Akiva Reads

by Maureen Johnson

Liked this better than #1; the pacing was more even. Still not very interested in love-interest!boy, but at least he does more interesting things in this one. It made me think about what we consider "acting crazy" to look like, and why that doesn't ever seem look like real mental illness. I'm sure Johnson is going to go there, because realistic portrayal of anxiety is a running theme.

J. should be my favorite character but she's given more Quirky And/Or Narratively Useful Traits than feelings or conflicts. Nate and other!love-interest!boy get a lot more.

The mystery does play fair in this, more than in the previous I think. I had gotten as far as guessing Ellie was still on the grounds somewhere, but I figured she was being hidden by someone, not dead. It only took me a bit at the end to realize Larry is responsible for Ellie's death (cover up for Hayes) and also set the fire (more cover up, this time related to receiving Alice's trust); I'm not yet sure why he targeted Hayes in the first place.