Reclaimed

August 1, 2013
A small-town girl can't choose between two twin brothers in this psychological romance. Jenna feels stifled in the little town of Solitude, Ark., where she's lived all her life with her mother. Jenna dreams only of leaving home and living in the wider world when 17-year-old twin boys and their mom buy Jenna's recently deceased grandfather's house. First she meets Ian, a straight-A student who has been trying to reclaim his memories, mostly lost three months ago after a traumatic event. Then she meets Luke, who insists he's the bad twin, always in trouble. However, Jenna can't help being more attracted to Luke, although she knows she's going behind Ian's back to meet him. Complicating matters is Jenna's mom, who suffers from the family tendency to drink and for whom Jenna feels responsible. Just when Jenna firmly decides she loves Luke, Luke tells her what really happened the night Ian lost his memory, a secret that changes everything. Guillory writes the entire novel through the shifting though identical first-person viewpoints of the three adolescents--readers will have to pay strict attention to chapter subheadings. Frequent nature-inspired metaphors ("the shadows [of the woods] swallowed me") add depth. If the psychology gets a bit too convoluted toward the end, much of the story remains believable. Lengthy but ultimately intriguing. (Psychological romance. 12-16)

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February 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-Beautiful, athletic Jenna is unhappy with her life in small town Solitude, Arkansas. Her grandfather, with whom she was very close, recently passed away, and Jenna's mother has turned to alcohol to deal with her grief. In order to ensure an escape from her unhappy life post-high school, Jenna works two jobs to earn money for college. When identical twins Ian and Luke move to town, Jenna is intrigued. Despite their matching good looks, the brothers couldn't be more different: Ian is the responsible, levelheaded one; Luke is wild and reckless. But there is something strange about the them: Ian has amnesia but doesn't know why, and Luke knows the cause but won't share it. This book has a shocking plot twist that will keep readers engaged and eager to discover what secrets the twins are hiding. While this could be classified as a romance, the absorbing narrative and fast-moving mystery will appeal to a much broader audience. A definite purchase for most high school libraries.-Sarah Allen, Judson High School, Converse, TX

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