Made For You by Melissa Marr : Book Review : Gateway Nominee

Title: Made For You
Author: Melissa Marr
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published Date: January 5th 2016
Genre: YA, Mystery, Thriller, Contemporary
Page Count: 384
Format: Paperback

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Goodreads Summary: 

Eva Tilling wakes up in the hospital to discover she possesses a strange new skill—the ability to foresee people's deaths when they touch her. While she is recovering from her hit-and-run accident, Nate, an old flame, reappears, and the two must traverse their rocky past as they figure out how to use Eva's power to keep their friends—and each other—from falling into the hands of a killer.

This contemporary romantic suspense novel from five-time New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr earned widespread critical acclaim, with Kirkus Reviews calling it a "riveting whodunit that delivers a bouquet of teen romance, paranormal, and thriller." And BCCB declared, "Between the suspense, the horror, the romance, and the wit, this will have equal appeal for fans of Sarah Dessen and Rosemary Clement-Moore."

A stark departure from her fantasy settings, this Southern Gothic, racy thriller gives fans old and new chilling twists, unrequited obsession, and high-stakes romance.
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 My Review:

"I tune them out. It's far too easy to do, really. The conversation, the people, the whole party is like most every other Friday for the past couple years. Sometimes I want to ask them if they're happy, if they enjoy their lives or if they feel like they're not just playing roles like me."

Eva Tilling is from Jessup, North Carolina. A place where status is made from who your parents are, how much they make, and who your ancestors were. This also means that all of the popular kids have known each other since childhood and that everything seems like it’s constantly the same, and that everyone is playing a role in a part of life that they have no real say over. Or at least that’s how she feels. Eva’s boyfriends is a jerk, not only are they pretty much only dating because it’s convenient but also because it’s what their families expect them to do. But things aren’t always what they seem and he is also keeping things hidden from her, things that will not only jeopardize their relationship but the life of others around them as well.

Once Eva gets hurt, he doesn’t show up, and the only people to visit her Grace and Nate. Both her friends at different points in life and both grow even closer to her throughout this time period.  Eva also gets a certain type of power though after the accident, she can see people’s deaths. This not only freaks her out, but also makes her try and stop these people from dying.

As Eva heals, and tries to figure out who ran her over and why. Things start happening to other girls in town, two die and one even has a message left from the person who harmed her.  As the story goes on the killer starts trying to communicate more with Eva through flowers and insects because they had learned what they mean in a class at school.  Yes that means the killer is someone who is their age and who they’ve none possibly forever.

Told in multiple perspectives between Eva, Grace, and the killer this book not only shows what happened to Eva, how different the south is through Grace, and why/how the killer does and thinks things.  

This book, I couldn’t get enough of. I ended up reading it in an afternoon and didn’t want to put it down, I was constantly on the edge of my seat trying to figure out who had done it and had multiple suspects throughout the book.  While the person wasn’t who I thought it would be it made the story even better, because not only did it shock me, but it also made me realize how good some people are at pretending which is a scary thought considering what this person did to them. 

Surprisingly enough I actually liked the romance between Eva and Nate, not only was it slow going, but it felt natural for it to happen. They worked together as a team well and I hope they make it as a couple.

I can’t wait to read more of Marr’s novels in the future!

 "I close my eyes for a second. This cannot be happening - all because, I opened my door. That was all I did. I opened my door to a boy I've known for a few years, a boy who drove me home yesterday, a boy who has hit on me at parties and joked with me at school. Now I'm chained up listening to him explain the appeal of a shock collar instead of a chain."