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Wherever Nina Lies
Nina was beautiful, wild and adored by her younger sister, Ellie. But one day, Nina disappeared. Two years later, everyone has given up hope that Nina will return, but Ellie knows her sister is out there. If only Ellie had a clue where to look. Then she gets one, in the form of a mysterious drawing. Determined to find Nina, Ellie takes off on a crazy, sexy, cross-country road trip with the only person who believes she's got a chance - her hot, adventurous new crush. Along the way, Ellie finds a few things she wasn't planning on. Like love. Lies. And the most shocking thing of all: the truth.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2009
58 people are currently reading
3211 people want to read
About the author
Lynn Weingarten
9 books482 followersLynn Weingarten is a New York Times bestselling author living in Brooklyn. Her fifth young adult novel, BAD GIRLS WITH PERFECT FACES, was released in the US on Halloween 2017. It will be out in the UK on January 11th, 2018.
Her previous books include SUICIDE NOTES FROM BEAUTIFUL GIRLS (a NY Times bestseller, a YALSA Teens’ Top Ten book for 2016, one of Vanity Fair’s list of Best Books for July, and on The Guardian’s list of 5 of the Best in Young Adult Fiction), and WHEREVER NINA LIES (an ALA Top Ten Popular Paperback for Young Adults, a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, a YALSA Teen’s Top Ten Nominee and a Sequoyah Book Award Nominee)
In the past, Lynn edited books and developed ideas for Alloy Entertainment. She is currently Creative Director of Dovetail Fiction, a new sister company from the book packager Working Partners.
She can be found on Twitter and Instagram as @lynnweingarten
Her previous books include SUICIDE NOTES FROM BEAUTIFUL GIRLS (a NY Times bestseller, a YALSA Teens’ Top Ten book for 2016, one of Vanity Fair’s list of Best Books for July, and on The Guardian’s list of 5 of the Best in Young Adult Fiction), and WHEREVER NINA LIES (an ALA Top Ten Popular Paperback for Young Adults, a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, a YALSA Teen’s Top Ten Nominee and a Sequoyah Book Award Nominee)
In the past, Lynn edited books and developed ideas for Alloy Entertainment. She is currently Creative Director of Dovetail Fiction, a new sister company from the book packager Working Partners.
She can be found on Twitter and Instagram as @lynnweingarten
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 396 reviews
September 27, 2015
This is a book that can be divided into two very different parts. The first is a deeply felt, but not fraught, family mystery that includes a road trip with a cute and sweet boy. The second part... Well, I'll get to that.
Two years ago, Nina snuck out of her late at night and never came back. And her younger sister, Ellie, still misses her terribly, and can't let go of the hope that someday, she'll find her. The book is written from Ellie's perspective, so it's a good thing that I really liked her. I liked her for her sense of loyalty towards her sister, which made her running off with a guy she's just met to try and find her make perfect sense for the character. Rash, sure, but I totally got it. Especially because that guy, Sean, was sweet and seemed to understand her need to find her sister. His brother died, and so he totally gets the void that the loss of a sibling leaves. The romance between them was cute and felt very natural. And though I was in some suspense wanting to know what had happened to Nina, I never felt like Ellie was chasing a dead girl, or that there wouldn't be an explanation that I could buy for her absence. Maybe even a reasonable one!
And then, less than 100 pages from the end of the book, the narrative took a hard left turn into something very, very different. When the swerve happened, for a moment it really did feel like it came out of nowhere. But Weingarten actually gives a lot of hints, and I had just pages before thought to myself that something else was up. So I was caught completely off guard, but the pieces all still fit.
The ending does wrap up a little too neatly in some ways. For one, Ellie has a major fight with her best friend that seems to have been entirely forgotten about off page. Even one or two sentences about how they talked things out would have tied it up better, and it's obvious that there's a lot that Ellie still hasn't told her. Still, with a few minor quibbles, the ending was satisfying enough for me.
Two years ago, Nina snuck out of her late at night and never came back. And her younger sister, Ellie, still misses her terribly, and can't let go of the hope that someday, she'll find her. The book is written from Ellie's perspective, so it's a good thing that I really liked her. I liked her for her sense of loyalty towards her sister, which made her running off with a guy she's just met to try and find her make perfect sense for the character. Rash, sure, but I totally got it. Especially because that guy, Sean, was sweet and seemed to understand her need to find her sister. His brother died, and so he totally gets the void that the loss of a sibling leaves. The romance between them was cute and felt very natural. And though I was in some suspense wanting to know what had happened to Nina, I never felt like Ellie was chasing a dead girl, or that there wouldn't be an explanation that I could buy for her absence. Maybe even a reasonable one!
And then, less than 100 pages from the end of the book, the narrative took a hard left turn into something very, very different. When the swerve happened, for a moment it really did feel like it came out of nowhere. But Weingarten actually gives a lot of hints, and I had just pages before thought to myself that something else was up. So I was caught completely off guard, but the pieces all still fit.
The ending does wrap up a little too neatly in some ways. For one, Ellie has a major fight with her best friend that seems to have been entirely forgotten about off page. Even one or two sentences about how they talked things out would have tied it up better, and it's obvious that there's a lot that Ellie still hasn't told her. Still, with a few minor quibbles, the ending was satisfying enough for me.
March 15, 2012
What. A. Mess.
I really wanted to like this book. I really did. But the whole thing was quite simply a mess. First off, the plot was very unrealistic. The way that the girls control their whole lives without any parents' input is just ridiculous. They run around and go to Nebraska without telling their mothers (it'd make more sense if you read the book). Second, this crazy boy, Sean, who is "in love" with Ellie just seems crazy from the start. Any real person would understand that, but the author makes the characters seem so naive and just plain stupid. Third, the ending is completely and ridiculously unrealistic. That is all I can even say about this book. The end.
I really wanted to like this book. I really did. But the whole thing was quite simply a mess. First off, the plot was very unrealistic. The way that the girls control their whole lives without any parents' input is just ridiculous. They run around and go to Nebraska without telling their mothers (it'd make more sense if you read the book). Second, this crazy boy, Sean, who is "in love" with Ellie just seems crazy from the start. Any real person would understand that, but the author makes the characters seem so naive and just plain stupid. Third, the ending is completely and ridiculously unrealistic. That is all I can even say about this book. The end.
September 23, 2008
It’s been two long years since Ellie’s older sister Nina has disappeared. Pretty much everyone has given up any hope that Nina will return, but not Ellie. Ellie can’t bear to think Nina, her sister whom she loves and idolizes, could be dead. Ellie desperately wants to find Nina, and when she stumbles upon a portrait of her, drawn by Nina, she’s certain she’s found her clue. With the help of a hot and mysterious stranger named Sean, Ellie sets off on a seemingly wild-goose chase for the whereabouts of her sister. But Ellie isn’t prepared for what she learns along the way, regarding her sister and her new love interest Sean. In this suspenseful and fast-paced debut, readers will be swept along with Ellie as she journeys and finds love, lies, and the strength of sisterhood.
I was immensely impressed with this solid debut novel. Weingarten shows a mastery of her skill with words, especially when manipulating the plot. Ellie’s cross-country escapade was filled with humor and lust yet also disappointment, anticipation for the next clue, confusion, and danger. I like how the story strings the reader along nicely and then twists nearly completely around. In the back of my mind, I think I expected part of the outcome of Ellie’s journey, but I was still shocked when it actually happened. I also really liked the development of both Ellie’s and Nina’s characters. Ellie is easy to relate to, especially in her sisterly affection, friendship dilemmas, and thoughts of self-preservation, and this increases the reader’s sympathy for her as well as interest in her story. The reader gets to know Nina mainly through Ellie’s memories and thoughts of her sister, and it creates an image of a wild yet thoughtful girl anyone can love. Some of the minor details of this novel, though, were not as well executed as the plot and development of the major characters. There were some details that never completely added up. Also, Ellie’s relationship with her best friend Amanda seemed strange at times, and their problems seemed to magically disappear at the end of the novel. Other than these few aspects, Wherever Nina Lies was an extremely well-written and enjoyable story.
