Book Review: Gone Gone Gone by Hannah Moskowitz

Gone Gone Gone by Hannah Moskowitz
Release Date: April 17, 2012
Publisher: Simon Pulse; 288 pages

In the wake of the post-9/11 sniper shootings, fragile love finds a stronghold in this intense, romantic novel from the author of Break and Invincible Summer.

It's a year after 9/11. Sniper shootings throughout the D.C. area have everyone on edge and trying to make sense of these random acts of violence. Meanwhile, Craig and Lio are just trying to make sense of their lives. Craig’s crushing on quiet, distant Lio, and preoccupied with what it meant when Lio kissed him...and if he’ll do it again...and if kissing Lio will help him finally get over his ex-boyfriend, Cody. Lio feels most alive when he's with Craig. He forgets about his broken family, his dead brother, and the messed up world. But being with Craig means being vulnerable...and Lio will have to decide whether love is worth the risk.

This intense, romantic novel from the author of Break and Invincible Summer is a poignant look at what it is to feel needed, connected, and alive.

First a warning. I curse. I try to keep it clean on this site because it's a 'family friendly' site but Hannah makes not want to censor myself. I find I never do when I write reviews for her books, so if you don't like cursing, I suggest you not continue reading.

Hannah is fucking brilliant. I'm not sure how many of you are from the DC area (or surrounding areas such as Maryland or Virginia) but if you are, this story will be quite real. Being from Maryland myself, I remember the 'beltway snipers' quite well. (In fact, the day they were caught and 'escorted' through Baltimore, MD I was there. We got out of our cars as we were stopped to witness it. I was there for a Garbage/No Doubt concert (I believe it was October 24, 2002, to be exact) and it was surreal. Sure, you couldn't see the snipers, but you could see them, you know? I know, I'm rambling but I'm just saying that people from this area remember this whole rotten time. We remember details like this because of how bad and scary it was) and it was surreal.

Now that I've rambled some about what I remember from the tail end of these snipers shootings, let's talk about the story. Because though it's based off of fact, it's still a story. One you're meant to enjoy, which I did. It starts off being told from Craig's POV, who is a fifteen year old boy who has a thing for animals. (Not that kind of thing, you damn sicko!) He has fourteen animals and loses them all at once thanks to a burglary at his home. All throughout the story, as he's sorting out his feeling for his 'sort of' boyfriend, Cody, a new crush/friend, Lio, he's trying to find all the animals he's missing. I believe him trying to find his animals goes along with him trying to find himself.

We rotate chapters to hear from Lio's POV who is a cancer survivor but has also lost so much in his life. Like his mother walking out and away from her family and most importantly, losing his twin brother, Theodore, to cancer. He survived, Theo didn't. Twins, they have this connection that no one else but twins understand (I know because I dated a twin and it's crazy, it really is) and when you lose that connection I can't even imagine how that destroys you. So needless to say, Lio is a bit fucked up. Even his new therapist, Adelle, says so. Oh, and did I mention he's from New York? So not only do we have a story that is being taken place in southern Maryland (extremely close to DC) during a terrifying time for locals but we also have two characters who were very close to both attacks on September 11, 2001. New York, more lives were lost but Washington, DC was more personal. You wonder what I mean by that? You'll have to read to find out . . . ;)

Not only is this books main characters gay but they're also an interracial couple. That makes me happy. Not only do I feel like gay characters are pushed to the way side in Young Adult books (or most books, for that matter) but I also feel like interracial relationships are just as rare. So Hannah managing both, is brilliant.

I'd love to hear opinions of any reader whose read this, especially if you're from the DC area. Even if you're not, this was known around the nation so I'm interested to see if it seemed as real for you, as it did for me. Like I said on all of my other reviews of Hannah's work, she is certainly a favorite of mine and I will read anything she puts out. I can only hope that everyone gets the chance to read her work, it's different, refreshing and pure brilliance.

*highlight to view spoiler* I don't know why, but I kept thinking 'oh god, Craig is going to get shot'. Which is insane, cause that would be hard to make a character get shot when it's based off of facts, you know? But he kept insisting he was so damn invincible and I kept waiting for something to happen to prove he wasn't. *spoiler*