Books and a Cup of Tea

Title: Hanging by a Thread                            Pages: 288
Author: Sophie Littlefield                                          Source: Netgalley
Publisher: Random House Children's Books           Published: September 11, 2012
Series: N/A                                                            Purchase: Amazon

Summer is the best part of the year in Winston, California, and the Fourth of July is the highlight of the season. But the perfect town Clare remembers has changed, and everyone is praying that this summer will be different from the last two—that this year's Fourth of July festival won't see one of their own vanish without a trace, leaving no leads and no suspects. The media are in a frenzy predicting a third disappearance, but the town depends on tourist dollars, so the residents of Winston are trying desperately to pretend nothing's wrong.

And they're not the only ones hiding something.

Clare, a seamstress who redesigns vintage clothing, has been blessed—or perhaps cursed—with a gift: she can see people's pasts when she touches their clothes. When she stumbles across a denim jacket that once belonged to Amanda Stavros, last year's Fourth of July victim, Clare sees her perfect town begin to come apart at the seams.

In a town where appearance means everything, how deep beneath the surface will Clare dig to uncover a murderer?

I started Hanging by a Thread not knowing what to expect and came out pleasantly surprised. While there are some flaws that kept me from loving it, I did enjoy Hanging by a Thread.

I couldn't really connect with Clare. She seemed a bit bland to me, not nearly as crazy and carefree as her fashion sense claimed she was. I would have liked a bit more to her personality, but I did enjoy her nonetheless.

I loved how detailed and in depth Sophie Littlefield went into her hobby of making clothes. In a lot of novels, the author will state a hobby the main character has, but never goes in depth with it, never mentions it beyond that one sentence. I really enjoyed Clare's hobby and was glad how much depth there was to it.

There wasn't as much romance as I was expecting, but I was surprisingly happy about this. So many young adult novels out there right now are focused mainly on the romance aspects of the plot so Hanging by a Thread was a breath of fresh air, giving focus on the mystery instead of the romance. That being said, I did enjoy what romance there was.

The writing was a bit hard for me to get into. Some paragraphs, especially when they were of Clare having a vision, were confusing and almost muddled. The dialogue also seemed forced some of the time and the mystery seemed rushed. There is a conclusion to the mystery, but I'm still semi-unsatisfied, because everything was laid out super fast at the end.

Despite that, I did really enjoy the mystery. It was somewhat surprising and I kind of enjoyed the fact that it wasn't dragged out. The plot kept me pretty interested until the end and that's all that matters to me.

Overall, despite some flaws to Hanging by a Thread, I did come out liking it. It's not one of the best novels I've ever read, but I do not regret reading it. I recommend to fans of the paranormal or mystery genre, as long as you like a mystery that's not drawn out and don't care if it's not focused on romance.

Pass or Read? Maybe read depending on if you like mysteries and if you don't care if there isn't a lot of romance.

Cover thoughts: I love this cover! It's so gorgeous and delicate, even with the blood at the top. The font could stick out a bit more, but I like the font used, it's so simple and pretty. I would definitely be drawn to this in a bookstore!