Wherever Nina Lies is very impressive for a first novel, and I hope Weingarten plans to write more novels especially if they’re as good as this one. Readers will see this novel as a hybrid between two fantastic novels, How to Be Bad and The Year My Sister Got Lucky, and will not be disappointed in this fantastic story of mystery, romance, suspense, and, most of all, sisterhood.
reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com
I was immensely impressed with this solid debut novel. Weingarten shows a mastery of her skill with words, especially when manipulating the plot. Ellie’s cross-country escapade was filled with humor and lust yet also disappointment, anticipation for the next clue, confusion, and danger. I like how the story strings the reader along nicely and then twists nearly completely around. In the back of my mind, I think I expected part of the outcome of Ellie’s journey, but I was still shocked when it actually happened. I also really liked the development of both Ellie’s and Nina’s characters. Ellie is easy to relate to, especially in her sisterly affection, friendship dilemmas, and thoughts of self-preservation, and this increases the reader’s sympathy for her as well as interest in her story. The reader gets to know Nina mainly through Ellie’s memories and thoughts of her sister, and it creates an image of a wild yet thoughtful girl anyone can love. Some of the minor details of this novel, though, were not as well executed as the plot and development of the major characters. There were some details that never completely added up. Also, Ellie’s relationship with her best friend Amanda seemed strange at times, and their problems seemed to magically disappear at the end of the novel. Other than these few aspects, Wherever Nina Lies was an extremely well-written and enjoyable story.
Wherever Nina Lies is very impressive for a first novel, and I hope Weingarten plans to write more novels especially if they’re as good as this one. Readers will see this novel as a hybrid between two fantastic novels, How to Be Bad and The Year My Sister Got Lucky, and will not be disappointed in this fantastic story of mystery, romance, suspense, and, most of all, sisterhood.
reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com
April 3, 2013
Oh. My. Gosh. Talk about a plot twist. This book is one of the most incredibly not cliche not predictable books I have ever read. I have to admit, while reading it I noticed a lot of forshadowing about... things but I read this in two days while I was braiding my hair and let's just say that it had me gasping. I can say that it's a book for people who are looking to be able to relate to the main character (hopefully none of your siblings have been missing for two years) but at the same time not looking for some heavy reading book.
When Nina, Ellies adored older sister disappear drastically, Ellie can't help but hope she comes back. Fast forward two years and everyone but her has lost hope. After a series of clues that lead to another heart break and a recent lead that doesn't work out the whereabouts of Nina, her best friend thinks it's time to let go and for Ellie to go back to her normal routines. Turns out though that the lead wasn't so off and that when Ellie goes on a last minute road trip with oh-so-sweet-and-mysterious Sean. Closer then she think's she is to truth.
When Nina, Ellies adored older sister disappear drastically, Ellie can't help but hope she comes back. Fast forward two years and everyone but her has lost hope. After a series of clues that lead to another heart break and a recent lead that doesn't work out the whereabouts of Nina, her best friend thinks it's time to let go and for Ellie to go back to her normal routines. Turns out though that the lead wasn't so off and that when Ellie goes on a last minute road trip with oh-so-sweet-and-mysterious Sean. Closer then she think's she is to truth.
December 30, 2008
Reviewed by Steph for TeensReadToo.com
Nina mysteriously left two years ago, and now her younger sister, Ellie, is searching for her lost sister. Even though Ellie's good friends, Amanda and Brad, say she should just give up, Ellie simply can't. This is her only sister. She can't go on through life without knowing what happened to Nina.
So, after Ellie sees a drawing her sister did and a phone number on a piece of old cardboard, she starts hunting for Nina.
Early on, Ellie meets the nice guy, Sean, who agrees to help a total stranger find her long-lost sister. The two travel cross-country, following clue after clue, in order to find Nina. Only when her search winds to an end does everything spin out of control.
Is Sean really there to help her? Or does he have an ulterior motive? And what's the true story with Nina? Will Ellie ever be able to find her sister...alive?
Lynn Weingarten writes a thrilling adventure of two teens traveling across the country in order to find a long-lost sibling. This book is full of humor, adventure, love, and devotion. The author creates a palpable love between two sisters that jumps from the pages of this book.
Whether you have siblings or not, WHEREVER NINA LIES will be sure to grab all readers.
Nina mysteriously left two years ago, and now her younger sister, Ellie, is searching for her lost sister. Even though Ellie's good friends, Amanda and Brad, say she should just give up, Ellie simply can't. This is her only sister. She can't go on through life without knowing what happened to Nina.
So, after Ellie sees a drawing her sister did and a phone number on a piece of old cardboard, she starts hunting for Nina.
Early on, Ellie meets the nice guy, Sean, who agrees to help a total stranger find her long-lost sister. The two travel cross-country, following clue after clue, in order to find Nina. Only when her search winds to an end does everything spin out of control.
Is Sean really there to help her? Or does he have an ulterior motive? And what's the true story with Nina? Will Ellie ever be able to find her sister...alive?
Lynn Weingarten writes a thrilling adventure of two teens traveling across the country in order to find a long-lost sibling. This book is full of humor, adventure, love, and devotion. The author creates a palpable love between two sisters that jumps from the pages of this book.
Whether you have siblings or not, WHEREVER NINA LIES will be sure to grab all readers.
January 30, 2011
Hannah Chamberlain
Mrs. Romaniuk
Reading/L.A: Book Review #8
28 January 2011
Searching For Nina:
Where Is She?
Have you ever lost something important to you? Did no one seem to understand how you felt? This is exactly what happened to Ellie, well, that is until she met Sean. In Wherever Nina Lies, by Lynn Weingarten, Ellie Wrigley’s sister Nina suddenly disappears from their home in Edgebridge, Illinois. Ellie travels across the country, reaching one clue at a time, searching for her sister. In the beginning of this realistic fiction and mystery novel, Ellie meets Sean, who helps her along the way. However, Ellie makes several shocking discoveries about Sean and Nina. This provides a nerve-racking twist towards the end of the book. One can assume that Wherever Nina Lies was written for teenage girls because it has an adventurous plot, there’s a sufficient amount of romance, and a shocking secret is discovered.
It can be inferred that Lynn Weingarten most likely wrote Wherever Nina Lies for teenage girls because it has an adventurous plot. At the beginning of this book, Ellie’s sister Nina has already disappeared. One thing after another, Ellie finds herself on a road-trip to Nebraska with Sean, a complete stranger, to search for her absent sister. Together, Ellie and Sean travel across the country following clues. From Nebraska, where Ellie finds a clue at a small diner, they follow a bus to Denver, Colorado. She thinks as the bus pulls to a stop, “And now here we are in Denver, Colorado” (111). Once in Colorado, Ellie visits a tattoo shop to ask about Nina. Using clues from there, she finds herself on her way to Phoenix, Arizona. She thinks, “It is hours later now and we are in the desert in Arizona” (173) as Sean sits next to her, driving the car. She also describes the beauty of the desert. After Phoenix, Ellie and Sean travel to San Francisco, nearing the end of their journey. While driving into San Francisco, Ellie thinks about her new surroundings, “I’m staring out the window at the early evening sky, at the swooping red cables of the Golden Gate Bridge lit by a thousand tiny lights and the sparkling ocean beyond it” (272). Here, Ellie describes San Francisco as looking peaceful and beautiful. These examples illustrate the journey on which Ellie embarks to find Nina. This book’s plot is very adventurous because there is a lot of traveling and mystery solving. Some of the most popular types of books among teenage girls are books that have adventurous plots. Therefore, one can assume that Wherever Nina Lies was most likely written for teenage girls.
Teenage girls are the best kind of readers for Wherever Nina Lies because there is a sufficient amount of romance involved. Before Ellie discovers Sean’s secrets, there is quite a bit of romance between them that is created during the road-trip. When Ellie first sees Sean’s face, she thinks, “Our eyes meet and I feel something inside me flash” (61). This demonstrates Ellie’s belief that they had an “instant connection”. Shortly after they meet, Ellie thinks, “It’s like here, in this car with Sean, is the only safe place left on the earth” (71). This quote plainly illustrates Ellie’s dramatic sense of security and her reasons behind it. Later on in the story, Ellie thinks she’s fallen in live with Sean. She tells herself, “This is it, this is what it’s like to be falling in love” (217). This quote couldn’t state Ellie’s feelings more clearly. She obviously cares about Sean very much. Usually, teenagers enjoy romance novels more than adults. To break up the readers even more, teenage girls are typically more interested in romance novels than guys. Since Wherever Nina Lies includes plenty of romance, teenage girls are its best kind of readers.
