'The best books, reviewed with insight and charm, but without compromise.'
- author Jackie French

Thursday 6 November 2014

Review: The Protected

Claire Zorn has a way of immersing you so completely in other people’s realities that you don’t want to come up for air. She did it in The Sky So Heavy (KBR review)and she’s done it again in The Protected.

Hannah has three months left to call Katie her big sister, because Katie will always be fifteen, eleven months and twenty-one days. That’s how The Protected starts, pulling you into the complex emotions of a family trying to come to grips with losing Katie.

But nothing is as it seems. Sure, everyone is grieving, but their reasons for mourning are so different that it’s hard to remember that each is mourning the same person. Get ready to be dipped into Hannah’s world, but be warned. You won’t want to put The Protected down till you get all the way to the end.

P.S. Even though the focus is on Hannah for most of this tale, through her we get up close and personal several others. I have to admit, I fell head over heels for Josh: he might be a bit-part player, but he stole my heart.

Title: The Protected
Author: Claire Zorn
Publisher: UQP, $19.95 RRP
Publication Date: July 2014
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780702250194
For ages:  14+ years
Type: Young Adult