Review: Dear Lucy by Julie Sarkissian

Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Pages: 352

Received: Received a copy from the publisher from NetGalley

Release Date: April 23, 2013
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Goodreads Synopsis:

I go down the stairs quiet like I am something without any weight. I open the door in the dark and the cold sucks my skin towards it. It is the morning but there is no sun yet, just white light around the edges. It is the time to get the eggs. Time for my best thing. The eggs they shine with their white and I do not need the light to find them. The foxes need no light either. I am a little like the fox, he is a little like me. Lucy is a young woman with an uncommon voice and an unusual way of looking at the world. She doesn’t understand why her mother has sent her to live with old Mister and Missus on their farm, but she knows she must never leave or her mother won’t be able to find her again.

Also living at the farm is a pregnant teenager named Samantha who tells conflicting stories about her past and quickly becomes Lucy’s only friend. When Samantha gives birth and her baby disappears, Lucy arms herself with Samantha’s diary—as well as a pet chicken named Jennifer—and embarks on a dangerous and exhilarating journey to reunite mother and child. With Dear Lucy, Julie Sarkissian has created an unforgettable new heroine of contemporary fiction whose original voice, exuberance, and bravery linger long after the final page.

My Review:

Lately, I've had a thing for books with a very unusual narrator. There was The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow, about a boy who could not speak and saw emotions and colours, and now there is Dear Lucy. Lucy is an interesting character, she is special and doesn't understand a lot about what is going on around her. Her mother has left her on this farm with "Mister and Missus" because she is not ale to take care of Lucy on her own. This story is told from three different perspectives, there is Lucy (who we follow for most of the book), then Samantha (another girl living on the farm), and Missus. This story was interesting, Lucy has become friends with Samantha, a pregnant teenage living on the farm and the only one who really looks out for Lucy, and in her own way Lucy looks out for Samantha.

I was definitely intrigued with the synopsis, Samantha's baby goes missing and Lucy goes on this journey to reunite the mother with her child. In the end, I think that there was so much more to this story, and that part was such a small part of the overall story. This story really shows a beautiful friendship, and even someone who has no understanding of the world, can be loyal and be there to help someone when they need it.

This book took me awhile to get through, as much as the story intrigued me, I had difficulty getting through the writing style. Readers see thing from Lucy's perspective and I found it difficult to grasp her voice and really understand what she was saying and why she did things at times. The thing that I did love about Lucy and that kept me reading this book was her willingness to do anything to help Samantha, and her interactions with her pet chicken. I felt like Jennifer (the chicken) was another part of Lucy that helped her realize things she couldn't do on her own, almost like bringing out a part of Lucy's mind that has been closed off.

There was an air of mystery around the owners of the farm, Mister and Missus, I wanted a little more of their story. I found their part of the story to be a little disturbing (I can't say much more about it without spoiling the story). I did feel for what they went through but at the same time, I disliked their characters so much. There were a couple of characters that I felt creeped out by throughout the book.

Though I had issues connecting with the story and the characters, I do think that this was a beautiful story, it just wasn't for me at this time. I can see many people enjoying this story. I found the main idea behind this story is doing whatever you can to get the answer. Lucy searches for what she believes in and she will do anything to help Samantha. I think this book definitely had a lot going for it, and I think I could have enjoyed it more if the narrative was not so disconnected (but then this story would not be what it is, and would not be Lucy's story).