Readers can tell that Wherever Nina Lies was most likely written for teenage girls because a shocking secret is discovered. When Ellie is feeling like the only one who cares about Nina’s absence, she meets Sean. He says that he’s gone through something similar to Ellie’s situation and because of this she begins to trust him. Ellie embarks on a journey across the country to find Nina, and Sean accompanies her. Reflecting on Sean’s behavior, Ellie says, “No on else I’ve ever talked to has ever really gotten it before” (70). This shows how Ellie can relate to Sean. They build a friendship and during the road-trip they share stories. Sean seems to want to find Nina almost as desperately as Ellie. Towards the end of the book, Ellie discovers that Sean hasn’t been honest with her, and that he did know Nina. Ellie learns that Sean is the reason why Nina disappeared and that he lied about having experienced the same things as her. She thinks, “My brain is spiraling out of control. I feel my lips parting. I can’t breathe. I look down” (244). Books that involve the uncovering of secrets are especially enjoyable to teenage girls because they are suspenseful to read about and sometimes the girls can relate to the text. Wherever Nina Lies involves the uncovering of many secrets, and therefore is most enjoyable to teenage girls.
One can assume that Wherever Nina Lies was written for teenage girls because it has an adventurous plot, there’s a sufficient amount of romance and a shocking secret is discovered. I would rate this book at two out of five stars because it was not very challenging to me, but the plot was definitely original. In Wherever Nina Lies, Ellie makes several references to the times she spent with Nina before she disappeared. Ellie makes it clear that Nina was very close to her. When Nina randomly disappears, Ellie is heartbroken. She feels so alone, even when she’s with other people. I lost someone close to me once and I felt the same way. When I was little and we still lived in Alaska, my family had a black lab named Flag. He was full of energy, but extremely disobedient. We loved him anyway, of course. Flag really was my best friend. However, when we were preparing to move here, we found out that we would not be able to bring Flag with us. Fortunately, we were able to give him to a close family friend who we knew would take good care of him, but I was too young to fully understand that when I said goodbye to him it would be for the last time. When we arrived at our new house without Flag, I was crushed. Getting used to not having him around was extremely difficult. From completing this assignment I learned that when you predetermine that you will do your best no matter what on a specific goal, you will achieve it. This is because Ellie decides right when her sister disappears that she will find her, and she does.
I think that I deserve an A on this assignment because I put a lot of energy into it. I’ve been working hard to complete it in the last few days. For me, it was easy to come up with ideas to support my thesis. However, it was difficult to find evidence to build my body paragraphs. Also, this was a busy week for me, so it was hard to focus on this assignment while I was working on it. If I had more time, I would create a stronger thesis. On future book reviews, I plan to improve by managing my working time better. Speaking of working time, I was wondering how much time we are supposed to spend writing a book review.
Mrs. Romaniuk
Reading/L.A: Book Review #8
28 January 2011
Searching For Nina:
Where Is She?
Have you ever lost something important to you? Did no one seem to understand how you felt? This is exactly what happened to Ellie, well, that is until she met Sean. In Wherever Nina Lies, by Lynn Weingarten, Ellie Wrigley’s sister Nina suddenly disappears from their home in Edgebridge, Illinois. Ellie travels across the country, reaching one clue at a time, searching for her sister. In the beginning of this realistic fiction and mystery novel, Ellie meets Sean, who helps her along the way. However, Ellie makes several shocking discoveries about Sean and Nina. This provides a nerve-racking twist towards the end of the book. One can assume that Wherever Nina Lies was written for teenage girls because it has an adventurous plot, there’s a sufficient amount of romance, and a shocking secret is discovered.
It can be inferred that Lynn Weingarten most likely wrote Wherever Nina Lies for teenage girls because it has an adventurous plot. At the beginning of this book, Ellie’s sister Nina has already disappeared. One thing after another, Ellie finds herself on a road-trip to Nebraska with Sean, a complete stranger, to search for her absent sister. Together, Ellie and Sean travel across the country following clues. From Nebraska, where Ellie finds a clue at a small diner, they follow a bus to Denver, Colorado. She thinks as the bus pulls to a stop, “And now here we are in Denver, Colorado” (111). Once in Colorado, Ellie visits a tattoo shop to ask about Nina. Using clues from there, she finds herself on her way to Phoenix, Arizona. She thinks, “It is hours later now and we are in the desert in Arizona” (173) as Sean sits next to her, driving the car. She also describes the beauty of the desert. After Phoenix, Ellie and Sean travel to San Francisco, nearing the end of their journey. While driving into San Francisco, Ellie thinks about her new surroundings, “I’m staring out the window at the early evening sky, at the swooping red cables of the Golden Gate Bridge lit by a thousand tiny lights and the sparkling ocean beyond it” (272). Here, Ellie describes San Francisco as looking peaceful and beautiful. These examples illustrate the journey on which Ellie embarks to find Nina. This book’s plot is very adventurous because there is a lot of traveling and mystery solving. Some of the most popular types of books among teenage girls are books that have adventurous plots. Therefore, one can assume that Wherever Nina Lies was most likely written for teenage girls.
Teenage girls are the best kind of readers for Wherever Nina Lies because there is a sufficient amount of romance involved. Before Ellie discovers Sean’s secrets, there is quite a bit of romance between them that is created during the road-trip. When Ellie first sees Sean’s face, she thinks, “Our eyes meet and I feel something inside me flash” (61). This demonstrates Ellie’s belief that they had an “instant connection”. Shortly after they meet, Ellie thinks, “It’s like here, in this car with Sean, is the only safe place left on the earth” (71). This quote plainly illustrates Ellie’s dramatic sense of security and her reasons behind it. Later on in the story, Ellie thinks she’s fallen in live with Sean. She tells herself, “This is it, this is what it’s like to be falling in love” (217). This quote couldn’t state Ellie’s feelings more clearly. She obviously cares about Sean very much. Usually, teenagers enjoy romance novels more than adults. To break up the readers even more, teenage girls are typically more interested in romance novels than guys. Since Wherever Nina Lies includes plenty of romance, teenage girls are its best kind of readers.
Readers can tell that Wherever Nina Lies was most likely written for teenage girls because a shocking secret is discovered. When Ellie is feeling like the only one who cares about Nina’s absence, she meets Sean. He says that he’s gone through something similar to Ellie’s situation and because of this she begins to trust him. Ellie embarks on a journey across the country to find Nina, and Sean accompanies her. Reflecting on Sean’s behavior, Ellie says, “No on else I’ve ever talked to has ever really gotten it before” (70). This shows how Ellie can relate to Sean. They build a friendship and during the road-trip they share stories. Sean seems to want to find Nina almost as desperately as Ellie. Towards the end of the book, Ellie discovers that Sean hasn’t been honest with her, and that he did know Nina. Ellie learns that Sean is the reason why Nina disappeared and that he lied about having experienced the same things as her. She thinks, “My brain is spiraling out of control. I feel my lips parting. I can’t breathe. I look down” (244). Books that involve the uncovering of secrets are especially enjoyable to teenage girls because they are suspenseful to read about and sometimes the girls can relate to the text. Wherever Nina Lies involves the uncovering of many secrets, and therefore is most enjoyable to teenage girls.
One can assume that Wherever Nina Lies was written for teenage girls because it has an adventurous plot, there’s a sufficient amount of romance and a shocking secret is discovered. I would rate this book at two out of five stars because it was not very challenging to me, but the plot was definitely original. In Wherever Nina Lies, Ellie makes several references to the times she spent with Nina before she disappeared. Ellie makes it clear that Nina was very close to her. When Nina randomly disappears, Ellie is heartbroken. She feels so alone, even when she’s with other people. I lost someone close to me once and I felt the same way. When I was little and we still lived in Alaska, my family had a black lab named Flag. He was full of energy, but extremely disobedient. We loved him anyway, of course. Flag really was my best friend. However, when we were preparing to move here, we found out that we would not be able to bring Flag with us. Fortunately, we were able to give him to a close family friend who we knew would take good care of him, but I was too young to fully understand that when I said goodbye to him it would be for the last time. When we arrived at our new house without Flag, I was crushed. Getting used to not having him around was extremely difficult. From completing this assignment I learned that when you predetermine that you will do your best no matter what on a specific goal, you will achieve it. This is because Ellie decides right when her sister disappears that she will find her, and she does.
I think that I deserve an A on this assignment because I put a lot of energy into it. I’ve been working hard to complete it in the last few days. For me, it was easy to come up with ideas to support my thesis. However, it was difficult to find evidence to build my body paragraphs. Also, this was a busy week for me, so it was hard to focus on this assignment while I was working on it. If I had more time, I would create a stronger thesis. On future book reviews, I plan to improve by managing my working time better. Speaking of working time, I was wondering how much time we are supposed to spend writing a book review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 25, 2011
Nina, who is adored by her younger sister, Ellie, has been missing for two years. Everyone has given up hopes in finding her, except Ellie. One day she found a picture drawn by Nina inside a book, the first clue that leads Ellie to a breathtaking journey. Along this journey, she meets a gorgeous, mysterious guy called Sean, who claims to understand her feelings. Is this guy trustworthy? Together, they travel to places looking for Nina.
At first, I thought I wouldn't want to read this book because I am more into sci-fiction/fantasy novels. But why not give it a try? WOW! "Wherever Nina Lies" is a veryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy good book! I love how the author creates the plot, the mysteries, the suspense, and the romance! Whenever Ellie finds a clue of Nina's whereabouts, I get more engaged into the story, anticipating for the truth to be revealed. And guess what? the truth is veryyyyyyyyy shocking, at least not what I'd expected in the beginning. All I could say was "O.M.G. this is insane, so unexpected."
At first, I thought I wouldn't want to read this book because I am more into sci-fiction/fantasy novels. But why not give it a try? WOW! "Wherever Nina Lies" is a veryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy good book! I love how the author creates the plot, the mysteries, the suspense, and the romance! Whenever Ellie finds a clue of Nina's whereabouts, I get more engaged into the story, anticipating for the truth to be revealed. And guess what? the truth is veryyyyyyyyy shocking, at least not what I'd expected in the beginning. All I could say was "O.M.G. this is insane, so unexpected."
November 22, 2015
Das Buch lies sich super lesen und auch die Geschichte war an sich gut. Es war spannend, mit Ellie auf die Suche nach ihrer Schwester zu gehen und der Twist am Ende war zu einem Großteil unerwartet für mich. Auch wenn man bei einer Person schnell gemerkt hat, dass sie komisch ist, die Verstrickungen hätte ich nicht erwartet.
Ich finde es nur etwas schade, dass nie wieder ein Wort über die Band verloren wurde. Diese Episode der Reise fand ich mit am besten!
Ich finde es nur etwas schade, dass nie wieder ein Wort über die Band verloren wurde. Diese Episode der Reise fand ich mit am besten!
January 7, 2019
***Spoilers included***
I can’t imagine anyone is still reading this subpar book published in 2009, especially when Weingarten has turned a 180 later in her career, writing substantial, engaging YA such as Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls and Bad Girls with Perfect Faces, both of which got 4 stars from me and are worth reading, unlike this one. But since I loved both of the aforementioned recent books so much, I expected a book along the same line, yet possibly less polished. Instead, I got a dull, silly halfhearted attempt with a ton of drawings thrown in by some illustrator named Vicky Newman. I guess I like when authors try to get a bit multimodal-who doesn’t like pictures?-but they ended up being distracting from the text (which I guess wasn’t necessarily a bad thing since I didn’t really like the plot!).
When I was quite a bit younger, I watched the original Power Rangers, (mostly because the OG pink ranger was one of the only brunette desirable protagonists available and even at nine I recognized Tommy, an adult male who wore belted black dress pants to “practice martial arts” in a park, was hot AF). Another takeaway besides glimmers of sexual awakening was that the parents were completely aloof and never around, leaving the rangers to protect our world from Rita and Zed on a daily basis. Similarly, but somehow even more unrealistically than a giant floating head telling teenagers to save the world on school nights, Nina and Ellie have a mother who “works so many night shifts” that they both could be missing for weeks without her realizing it. Then, there’s Sean, whose parents also never check in with him because he was “rich” and even Amanda, who is able to fly to a different state to go to a concert because “what the hell? It’s summer” (paraphrased, but the overall message is the same). Sure, sometimes parents exist but are checked out when raising their teens, but to have all of the characters in the book have similar vacant parents is, frankly, just lazy writing. Yes, 2009 was a simpler time-right after shows like One Tree Hill, , etc. where parents were too concerned with their own lives to bother parenting and viewers accepted it, but I found the parents in this book as unbelievable, and that’s speaking as a girl who did not have a cell phone in high school and used to write my mom notes relaying where I was with no contact info, held onto our family TV by static!
Another early 2000 plot device in teen drama is being “slut shamed” via the girl’s guy turning into an obsessive, dangerous freak after intimacy! Yes, Sean was “too good to be true” with his wealth, floppy hair a la the 90s, and tunnel vision for Ellie, who Weingarten describes as not much of a head-turner, but of course Ellie had to have sex with him before noticing anything was off! I was pleased that Sean turned out to be crazy, as otherwise the book would be sending too many awful messages to viewers: Latch on to the first hot guy who notices you, take off on a road trip with him without telling anyone, have sex (possibly unprotected), and then start snooping enough to find her killed his older brother who dated your older sister and has also been searching for Nina for years (which was, sadly, pretty obvious despite it not being revealed until 200ish pages in).
More early 2000s generic plot: A sassy gay friend who helps the straight female protagonist in a pinch (but asks her for homemade porn nonchalantly?) and has little back story except that he loves gossip and being called variations of “Bradykins.” Not calling the police until the end because a hot guy can help instead! And, lastly, the best friend who serves only to cause conflict (when she has legit concerns about said hot guy), there’s an argument involving Ellie kicking her best friend out of a hotel in the middle of the night, and the only glimmer of reconciliation readers get is them watching Nina suck ice cream off her fingers in the end….GAG!
I also couldn’t stand Ellie, who had no interests aside from obsessing over her sister, iced coffee, and apparently mentally unhinged hot guys. I knew I was in for a dull protagonist when I read “I’m not tall and I’m not short, and I’m on the thin side but I’m definitely not skinny, I have curly hair that reaches to the middle of my back, it’s light brown but gets blonder in the summer” (12). 1. I don’t remember being as appalled by Weingarten’s lack of understanding of punctuation (such as how to use a semicolon to avoid a run-on sentence with a comma), so I guess somewhere between this book and her latest, she learned and 2. I’m so glad that authors of present day YA are moving away from the “middle” ground of writing a protagonist with no real defining features so as many readers can relate as possible. Nowhere in the book does Ellie begin to define what she is.
Now, the sub characters have far more interesting descriptions, like the Jamies who have sex in the backseat, or the girl at the tattoo parlor who encourages her friend to get matching nipple piercings so they can be “nipple twins.” Sadly, these people get little plot time.
The most disappointing part of reading this was that Weingarten’s later books are filled with lyricism, depth, and power, while this feels like fluff that I can’t believe was published!
I can’t imagine anyone is still reading this subpar book published in 2009, especially when Weingarten has turned a 180 later in her career, writing substantial, engaging YA such as Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls and Bad Girls with Perfect Faces, both of which got 4 stars from me and are worth reading, unlike this one. But since I loved both of the aforementioned recent books so much, I expected a book along the same line, yet possibly less polished. Instead, I got a dull, silly halfhearted attempt with a ton of drawings thrown in by some illustrator named Vicky Newman. I guess I like when authors try to get a bit multimodal-who doesn’t like pictures?-but they ended up being distracting from the text (which I guess wasn’t necessarily a bad thing since I didn’t really like the plot!).
When I was quite a bit younger, I watched the original Power Rangers, (mostly because the OG pink ranger was one of the only brunette desirable protagonists available and even at nine I recognized Tommy, an adult male who wore belted black dress pants to “practice martial arts” in a park, was hot AF). Another takeaway besides glimmers of sexual awakening was that the parents were completely aloof and never around, leaving the rangers to protect our world from Rita and Zed on a daily basis. Similarly, but somehow even more unrealistically than a giant floating head telling teenagers to save the world on school nights, Nina and Ellie have a mother who “works so many night shifts” that they both could be missing for weeks without her realizing it. Then, there’s Sean, whose parents also never check in with him because he was “rich” and even Amanda, who is able to fly to a different state to go to a concert because “what the hell? It’s summer” (paraphrased, but the overall message is the same). Sure, sometimes parents exist but are checked out when raising their teens, but to have all of the characters in the book have similar vacant parents is, frankly, just lazy writing. Yes, 2009 was a simpler time-right after shows like One Tree Hill, , etc. where parents were too concerned with their own lives to bother parenting and viewers accepted it, but I found the parents in this book as unbelievable, and that’s speaking as a girl who did not have a cell phone in high school and used to write my mom notes relaying where I was with no contact info, held onto our family TV by static!
Another early 2000 plot device in teen drama is being “slut shamed” via the girl’s guy turning into an obsessive, dangerous freak after intimacy! Yes, Sean was “too good to be true” with his wealth, floppy hair a la the 90s, and tunnel vision for Ellie, who Weingarten describes as not much of a head-turner, but of course Ellie had to have sex with him before noticing anything was off! I was pleased that Sean turned out to be crazy, as otherwise the book would be sending too many awful messages to viewers: Latch on to the first hot guy who notices you, take off on a road trip with him without telling anyone, have sex (possibly unprotected), and then start snooping enough to find her killed his older brother who dated your older sister and has also been searching for Nina for years (which was, sadly, pretty obvious despite it not being revealed until 200ish pages in).
More early 2000s generic plot: A sassy gay friend who helps the straight female protagonist in a pinch (but asks her for homemade porn nonchalantly?) and has little back story except that he loves gossip and being called variations of “Bradykins.” Not calling the police until the end because a hot guy can help instead! And, lastly, the best friend who serves only to cause conflict (when she has legit concerns about said hot guy), there’s an argument involving Ellie kicking her best friend out of a hotel in the middle of the night, and the only glimmer of reconciliation readers get is them watching Nina suck ice cream off her fingers in the end….GAG!
I also couldn’t stand Ellie, who had no interests aside from obsessing over her sister, iced coffee, and apparently mentally unhinged hot guys. I knew I was in for a dull protagonist when I read “I’m not tall and I’m not short, and I’m on the thin side but I’m definitely not skinny, I have curly hair that reaches to the middle of my back, it’s light brown but gets blonder in the summer” (12). 1. I don’t remember being as appalled by Weingarten’s lack of understanding of punctuation (such as how to use a semicolon to avoid a run-on sentence with a comma), so I guess somewhere between this book and her latest, she learned and 2. I’m so glad that authors of present day YA are moving away from the “middle” ground of writing a protagonist with no real defining features so as many readers can relate as possible. Nowhere in the book does Ellie begin to define what she is.
Now, the sub characters have far more interesting descriptions, like the Jamies who have sex in the backseat, or the girl at the tattoo parlor who encourages her friend to get matching nipple piercings so they can be “nipple twins.” Sadly, these people get little plot time.
The most disappointing part of reading this was that Weingarten’s later books are filled with lyricism, depth, and power, while this feels like fluff that I can’t believe was published!
November 28, 2017
It's been two years since Nina's older sister disappeared without a trace. When Nina finds one of her sister's drawings in a donation box at her friend's workplace, she tries to track her sister down. After meeting a handsome stranger at a party, they embark on a road trip looking for answers.
On one hand, this book was completely ridiculous. A teenage girl meets a guy and within 24 hours, they are on a road trip across the country. She doesn't know his last name and neither of their parents know where they are. The plot is far fetched and Nina's actions are mind-blowing. On the other hand, this was page turner and while I suspected where the story was going, there were still a few surprises.
Overall-if I had read this in high school, I probably would have loved it. The mother in me kept thinking "OMG if my daughter was doing this, I'd kill her."
Grade: 3/5
On one hand, this book was completely ridiculous. A teenage girl meets a guy and within 24 hours, they are on a road trip across the country. She doesn't know his last name and neither of their parents know where they are. The plot is far fetched and Nina's actions are mind-blowing. On the other hand, this was page turner and while I suspected where the story was going, there were still a few surprises.
Overall-if I had read this in high school, I probably would have loved it. The mother in me kept thinking "OMG if my daughter was doing this, I'd kill her."
Grade: 3/5
November 13, 2010
I don't like being so critical when I'm writing a review, but this book just doesn't make any sense. Ellie's sister Nina went missing two years ago, but she never accept the fact that her sister may not be coming home anymore. One day she obtained a random drawing that was clearly Nina's, and she went looking for her. She arrived at a place called Mothership and got to know a stranger. Well, a strikingly handsome stranger, that is. Not long afterwards, she went with this stranger to look for her missing sister. They found clues along the way which lead them to another place, and so on.
The whole story took place in only 5 days. And in less than 5 days time, Ellie had went on a journey with stranger "Sean" to look for her sister, had sex with him in a drunken state, and not to mention falling in love with him. I mean, what is this? I think this is just terrible, and Ellie's rash actions made her to appear immature and childish. When Nina first went missing, her mom didn't seem to care much about her daughter's disappearance. She just acted as if nothing has happened.
I don't like the writer's way of writing. Take a look at the birthday song:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOO YOUUUU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR BELLYYYYYYYYY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUUUUU
I mean, what's up with all the extra O's, U's and Y's?
The ending is slightly better than the rest of the book, but still, it is not convincing. I need more explanation and there is not enough of that. I feel bored while reading this book, and sometimes I just wanted to stop reading right there. It wasn't as mysterious or intriguing as it sounds, and the plot is too unrealistic. I don't feel any connection with the main character Ellie, and I just can't convince myself to care about her efforts of finding her sister. Sorry, but this book is not my cup of tea. The book cover and the illustrations in the book are beautiful, though.
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The whole story took place in only 5 days. And in less than 5 days time, Ellie had went on a journey with stranger "Sean" to look for her sister, had sex with him in a drunken state, and not to mention falling in love with him. I mean, what is this? I think this is just terrible, and Ellie's rash actions made her to appear immature and childish. When Nina first went missing, her mom didn't seem to care much about her daughter's disappearance. She just acted as if nothing has happened.
I don't like the writer's way of writing. Take a look at the birthday song:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOO YOUUUU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR BELLYYYYYYYYY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUUUUU
I mean, what's up with all the extra O's, U's and Y's?
The ending is slightly better than the rest of the book, but still, it is not convincing. I need more explanation and there is not enough of that. I feel bored while reading this book, and sometimes I just wanted to stop reading right there. It wasn't as mysterious or intriguing as it sounds, and the plot is too unrealistic. I don't feel any connection with the main character Ellie, and I just can't convince myself to care about her efforts of finding her sister. Sorry, but this book is not my cup of tea. The book cover and the illustrations in the book are beautiful, though.
Visit The Bookaholics for more reviews: http://the-bookaholics.blogspot.com/
July 20, 2010
If there's one thing I've got to say about this book, it's that it's misleading marketed. Look at the cover. Does it scream "plot-twisty horror thriller" to you? The cut-out ransom letters do look suspicious, but the color-scheme just makes the book look like another fluffy teen YA. NOT SO. (Although I actually do really love the cover, I just find it misleading.) I'm in no way saying that John Green's Paper Towns was a gender-specific book, but this really read like a version of Paper Towns (plus creepyness) written specifically for girls. You have the John Green-esque road trip combined with really great writing, throw in a spooky disappearance, and you get this fantastic book. So, you know, it's late at night and I sit down to read some fluff fiction. This story ends with me staying up far too late, scared out of my mind, but absolutely unable to put the book down. It delves right in to the story, setting everything up very quickly and in a captivating way. The suspense holds up throughout the whole novel, and makes for a really intense read. Following the clues along with the main characters is a blast, and has the reader theorizing throughout the book. There were some minor moments that did appear to be conveniently contrived for the purposes of moving the mystery along, but even those were pretty easy to read past without getting too worked up about it. I just loved the unpredictability of everything that happened, and I can definitively say this this is one of my favorite YA mysteries.
Rating: 5/5
Rating: 5/5
May 8, 2012
Oh my Gosh! At first when I picked up this book, I thought I would be reading a very lighthearted book about a girl whose sister ran away two years prior taking a road trip with this guy she had a crush on. Then (Spoiler alert!) the story takes a MAJOR turn. Well there were minor clues along they way to help you figure it out but I honestly didn't think much of it. So, one minute you think that this guy, Sean, and this girl, Ellie, are happily in puppy love, but No! This guy is just crazy. He goes and kills his stepbrother because he's in love with his girlfriend. He then wants to kill Ellie as well as Nina. Let me just say that I was pleasantly surprised by the way the book ended. Typically, there are so may cliches in romance books for teens and some things that you expect to happen based on the tone of the novel. So anyways, I give this book two thumbs up and would absolutely recommend this book. There is this really cool artwork in the book, which also kept it interesting. I can't even remember the last I read a book with real illustrations incorporated with it.
February 22, 2019
3.75
I rather enjoy a good adventure, a good road trip to uncover a secret or find something, someone.. So this was an excellent start to the story. Ellie's sister Nina went missing 2 years ago and she can't quite let go, she needs to know what happened to her. So when she finds a drawing her sister drew and deems it a clue, it starts her off on the path to Nina.
It was quite light hearted and funny to start off with, following the most obscure clues, meeting a bunch of random people and falling in love, getting closer to finding out what happened to Nina..
And then it got super dark and crazy, and I was like, Damn! But also still enjoying it, it was an interesting twist and the last leg of the journey was weird and intense but I liked where it ended up.
I wasn't overly fond of Amanda, like yes, she was super concerned for her best friend, rightly so, but she was portraited as a mega bitch most of the time and basically told her to get over Nina, that's not how you support someone grieving :/
Sean was weird and Brad was a little up and down, but I really liked Nina and the drawings, I thought that was super cool, to not have to try and build the mental image but to have these super cool, detailed drawings that linked the chapter well, was cool.
