Review: Gone, Gone, Gone by Hannah Moscowitz

In the wake of the post-9/11 sniper shootings, fragile love finds a stronghold in this intense, romantic novel from the author of Break and Invincible Summer.

It's a year after 9/11. Sniper shootings throughout the D.C. area have everyone on edge and trying to make sense of these random acts of violence. Meanwhile, Craig and Lio are just trying to make sense of their lives.

Craig’s crushing on quiet, distant Lio, and preoccupied with what it meant when Lio kissed him...and if he’ll do it again...and if kissing Lio will help him finally get over his ex-boyfriend, Cody.

Lio feels most alive when he's with Craig. He forgets about his broken family, his dead brother, and the messed up world. But being with Craig means being vulnerable...and Lio will have to decide whether love is worth the risk.

This intense, romantic novel from the author of Break and Invincible Summer is a poignant look at what it is to feel needed, connected, and alive.

Review:

Gone, Gone, Gone is the first book that I read in 2013, and I completely loved it.  It was a great way for me to start off the new year.  I fell into the story immediately, and I fell in love with the characters.  This book is character driven, and it isn't really about the plot.  It's about the lives of the people who are the protagonists.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

This book is told in dual POV by Craig and Lio.  I fell in love with both of these characters as I read this book.  They were extremely well-developed, and they both had flaws.  Craig had many animals that he liked to take in and keep, but they all escaped in the first scene of the book.  Throughout, there are mentions of him finding some of the animals again, and he keeps a count of which ones he is still missing.  He has many problems because his ex-boyfriend went a bit crazy after 9/11, and he is in a mental hospital type place now.  Meanwhile, the shootings are going on, and Craig seems to think he's invincible.  He doesn't worry about himself.


The other protagonist is Lio, the new kid in school who met Craig through an ambassador program that the school has.  Lio has several sisters, and he used to have a twin brother.  Both he and his brother got leukemia when they were young, but only Lio survived.  This has emotionally damaged him a bit.  He colors his hair multiple colors, so he won't look the way his twin brother would have grown up to look.  He also has a fascination with numbers and probability of things happening to certain people.  He uses numbers when thinking about the shootings.


The romance in this book was well done.  Both Lio and Craig are gay, but the book isn't about them coming out.  The fact that they're gay is more matter-of-fact in this book.  From the beginning it's clear that Lio has a crush on Craig, and it's also clear that Craig has a crush on Lio as well.  Despite this, the two boys don't immediately start dating each other.  Craig is still hung up on his ex-boyfriend, Cody, and he still loves Cody.  He and Cody never really did officially break up either.  The relationship that develops between is slow and realistic and sweet.  Their relationship certainly wasn't perfect, but it eventually worked out.

If you like YA contemporary, read this book.

Katie