Stitch is the debut novel of Samantha Durante, but you wouldn't know that by reading it. She writes like she's been doing it for years - it's that good. Not only that, in a time when young adult books are dystopian, romance, or paranormal, Durante brings us a rare treat. I won't go into too many because it will spoil for you, but I will tell you that it's a surprising twist that completely caught me unawares and changed the story entirely.

Alessa's parents died in a car crash during her senior year. Now she's starting her freshman year at college and the grief is still fresh. Add into the mix a ghost she sees and you have the beginnings of a romance between Alessa and a ghost, so you'd think. However, Isaac (the ghost), has been around for centuries according to Alessa's research. With the help of her best friend Janie, Alessa tries to reach out to Isaac but what happens is something indescribable. (I could tell you, but I'd ruin part of the book).

What I will say is that if you enjoy well-written fiction with surprise twists and well-developed characters, with an author wielding a thorough imagination that will leave you clamoring for the next installment, then you must read Stitch. Favorite book I've read this year so far!

Share/Like this Review?

Stitch, Book 1 in the Stitch Trilogy, begins life as a good ghost story. Alessa Khole, a freshman at Eastern State University, is living in an old house that is the Zeta Epsilon Pi sorority house. But as schools begins, so do Alessas eerie and brief sightings of a young man dressed in clothing from an earlier era in her bedroom. There one minute but quickly fading from sight, the young man stares pensively out of her bedroom window unaware of Alessa and evoking in her overwhelming feelings of grief and longing.

Alessa's life, this past year, has been tough. Both parents were killed suddenly in a car accident sending her, a previously stellar student, into a downward spiral of depression, where she eeks through her senior year of high school. Instead of the coveted entrance to a previously guaranteed prestige college she finds herself begging for a place in any second rate university that will take her. She ends up at ESU and things here aren't what they seem to be on the surface. For one thing, there are security cameras literally everywhere.

Then with limited living spaces available, she and another freshman, Janie, are forced on the Zeta Epsilon Pi sorority house by the university administration. Neither girl fits in, and arent particularly welcome. And then there is the ghost ...

Just as Alessa begins to unravel the mystery of the ghost, the story takes an amazing, out of the blue left turn, and the action really takes off. Fans of the young adult, dystopian novel should enjoy this very, very different story, and I look forward to the next installment in the trilogy myself.

Share/Like this Review?