It was cute and funny and dark but enjoyable and it was really good :)
I rather enjoy a good adventure, a good road trip to uncover a secret or find something, someone.. So this was an excellent start to the story. Ellie's sister Nina went missing 2 years ago and she can't quite let go, she needs to know what happened to her. So when she finds a drawing her sister drew and deems it a clue, it starts her off on the path to Nina.
It was quite light hearted and funny to start off with, following the most obscure clues, meeting a bunch of random people and falling in love, getting closer to finding out what happened to Nina..
And then it got super dark and crazy, and I was like, Damn! But also still enjoying it, it was an interesting twist and the last leg of the journey was weird and intense but I liked where it ended up.
I wasn't overly fond of Amanda, like yes, she was super concerned for her best friend, rightly so, but she was portraited as a mega bitch most of the time and basically told her to get over Nina, that's not how you support someone grieving :/
Sean was weird and Brad was a little up and down, but I really liked Nina and the drawings, I thought that was super cool, to not have to try and build the mental image but to have these super cool, detailed drawings that linked the chapter well, was cool.
It was cute and funny and dark but enjoyable and it was really good :)
January 13, 2020
Well that was more twisted then I thought.
January 2, 2021
I thought it was stupid from the moment I picked it up. But I kept reading because I was hooked! The plot's twists and turns were fun and by the end, I didn't really think it was very stupid anymore.
February 7, 2019
Ellie and her oldest sister Nina were very close as kids. Nina would always sneak out but come back before sunrise, one night she never came back. 2 years have past her being gone, when Ellie finds a photo her missing sister drew. This gives her the motivation to go look for her. Will she find her, if so will she be alive, you'll have to read to find out.
August 2, 2009
Ellie just can't give up. She can't give up the life she had when her sister was part of her family. She can't give up the belief that her sister is somewhere out there. She can't give up the belief that if she found her, Nina would be happy to see her.
Ellie's sister Nina has been gone for two years now and everybody seems to have given up hope that she will ever return. Everyone except Ellie. When Ellie finds a picture that she knows is Nina's the search is on. If she can just find someone who saw Nina after she left home she knows that she will be able to find her. Things seem great except for the fact that nobody wants to help Ellie search because they know it is a lost cause.
That is, until Ellie meets Seth. Seth knows what Ellie is going through and he is more than willing to drive her across the country on a wild goose chase for Nina. His reasons seem perfectly normal to Ellie and she finds herself beginning to feel something for him but everybody seems to warn her away from him.
Is Seth hiding something from Ellie, something that could put her in danger? Is Nina out there somewhere, alive and well, just waiting to be found? Will Ellie figure things out before it's too late?
Wherever Nina Lies was actually a really good book. I was skeptical going into it but I was very pleasantly surprised. The story was way more shocking and gripping than I ever expected. It kept me up pretty much all night reading.
The story was good but it was kind of unbelievable. Everything just seemed to happen to quickly and easily. I mean, in today's society you would have to be pretty dumb to get into a car with a guy you barely know and drive across the country with him. Ellie and Seth just seemed to meet magically and everything ended up working perfectly for the story. I understand that the author doesn't want us to have to read a huge book but a little more details about their meeting and maybe something a little more likely to happen would have been better.
Overall, I really did like the book and if you can get past the unbelievable parts, it gets really good. I wouldn't call it one of my favorites but if you like mystery, romance, secrets, and lies give it a shot. You might just find yourself a new favorite book.
Ellie's sister Nina has been gone for two years now and everybody seems to have given up hope that she will ever return. Everyone except Ellie. When Ellie finds a picture that she knows is Nina's the search is on. If she can just find someone who saw Nina after she left home she knows that she will be able to find her. Things seem great except for the fact that nobody wants to help Ellie search because they know it is a lost cause.
That is, until Ellie meets Seth. Seth knows what Ellie is going through and he is more than willing to drive her across the country on a wild goose chase for Nina. His reasons seem perfectly normal to Ellie and she finds herself beginning to feel something for him but everybody seems to warn her away from him.
Is Seth hiding something from Ellie, something that could put her in danger? Is Nina out there somewhere, alive and well, just waiting to be found? Will Ellie figure things out before it's too late?
Wherever Nina Lies was actually a really good book. I was skeptical going into it but I was very pleasantly surprised. The story was way more shocking and gripping than I ever expected. It kept me up pretty much all night reading.
The story was good but it was kind of unbelievable. Everything just seemed to happen to quickly and easily. I mean, in today's society you would have to be pretty dumb to get into a car with a guy you barely know and drive across the country with him. Ellie and Seth just seemed to meet magically and everything ended up working perfectly for the story. I understand that the author doesn't want us to have to read a huge book but a little more details about their meeting and maybe something a little more likely to happen would have been better.
Overall, I really did like the book and if you can get past the unbelievable parts, it gets really good. I wouldn't call it one of my favorites but if you like mystery, romance, secrets, and lies give it a shot. You might just find yourself a new favorite book.
April 18, 2015
Nina ist seit zwei Jahren verschwunden und Ellie kann nicht aufhören jedem Hinweis nachzugehen, der zu ihrer Schwester führen könnte. Doch nach zwei Jahren ohne Lebenszeichen scheint diese Suche fast hoffnungslos. Doch als Ellie neue Indizien findet und den attraktiven Sean kennenlernt, der sie bei ihrer Suche unterstützt, schöpft sie neue Hoffnung. Doch Ellie kann nicht ahnen, welch schreckliches Geheimnis sie bald darauf aufdecken wird…
Der Jugendthriller „Mottentanz“ von Lynn Weingarten erzählt die Geschichte Ellies, die verzweifelt nach ihrer Schwester sucht und dabei auf Sean trifft, der sie als einziger unterstützt.
Das Buch beginnt relativ ruhig, denn man lernt Ellies Welt kennen und die Menschen, die ihr wichtig sind, ihre beste Freundin und Amanda und Brady, ihr Chef im „Mon Coeur“.
Doch schnell merkt man, dass etwas oder jemand in ihre Welt fehlt, ihre Schwester Nina. In spannenden Rückblenden und Erinnerungen erfährt man gemeinsame Erlebnisse der beiden Schwestern. So sieht man die schönen und die schweren Zeiten, die die Zwei zusammen erlebt haben.
Die Autorin schafft es in eindrucksvollen Geschichten von Ninas und Ellies Verhältnis zu erzählen, sodass man auch die Ereignisse in der Gegenwart versteht und bei Ellies Suche mit fiebert und hofft.
Ich konnte mich außerdem sehr gut mit Ellie identifizieren. Ihre Gefühle werden überzeugend geschildert und man kann ihre Empfindungen gut nachvollziehen. Sie ist eine interessante Protagonistin, die ihre Schwester als Einzige einfach nicht aufgeben will und die Suche konsequent durchzieht.
Das Buch beginnt für mein Empfinden eher als ein „Roadmovie“, denn der geheimnisvolle und gut aussehende Sean und Ellie fahren auf der Suche nach Nina durch die halben USA. Es ist spannend und interessant, wie ein Ereignis zum nächsten Hinweis führt, auch wenn es manchmal sehr zufällig scheint. Sean würde sagen, dass es schicksalhaft ist.
Doch dann kommt die große Wende und die Geschichte wird sehr, sehr spannend und gefährlich. Diese überraschende Wendung fand ich sehr gut, so wurde es doch noch ein richtiger Thriller.
Diese Mischung aus Suche und Thriller hat mir sehr gefallen, denn es war nicht nur spannend, sondern interessant und rätselhaft. Deshalb kann ich „Mottentanz“ sehr weiterempfehlen!
Der Jugendthriller „Mottentanz“ von Lynn Weingarten erzählt die Geschichte Ellies, die verzweifelt nach ihrer Schwester sucht und dabei auf Sean trifft, der sie als einziger unterstützt.
Das Buch beginnt relativ ruhig, denn man lernt Ellies Welt kennen und die Menschen, die ihr wichtig sind, ihre beste Freundin und Amanda und Brady, ihr Chef im „Mon Coeur“.
Doch schnell merkt man, dass etwas oder jemand in ihre Welt fehlt, ihre Schwester Nina. In spannenden Rückblenden und Erinnerungen erfährt man gemeinsame Erlebnisse der beiden Schwestern. So sieht man die schönen und die schweren Zeiten, die die Zwei zusammen erlebt haben.
