Amelia Anne Is Dead and Gone

Author: Kat Rosenfield
Goodreads Rating: 3.47
Pages: 304
Format: ARC from Swap

An arresting un-coming-of-age story, from a breathtaking talent
Becca has always longed to break free from her small, backwater hometown. But the discovery of an unidentified dead girl on the side of a dirt road sends the town--and Becca--into a tailspin. Unable to make sense of the violence of the outside world creeping into her backyard, Becca finds herself retreating inward, paralyzed from moving forward for the first time in her life.
Short chapters detailing the last days of Amelia Anne Richardson's life are intercut with Becca's own summer as the parallel stories of two young women struggling with self-identity and relationships on the edge twist the reader closer and closer to the truth about Amelia's death.

I was hesitant to start this book because its about a girl that died, and it felt a little too real for me to get into it, but after loaning a copy to a friend who turned around and raved to me about it, I knew it was time for me to bite the bullet and dive in.

One of my favorite things about this book was how it did bounce between Becca and Amelia, so we were able to learn more about Amelia as Becca obsessed over what happened to this girl who had just graduated college as she had just graduated high school. As someone that just graduated college its weird to think back and wonder how you got from there to here. I could relate with both characters.

I felt that all the other characters in the book was great. They were real people, they weren't these sorts of unrealistic high schoolers. The friends that Becca had in her small town were original and were even like people that I knew in high school. Her relationship with her boyfriend was similar to so many other people that I knew.

It was absolutely beautifully written and horrific as you read certain parts, but I loved it, and I loved how real it was. I did not see the ending coming at all which was a wonderful surprise to what I am used to which is a lack of surprise when reading, but over all, I would recommend this book in a heartbeat to other readers.

The Courts Decision: