Whisper To Me by Nick Lake: Such a unique and amazing story!

Whisper To Me by Nick Lake – 4.5 Stars

Wowza. I can definitely say I have never read a story like this one before. The way this starts off is I think the best intro to a book I have ever read:

“These are the things that you need to know:

1. I hear voices.

2. I miss you.

3. I wish I could take back what I did to you.

4. What they said in the news, what they said I did. It’s not true. You don’t have to worry about that.

5. I’m going to write it all down, all about Paris and why I broke your heart, and then I’m going to e-mail it to you. It will take you, I don’t know, a couple of days to read. So I will be waiting for you at 5:00 p.m. Friday by the windmill hole of Pirate Golf on Pier One, where we played that one time.

If you forgive me, when you’re done reading this, come and get me. Okay? Think of this as the most screwed-up love letter ever. I hope you come. That isn’t a thing you need to know, it’s just true. I hope you do. I hope that when you’ve read this, you’ll understand why I did what I did.”

Does that not just suck you in? The whole book is essentially an apology letter from Cassie, trying to explain all her actions and get the boy she hurt to forgive her. But for what, we don’t know.

I must say, the cover of this fooled me a bit. I was expecting a light YA love story. But the topics discussed in here are so much deeper than that. There’s a range of everything in here: friendship, mental illness, death, love – all combined in a coming of age story that will lead readers into a murder mystery along the way. Sounds crazy, I know. But it was wildly entertaining and so brilliantly written.

Maybe it’s the way the story is told or maybe it was because I was dying to get answers, but I COULDN’T PUT IT DOWN and I read this in record time. I HAD to know what happened to Cassie, what led to her “betrayal,” why she was hearing a voice, how it would all end.

Even hours after I finished, I was STILL thinking about this book. How unique this story was, and how the author just got it all so RIGHT. So many times I read something Cassie thought and said “Wow. Yes. That is so accurate. Yes, I have thought this. YES, I UNDERSTAND.”

Throughout this, there were times I wanted to cry. There were times I did cry (and I rarely ever cry). There were times I wanted to just jump in the pages and hug Cassie. There were times I wanted to jump in the pages and just slap her for being so foolish. Some of her thoughts just got me so emotional I had to stop to take a breather.

“I was shining. Light was blazing from my every pore. My eyes were closed, and the strip lights were turning the inside of my eyelids red, everything red. That’s your color, you know, the one I see and feel when I think of you. Emotions are always associated with colors, aren’t they? Green with envy. Well, when you are in my head you are always there with red: sunlight, warmth, heat.

People are green with envy.

Yellow with cowardice.

I am red with you.”

God that line!

I wanted her to stop being so hurt and blaming herself for things she couldn’t control. I wanted more of her and the mystery boy together. Their awkward encounters were so perfect. BUT MOST OF ALL, I just wanted her to be happy!

“But now I want to be a real girl, not just a voice, I want my body back, and I want you to be the one to hold it; I want to hear my name on your lips. I want you to be the one to whisper to me.”

I do want to point out that I don’t think this book is for everyone. Not because I didn’t love it or because it was lacking in any way. But this is so character driven and focuses so much on the characters and much less on the plot, and I know not everyone is a fan of these types of books.

Personally, my only critique is …

*slight spoiler below*

THAT ENDING! Jesus Christ. I almost threw my kindle across the room. I got zero closure from that. I know this is personal preference, but I really do hate ambiguous endings. After all the reader goes through with Cassie, I just needed to know if he forgave her! Are they together? Did he meet her? WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?!?

This really was a truly unique and heart wrenching story. And one I won’t forget any time soon.

Whisper To Me is out now!