Die Autorin schafft es in eindrucksvollen Geschichten von Ninas und Ellies Verhältnis zu erzählen, sodass man auch die Ereignisse in der Gegenwart versteht und bei Ellies Suche mit fiebert und hofft.
Ich konnte mich außerdem sehr gut mit Ellie identifizieren. Ihre Gefühle werden überzeugend geschildert und man kann ihre Empfindungen gut nachvollziehen. Sie ist eine interessante Protagonistin, die ihre Schwester als Einzige einfach nicht aufgeben will und die Suche konsequent durchzieht.
Das Buch beginnt für mein Empfinden eher als ein „Roadmovie“, denn der geheimnisvolle und gut aussehende Sean und Ellie fahren auf der Suche nach Nina durch die halben USA. Es ist spannend und interessant, wie ein Ereignis zum nächsten Hinweis führt, auch wenn es manchmal sehr zufällig scheint. Sean würde sagen, dass es schicksalhaft ist.
Doch dann kommt die große Wende und die Geschichte wird sehr, sehr spannend und gefährlich. Diese überraschende Wendung fand ich sehr gut, so wurde es doch noch ein richtiger Thriller.
Diese Mischung aus Suche und Thriller hat mir sehr gefallen, denn es war nicht nur spannend, sondern interessant und rätselhaft. Deshalb kann ich „Mottentanz“ sehr weiterempfehlen!
March 8, 2010
This was a quick read with a fast paced plot although admittedly predictable. Red flags went off in my mind far earlier than they ever did for Ellie but given her situation, I didn't find it irritating or uncharacteristic at all. Her wild, artsy sister who had a habit of sneaking out left one night and never returned. Her mother more or less lives in denial, sometimes even coming off as relieved, forcing the burden of finding her to fall on Ellie- at least in Ellie's mind it does.
When she starts finding clues, Ellie runs with it because maybe it has been 2 years but this is her sister. I very much loved how determined Ellie was to find Nina- even after 2 years. When everyone else pushed her to give up, she kept going even though that would bring even more pain and disappointment than giving up. Ellie's character was smart, despite some if the situations she dragged herself into but I blame that on love more than anything because despite everything, she's still a teenaged girl. Finally, someone wanted to help her and someone was seeing her. When her sister left and her mother was somewhat of a ghost, there was somebody to focus on her and see her.
The road trip aspect of this book was definitely interesting. It starts with a picture Nina happens on that was undoubtedly drawn by her sister. The pictures are included in the book and the artwork is absolutely stunning and they give the reader an even better idea of who Nina was. I think that addition is fantastic and really helped pull things together. Along the way, more drawings and pieces of art are incorporated, each one leading Ellie closer to the truth about her sister.
Again, while predictable, I really enjoyed both this book and the ending. While I didn't guess the entire plot, things start falling into place and enough pieces are given early enough for the reader to wager a close bet. Will I read this one again though? Absolutely because it is well written, it's fast paced with enough plot twists thrown in to keep me going. It grabbed me pretty early and with a cast of very colorful characters, this book made for a great red.
January 15, 2012
With three simple words, this novel can easily be described: road-trip, romance and mystery. All of which make Lynn Weingarten's debut effort sound as fun and carefree as any other book available in the teen section but what sets this one apart is the suspense that takes ahold of you at the mid-way point. I found it almost impossible to set this one down once the action and adventure had begun, I am surprised to say that the real mystery buried beneath these pages left me in awe.
Meet Ellie. She's pining for the return of her sister. After two years of misery, she's almost ready to give up on the search until a image belonging to Nina is discovered in a nearby thrift store. The clue leads Ellie to a house party where her sister once displayed artwork. Now yearning for her return more than ever, Ellie runs into Sean who initially seems like the perfect comfort but ultimately takes her out a longwinded road-trip for many more clues.
Once again, I was slightly bothered to find a Young Adult novel displaying overworked and uninterested parents. I can see how this would aide in the flow of the characters and their plot but just once, I would like to flip through the pages of a novel to find wonderfully realistic and caring parents. I also felt the ending was not as tightly wrapped up as I'd like and as there will not be a sequel at this point, I'm pretty sure my woes will not be answered.
Overall, I was amazed by just how much I enjoyed this novel and wish I'd picked it up earlier. I can't wait to see what the author has in store for us with her next novel, The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers.
Meet Ellie. She's pining for the return of her sister. After two years of misery, she's almost ready to give up on the search until a image belonging to Nina is discovered in a nearby thrift store. The clue leads Ellie to a house party where her sister once displayed artwork. Now yearning for her return more than ever, Ellie runs into Sean who initially seems like the perfect comfort but ultimately takes her out a longwinded road-trip for many more clues.
Once again, I was slightly bothered to find a Young Adult novel displaying overworked and uninterested parents. I can see how this would aide in the flow of the characters and their plot but just once, I would like to flip through the pages of a novel to find wonderfully realistic and caring parents. I also felt the ending was not as tightly wrapped up as I'd like and as there will not be a sequel at this point, I'm pretty sure my woes will not be answered.
Overall, I was amazed by just how much I enjoyed this novel and wish I'd picked it up earlier. I can't wait to see what the author has in store for us with her next novel, The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers.
February 22, 2020
Este libro tiene tantísimas cosas malas… que no sé por dónde empezar.
La hermana de Ellie desapareció hace un par de años, sin saber cómo, ni por qué ni nada. Simplemente desapareció. No se sabe si fue algo voluntario, si se escapó en una aventura amorosa que se torció o… si fue asesinada. Elli sigue haciendo su vida como puede, con su mejor amiga y sutípico amigo gay metomentodo.
La verdad es que todo comienza muy rápido. Nada más empezar el libro, Ellie ya encuentra la primera «pista» que está segura de que tiene que ver con su hermana Nina. El caso es que una pequeña tarjeta con un dibujo la lleva a la fiesta más extraña y trambólica que he leído en mi vida. La gente está pirada, hacen cosas extrañas y cada uno es más raro que el de al lado. Es entonces cuando conoce a un chico con una máscara y hablan durante un momento hasta que Ellie reemprende la búsqueda del chico que le puede dar información sobre su hermana.
La fiesta resulta ser un total fracaso, así que Ellie y su mejor amiga deciden irse. Al día siguiente, el chico de la fiesta aparece en la cafetería en la que trabaja Ellie (acosador who?). Después de pedir un café e intercambiar unas cuantas palabras más, se dan cuenta de que son almas gemelas porque ¡vaya! le gusta el café de la misma manera. El caso es que el compañero de trabajo y amigo de Ellie (el señor metomentodo) interviene y lo arregla todo para que el chico, Sean, acerque a Elli en su coche a la casa de ella. En serio, ¿quién hace esto? Recordemos que se conocen de la noche anterior, hablaron menos de cinco minutos y el chico se presenta donde ella trabaja. En serio. EN SERIO, ELLIE. Por dios. Que es un extraño, alma de mi vida.
Pero bueno, es un libro en el que la protagonista quiere descubrir la verdad de la desaparición de su hermana y tiene que enamorarse de alguien, así que no pasa nada. Continuemos.
Durante el trayecto a la casa, ya se están derramando los secretos… que si hermana desaparecido, que si hermano fallecido… Esto es el destino, piensa Ellie… Así que, claro como toda persona normal haría, le invita a subir a su casa.
Es que de verdad que no me lo creo.
Es que en serio, ¿quién se mete en el coche de un maldito desconocido? ¿al que has conocido en una fiesta y con el que has hablado como treinta segundos? ¿y darle la dirección de tu trabajo y de tu casa? ¿y además invitarlo a entrar? En serio, ¿quién? No lo entiendo. Yo soy Ellie y le doy una dirección falsa y en dirección contraria, vamos.
Pero que sí, que sí, que es un libro y no va a pasar nada malo.
En la casa, se ponen a hurgar entre las cosas de la hermana, por si, oh, encuentran algo, y sí que lo hacen (porque entonces no habría trama). Se ponen a investigar el gran hallazgo sentaditos en el sofá cuando aparece la madre de Ellie. La madre ni se inmuta por el chico desconocido que está en el salón, en el sofá con su hija. Qué menos que mostrar algo de preocupación, yo qué sé… que la hija tiene dieciséis años… y ha llevado a un chico a la casa… no sé… Pero bueno, tampoco me sorprende por la reacción que tuvo ante la desaparición de su otra hija…
Ah, sí, que estamos en un YA y tiene que haber padres disfuncionales, perdón no me acordaba.
