Review: 3:59 - Gretchen McNeil

Where I got it: Library
Rating: 4 stars  
Cover Rating: 4.5 stars (I like it, but it's weird if you look at the spine from an angle. Tooo many partial faces.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: September 17, 2013
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Page Count: 359 p.
Add it: Goodreads

Josie's life has sort of sucked lately. Her boyfriend, her parents, her physics teacher, everything that could go wrong is going wrong. That's when she starts having dreams about another girl. This girl's name is Jo and she's almost just like Josie. Jo is popular, has a great boyfriend and great parents. It's the life that Josie wants. Then she notices something kind of strange. These dreams all happen at 3:59, morning or afternoon doesn't seem to matter only it's that exact minute. When she starts seeing Jo in her mirror, Josie knows something strange is going on. She's not sure if it's strange bad or if it could turn out to be something really good.

I wasn't hooked into this story until about halfway through. It was good enough. I enjoyed the concept and all, but I just wasn't hooked. I found things to be a bit predictable and therefore wasn't really wowed by anything. Then, all of a sudden I was unable to put this book down. So much was happening. So many pieces came out of the woodwork and the book managed to surprise me. In the end I ended up really enjoying this book.

One thing I didn't love was Josie. I'm confused on how such a smart girl can be so trivial. She's so smart that she trying to prove and unprovable physics theory, but she can't get over her boy troubles. I realize that what happened totally sucks, but move on. She's so smart and Nick does not seem even a little bit smart. How did they even end up dating? If Josie is BFFs with Penelope shouldn't she just keep hanging out with m ore people like them. I mean how is she friends with Madison? What do they talk about. I totally understand having a diverse group of friends, but it just seems crazy how terrible Madison and Nick are and I don't get how they fit into Josie's world.

I also wish there were more mysteries that weren't super easy to guess and figure out. I guess it wouldn't have been so bad if I wasn't constantly waiting for Josie to catch up. Is she only good at science and not common sense? It seemed that way. There was one thing in particular where I was just staring at her in my mind going "Oh really, nothing like that at home Josie...REALLY?!" I just don't see how she could forget about it. There were actually many times where I just looked at Josie dumbfounded that she hadn't thought something through very well. (kissing *cough* corpse *cough*)

Gretchen McNeil made a lot of gutsy decision in the last third of the book and while I hate her for them I also secretly love her for them. They were bold and gave the book that little push and believability. If you're looking for something to give you the creeps and challenge you brain (not that I understood a lick of what they were talking about) definitely check this one out. Stick with it too, because you might be pleasantly surprised if you don't quit too soon.

First Line:
"Josie crouched behind the photon laser module and aligned it with the beam splitter at the other end of the lab table." 

Favorite Line: (some lines were a bit too spoilery, so description it is)
"Unlike the metal walls of the warehouse, this room had been constructed with wooden beams, and slivers of grayish-blue moonlight filtered in through the weathered slats."