Charlie, Presumed Dead

Charlie, Presumed Dead By Anne Heltzel

Source Received from the publisher

Published by HMH Books for Young Readers on June 2, 2015

Received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Rating:

Cover image and summary from Goodreads:

In Paris, family and friends gather to mourn the tragic passing of Charlie Price—young, handsome, charming, a world-traveler—who is presumed dead after an explosion. Authorities find only a bloodied jacket, ID’d as Charlie’s. At the funeral, two teens who are perfect strangers, Lena Whitney and Aubrey Boroughs, make another shocking discovery: they have both been dating Charlie, both think Charlie loved them and them alone, and there is a lot they didn’t know about their boyfriend. Over the next week, a mind-bending trip unfolds: first in London—then in Mumbai, Kerala, and Bangkok, the girls go in search of Charlie. Is he still alive? What did their love for him even mean? The truth is out there, but soon it becomes clear that the girls are harboring secrets of their own.

No one knows whom to trust in this thrilling tale of suspense and deception.

I was really intrigued by the premise! Presumed dead but no body? Two girlfriends who didn’t know about each other until the funeral? I’m in!

For the most part, I really enjoyed reading this. The tension and animosity between Lena and Aubrey was fun to read, more so when there were moments of friendship between them. However, there was a fair amount of mistrust and suspicion, too.

I loved that chapters were written from each girl’s perspective, because it gave me a glimpse into each of their history with Charlie.

There were definitely some instances where I had to suspend my disbelief in order to keep enjoying the story, but it was fine with me, because things got really bizarre and strange and fun.

But that ending! If there’s no sequel, I’ll be furious, because how can you end the story like THAT? At the time of writing this, there’s no info on Goodreads about a sequel, but I have to think that there will be. Otherwise that ending is too much for me to handle. And I’ll definitely be reading a sequel to this book!

Overall, this was a fun read, although I went into this assuming it was a stand alone and thinking the story would be fully resolved, only to learn it was not! Recommended.

Find out more on the publisher’s website!