Snap by Carol Snow
Release Date: August 25, 2009
Publisher: Harper Teen
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 224
From: publisher
Interest: summary
Madison Sabatini thought she knew who she was: an almost-sophomore with a bright future. The newest photographer on her school paper. A shopaholic with great hair and a fabulous wardrobe. Then, in a flash, everything changed.
Now she's stuck in Sandyland, a gloomy beach town in the middle of nowhere, living with her parents in a crappy hotel "suite." Instead of spending the summer with her friends at home, she's hanging out with pink-haired Delilah, an artist who works in a shop called Psychic Photo, and a skater boy named Duncan who's totally not her type. Except, maybe he is . . .
Determined to make the best of things, Madison throws herself into her one passion: photography. But when strange figures start appearing in her pictures—people who weren't there when she snapped the shots, people who are later reported dead—she begins to question everything about who she is . . . and who she wishes she could be.
I enjoyed reading Snap, but this is one of those times that the synopsis on the back of the novel is totally misleading. If you read the above you’d think, oh kinda spooky dead people showing up in pictures, this could be interesting.
But the summary should really say. Madison Sabatini a spoiled, self centered and extremely shallow almost sophomore, dealing with adjusting to a new life, new friends, whining about wearing non-name brand clothing, and the worst life ever. Not to mention that she sometimes has dead people in her photographs.
Despite the lackluster character that is Madison. Whom, I didn’t care for at all because she was extremely judgmental and shallow. Though she did sort of grow up a little toward the end. I still couldn’t find it in myself to forgive her completely. I did enjoy Delilah, Leo and Duncan. They definitely stood out. But obviously for me to dislike her as much as I do, Snow must have her characterization down!
The plot despite it’s non spookiness was fast-paced and entertaining. I was more worried about Madison breaking Duncan’s heart than having dead people show up in her camera. One thing that I thought was important was one of the morals of the story, that superficial things don’t matter and it’s the people that are in your life that make it worth living. Which is so very true, and I’m glad that Madison finally woke up and smelled the flowers.
Snow is a fantastic writer and I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of her novels. I’m just hoping next time I’ll be able to like the MC!