange for a date. When a mother comes in asking about her sick son, Maddie gives her good news. It is only when she sees another one and tells the mother that her other son will die in three days, does the mother flip out. When it does happen, Maddie is high on the suspect list. So, with the help of her bestfriend, Stubs, they have to clear her name and keep her out of prison.

This book had an interesting concept. It brought up the question "who would you to know?" Personally, I wouldn't. My anxiety is way too bad for something like that. This book was a fairly quick read, the plot moving at a good pace.

The rest was a bit of a miss for me, though. The characters needed to be rounded out a little bit more. Even Maddie, the main character, seemed to only have one emotion through the entire book. I felt very disconnected to her. I also wish she would have taken the time to get to know Aiden, the love interest. Because it felt like she just threw him in there and said "there. love him." without us knowing anything about him. Because I wasn't attached to the characters enough to care about them, I didn't really feel the suspense you are supposed to when reading this.

Overall I am giving this book a 3/5. The story was interesting enough to keep me reading until the last page, I just didn't care much once I got there.