4 out of 4 stars
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Paranoia, by Ryan Fortier, is a breathtaking psychological thriller that will make you keep on reading until the very end. It was a fairly quick read of about 250 pages and was extremely thought provoking. The book is centralized around the aspects of friendship, family, and the gut feeling. After reading Paranoia, it made me realize how it is important to love and appreciate the finer things in life, such as relaxing on the couch with your family or even your mom waking you up for school in the mornings, before they are taken away from you.
The story opens up by introducing the main character, seventeen year old Jacob, playing a relaxing game of chess with his best friend, Sarah. After being beaten by Sarah (again), Jacob decides to head out and do what teenagers do best: party. However, the party turns out to be anything but fun when Jake receives an unusual phone call from his mother telling him the four words that will never cease to haunt him for the rest of his life: We’ll love you always.
Shortly after his mother’s phone call, Jacob’s life is turned upside down when receives the news that his parents had been murdered while he was at the party. The story then fast forwards to four months later where a now orphaned Jacob continues to mourn. He is constantly plagued with nightmares relating to his parents’ death and the last phone call he had gotten from his dying mother as she spoke her last four words to him. For four long months Jacob has been waiting for an answer of who could do such a thing to his parents, but the police have not found any new leads. Jake then is faced with a challenging dilemma: Should he follow his gut and hunt down the killer himself or should he sit back and watch as the cops struggle to find a lead on the unsolved case?
When I first heard of this book, I had my doubts about it. I was not used to reading this particular genre because I am more of a romance gal. But despite my apprehension, this book got me hooked as soon as I read the first sentence. I appreciated how well organized and easy to follow this book was. It was split into parts and the author included the dates at the beginning of each chapter, making it so that I could decipher which moments were flashbacks and which were happening at that present time. I also liked that the book was incredibly detailed, but at the same time, the author did not reveal everything, so I was constantly guessing what the characters had in store for them next.
Over all, what really sold this book was the heart-wrenching ending. The characters were very relatable and as a young adult myself, I can say that author succeeded in creating a character such as Jacob, who’s so in line with a highschool boy. The further I delved into this book, the more of a bond established between myself and the characters, which is why the ending phased me as much as it did. I can only recall a handful of times where a story ending has caused me to want to launch my laptop out the window, and throw pennies in a fountain wishing for a sequel to answer so many questions the book left me with. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone over the age of thirteen who is looking for a good read, only because of the amount of profanity. Therefore, despite the many grammatical errors, spelling errors, and discrepancies throughout the novel, I can still give this book 4 out of 4 stars because of the killer ending.
Read the book to understand the irony!
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Paranoia
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