Review: Close Your Eyes - Nicci Cloke



It wasn't till I opened the first page of this book that I realized it was going to be a school shooting novel. I, however, am a fan of the school shooting novels as I find them so powerful and emotive as I am the type of person who would to reach out to the shooter and befriend them before things turned bad to the point of no return. Close Your Eyes tells the story of a group of friends at Southfield High School. There are the twins Aisha and Ash, Remy, Gemma, Elise, and Eli. Elise and Eli are the last two to join their group of friends, and things seem to be going well except this last few months, their group of friends have been separating and spending time in twos or elsewhere and strange things have been happening. Each of the friends is going through their problems, but we discover that a couple of them, their problems run deeper than anyone ever realized.  We have Aisha who has been spending a lot of time lately partying and sneaking out, only to have her life exposed to a Gossip Girl sort of blog. Eli's sister had a breakdown at their old school which forced them to move, and Elise's family went through a similar situation to Eli's which makes sense to why the pair connected. I have to admit the last few chapters of this book; I did not see that coming. When the truth was revealed, I have to say part of me was blown away, but the other part of me could see how everything had eventually built up to this moment and showed what a tipping of the scales could do as desperation , injustice and a feeling like we have nothing can lose can push us all into a spiralling oblivion. Just think - what would you do if you had nothing to lose and the only consequence was death which you knew was coming anyway.Would you be like one of the characters in this book and either commit suicide or would you be like the other and shoot up the school? Close Your Eyes by Nicci Cloke was a thought-provoking, and emotional rollercoaster of a YA read.


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