An Undone Review

Have you seen the little Best Books of 2008 (So Far) thingy on the bottom right corner of the blog? There are four books on there. I've read at least a hundred, if not two hundred, books this year. So that's between 2%-4% of what I've read this year. One of those four books is by E. Lockhart; the competition is stiff. (Thirteen Reasons Why would have made it, but it was published in 2007. More on that later.)
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Undone went straight on that list.
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Quick summary: Serena and Kori are best friends with a punk-style BFF. When Kori is taken from Serena, Serena's left with pieces to fill and questions to ask, not only about their own relationship but Serena's relationship to the world.
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This blew my mind.
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1. The complexity of friendship. Brooke describes such a believable friendship, because it's not cardboard. The way that Kori and Serena relate, their behavior: it's so realistic, and yet you want to read more and more.
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2. You love both of them. I hate stories about normal-girl-transformed-by-glam-BFF. Why? I want to hear it from the BFF perspective, not the normal person. But Serena is the best possible narrator for this book. She's not mousy or ordinary, although Kori does transform her life.
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3. A sensational story without sensationalism. If this book had been done as a scandalous druggie tale, or a carpe-diem warning, it would have stunk. But Undone is a story that strikes a chord in you without overdoing it, in any way. It's also a quiet story, which could be really boring, but it's not.
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4. You love the characters. The guy who drives the fateful car, Anthony (o Anthony, Anthony!), Serena, Kori, Serena's mom, Kori's mysterious friend (I don't want to get his name wrong)... you love them. They're imperfect, they all have their own stories, they're so dang well written. And funny, and heartbreaking, and absolutely insane.
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I'm super, super psyched to host Brooke here on Wednesday to hear about how Undone started and what's she up to next. Read this book. You'll read it fast.