Wherever Nina Lies by Lynn Weingarten

Summary:

Nina was beautiful, artistic, wild . . . and adored by her younger sister, Ellie. But one day, without any warning, Nina disappeared.

Two years later, Ellie can't stop thinking about her sister. Although everyone else has given up hope that Nina will return, Elile just knows her sister is out there, somewhere. If only Ellie had a clue where to look.

And then she gets one, in the form of a mysterious drawing tucked into the pages of a book. Determined to find her sister, Ellie takes off on a crazy, sexy, cross-country road trip with the only person who believes she's got a chance -- her hot, adventurous new crush.

Along the way, Ellie finds a few things she wasn't planning on. Like love. Mysteries. Lies. And something far ore shocking -- the truth.
 
Review:
 
Wherever Nina Lies was a page turning thriller and a solid debut by Ms. Weingarten.

The plot was fun, fast paced, and forever kept you guessing with the turns and twists it threw at you constantly. Though, while I did have a great deal of fun watching Ellie travel across the country to find her sister, I felt that at times it was a bit unbelievable. Since, for one, how many people would actually get in a car with a stranger they've only knew for about a day? Also I was often surprised at the fact that during the week long trip Ellie's mom didn't realize she was gone. Though, Wherever Nina Lies was still a great read even with this problem.

In addition to the plot, Lynn's writing often aided it in being even better. I loved how she was constantly manipulating what you thought was going to happen with the her words. Further more,  it was really interesting to see how she worked in all the clues and events to make up the story behind  Nina's disappearance.

The characters were interesting also. Ellie was a girl that wouldn't put anything in front of finding her sister which I respected even with some of the silly choices she made at times. Nina was probably my favorite character even though she was the one shown the lest because I loved her recklessness and carefree attitude. Though Sean was the one surprised me the most. At the beginning, I truly thought he was a great guy who only wanted to the best for Ellie, but those thoughts were quickly diminished as more was relived about his troubling, secretive past.

In all, Wherever Nina Lies is a novel I suggest to reluctant teen readers looking for a fun novel to get lost in. I'm looking forward to reading more by Ms. Weingarten.

Grade: B+

Wherever Nina Lies is now out not only in hardback (cover shown to left), but in paperback (the cover shown above and the one I like the most) too.

Source: Library

Inspired Friday with Lynn Weingarten

This is an idea that I came up with one day when I was home sick from school in January. I have always wondered what inspires authors to write their books. So, I thought, why not do something were the author talks about their latest book and what inspired them to write it? Hence, Inspired Fridays' were born. This is going to be a weekly or every other week feature depending on how many authors agree to do this. Also, if the author offers up a copy of their book for a giveaway, there will be a contest.

So, without a further ado this is Lynn Weingarten talking about her newly released book, Wherever Nina Lies. You can check out her myspace page here.

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I was a book editor for five years before I started writing full-time. When I was leaving my editing job, I sent an email to everyone I knew who worked in publishing saying, "Hey! If anyone might want me to write anything, I'm over here!" Some people at Scholastic got in touch with me and told me they were looking to do a YA novel that would have drawings in it that would play a pivotal role in the story. They asked if I'd be interested in trying-out to write it. I said, "Oh boy would I ever be!" A lot of my inspiration for the story came from trying to figure out a plot that would naturally lend itself to this specific format. That said various things in my own life inspired various parts of the story -- I was a barista in high school, I have an older sister, I've been on road trips, I had a couple friends who ran away for a while during high school (but very, very luckily they ended up coming back okay).


The book ended up being about a girl named Ellie whose older sister, Nina, vanished two years before the book begins. Nina was a wild and crazy party girl, but also a really good artist. All the illustrations in the book are meant to be her drawings. Quite early on in the plot, Ellie finds a drawing of Nina's tucked in between the pages of a book at a vintage shop, and this starts her off on a hunt for her sister. Accompanying Ellie on her trip is a hot and mysterious stranger whom Ellie barely knows and various scandalous things happen along the way.

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Thanks so much, Lynn! Your book sounds great. :)

If you are an author and would like to be a part of Inspired Friday, please contact me at laurenscrammedbookshelf@gmail.com.