Book Review: Since You've Been Gone

Title: Since You've Been Gone

Author: Mary Jennifer Payne

Rating: ☕ ☕ ☕ (3)

Publish Date: February 17, 2015

It seems like forever since I was given a YA novel to review, and a contemporary one at that. It was nice to have a little break from the non-fiction and fantasy I've been reading lately. Like many of the contemporary YA novels that have been published in the last five years, this one deals with sensitive subjects that real teenagers may be dealing with. Since You've Been Gone begins with 15 year old Edie and her mother fleeing into the night – again. Being on the run is something Edie knows all too well since she and her mother have been fleeing from her abusive father for the last five years. But this time it’s different, they’re not only trying to start over in a new city but a new country.

This story had a lot of potential but it fell flat. The pace of the writing was good, it kept me interested enough to finish the book, but I felt like the story was too rushed. Some of the problems with the storytelling may be because this is the author’s first novel and prior to this she was writing for graphic novels. Storytelling in graphic novels tends to have a quick pace and things can be left out in the dialogue because they can be shown in the art. Since You've Been Gone suffered because it was too short, things that should have been explored in more detail were cut short, and things that weren't necessary to the plot were overdone. The last quarter of the book was particularly rushed to the point where the narrative became unrealistic.

 I also had a hard time sympathizing with Edie, I understand that her circumstances were terrible, but her character was inconsistent at critical points and it made it hard for me to like her since I wasn't sure which Edie the author meant to portray. I would have also liked it if the supporting characters were fleshed out more, especially Jermaine and possibly Precious (when you get to the end you’ll know why).

I’m giving it a 3 because the potential is there. The writing was, for the most part, good and it kept my interest. I just wish there was more.