Sean y Ellie descubren otra pista sobre Nina que los lleva por un viaje en carretera por diferentes estados. Ellie hace una pequeña maleta y se va con el tipo este, el extraño, en un maldito viaje de carretera, porque why not?si no me ha matado ya, no lo va a hacer nunca. No le pide permiso a su madre, Sean está mágicamente disponible para acompañarla, con coche y, como no, con dinero para derrochar en lo que sea que les de la gana. Easy peasy, buddy. Todos los inconvenientes que se le pueden presentar a una chica de dieciséis años para irse en un viaje por carretera se volatilizan… ni si quiera se considera. Se va sin pensar en el dinero, ahí está Sean para pagarlo todo. Yay, let’s go, stranger.
No me ha gustado que a los tres días de viaje (y ojo, que se conocen de hace cuatro) ya estén súper enamorados y teniendo sexo… borrachos. Es que mi cabeza no lo comprende. La madre ni se preocupa, aun cuando ya tiene desaparecida a una hija. Ellie se pasa días sin llamarla, hasta que se le ilumina la bombilla y decide hacerlo, solo para decirle que se está quedando a dormir con su mejor amiga. Esto es absurdo, de verdad.
But the best is yet to come, claro.
Sean tiene ciertos comportamientos que son bastante… raros. No me gustaba mucho. De hecho esperaba que al final del libro Ellie le diese la patada. Todo era muy conveniente. La hermana, el hermano, los padres de él, el viaje que accede a hacer por una completa desconocida porque «es el destino», el cómo se refería a su madre como «rematadamente loca» y que no se preocupaba por ella, cuando le ofrece dinero a Ellie para no volver a su casa. No sé, la verdad es que no me gustó.
El libro es todo un despropósito y no hay por dónde cogerlo. Pero tengo que admitir que me gustó y sorprendió el plot twist final. Porque aunque ya me lo veía venir desde la mitad del capítulo, no creía que de verdad fuera a ser así y que la autora no se fuera con el cliché de . Normalmente siempre tengo un montón de teorías locas que luego nunca son ciertas por esto mismo, . Así que en ese sentido sí me sorprendió.
En fin… a la protagonista la ponen tan ciega e ingenua es que es ridículo. En serio, llevo un rato pensando en sacar algo bueno del libro pero nada. Ha sido una pérdida de tiempo, por lo menos para mí.
La hermana de Ellie desapareció hace un par de años, sin saber cómo, ni por qué ni nada. Simplemente desapareció. No se sabe si fue algo voluntario, si se escapó en una aventura amorosa que se torció o… si fue asesinada. Elli sigue haciendo su vida como puede, con su mejor amiga y su
La verdad es que todo comienza muy rápido. Nada más empezar el libro, Ellie ya encuentra la primera «pista» que está segura de que tiene que ver con su hermana Nina. El caso es que una pequeña tarjeta con un dibujo la lleva a la fiesta más extraña y trambólica que he leído en mi vida. La gente está pirada, hacen cosas extrañas y cada uno es más raro que el de al lado. Es entonces cuando conoce a un chico con una máscara y hablan durante un momento hasta que Ellie reemprende la búsqueda del chico que le puede dar información sobre su hermana.
La fiesta resulta ser un total fracaso, así que Ellie y su mejor amiga deciden irse. Al día siguiente, el chico de la fiesta aparece en la cafetería en la que trabaja Ellie (acosador who?). Después de pedir un café e intercambiar unas cuantas palabras más, se dan cuenta de que son almas gemelas porque ¡vaya! le gusta el café de la misma manera. El caso es que el compañero de trabajo y amigo de Ellie (el señor metomentodo) interviene y lo arregla todo para que el chico, Sean, acerque a Elli en su coche a la casa de ella. En serio, ¿quién hace esto? Recordemos que se conocen de la noche anterior, hablaron menos de cinco minutos y el chico se presenta donde ella trabaja. En serio. EN SERIO, ELLIE. Por dios. Que es un extraño, alma de mi vida.
Pero bueno, es un libro en el que la protagonista quiere descubrir la verdad de la desaparición de su hermana y tiene que enamorarse de alguien, así que no pasa nada. Continuemos.
Durante el trayecto a la casa, ya se están derramando los secretos… que si hermana desaparecido, que si hermano fallecido… Esto es el destino, piensa Ellie… Así que, claro como toda persona normal haría, le invita a subir a su casa.
Es que de verdad que no me lo creo.
Es que en serio, ¿quién se mete en el coche de un maldito desconocido? ¿al que has conocido en una fiesta y con el que has hablado como treinta segundos? ¿y darle la dirección de tu trabajo y de tu casa? ¿y además invitarlo a entrar? En serio, ¿quién? No lo entiendo. Yo soy Ellie y le doy una dirección falsa y en dirección contraria, vamos.
Pero que sí, que sí, que es un libro y no va a pasar nada malo.
En la casa, se ponen a hurgar entre las cosas de la hermana, por si, oh, encuentran algo, y sí que lo hacen (porque entonces no habría trama). Se ponen a investigar el gran hallazgo sentaditos en el sofá cuando aparece la madre de Ellie. La madre ni se inmuta por el chico desconocido que está en el salón, en el sofá con su hija. Qué menos que mostrar algo de preocupación, yo qué sé… que la hija tiene dieciséis años… y ha llevado a un chico a la casa… no sé… Pero bueno, tampoco me sorprende por la reacción que tuvo ante la desaparición de su otra hija…
Ah, sí, que estamos en un YA y tiene que haber padres disfuncionales, perdón no me acordaba.
Sean y Ellie descubren otra pista sobre Nina que los lleva por un viaje en carretera por diferentes estados. Ellie hace una pequeña maleta y se va con el tipo este, el extraño, en un maldito viaje de carretera, porque why not?
No me ha gustado que a los tres días de viaje (y ojo, que se conocen de hace cuatro) ya estén súper enamorados y teniendo sexo… borrachos. Es que mi cabeza no lo comprende. La madre ni se preocupa, aun cuando ya tiene desaparecida a una hija. Ellie se pasa días sin llamarla, hasta que se le ilumina la bombilla y decide hacerlo, solo para decirle que se está quedando a dormir con su mejor amiga. Esto es absurdo, de verdad.
But the best is yet to come, claro.
Sean tiene ciertos comportamientos que son bastante… raros. No me gustaba mucho. De hecho esperaba que al final del libro Ellie le diese la patada. Todo era muy conveniente. La hermana, el hermano, los padres de él, el viaje que accede a hacer por una completa desconocida porque «es el destino», el cómo se refería a su madre como «rematadamente loca» y que no se preocupaba por ella, cuando le ofrece dinero a Ellie para no volver a su casa. No sé, la verdad es que no me gustó.
El libro es todo un despropósito y no hay por dónde cogerlo. Pero tengo que admitir que me gustó y sorprendió el plot twist final. Porque aunque ya me lo veía venir desde la mitad del capítulo, no creía que de verdad fuera a ser así y que la autora no se fuera con el cliché de . Normalmente siempre tengo un montón de teorías locas que luego nunca son ciertas por esto mismo, . Así que en ese sentido sí me sorprendió.
En fin… a la protagonista la ponen tan ciega e ingenua es que es ridículo. En serio, llevo un rato pensando en sacar algo bueno del libro pero nada. Ha sido una pérdida de tiempo, por lo menos para mí.
October 17, 2010
In my opinion, "Wherever Nina Lies" was a very good book. It is the first book that I have read of Lynn Weingarten, and I liked how she put a lot of details in the story to make us understand what was really going on. I also liked how some people or some parts of the book were related to each other, to make the suspense even bigger. As an exemple, Sean, who met Lia in a party, helped her find clues about Nina's (Lia's siter) disappearence 2 years ago. Around page 247 through the end of the book, was my favorite part. We actually learned something really shocking... The truth. There was more "action" if we can call it like that, that made me think of "Wow, I really like this book!" I love that kind of mistery books, where you need to find clues to get to the mistery; it feels like if you were living the moment; like if you were actually in the story.
I think the characters didn't change in the course of the story, only the perception that I had of Sean, changed. But I'm really happy that Lia followed her instinct and didn't listen to what her best friend said about giving up on finding her sister... At some points, I was a little bit emotional, mostly at the end, but it was still my favorite part of the book.
I would definitely recommend this book to people that enjoy reading stories with enigmas and misteries.
I think the characters didn't change in the course of the story, only the perception that I had of Sean, changed. But I'm really happy that Lia followed her instinct and didn't listen to what her best friend said about giving up on finding her sister... At some points, I was a little bit emotional, mostly at the end, but it was still my favorite part of the book.
I would definitely recommend this book to people that enjoy reading stories with enigmas and misteries.
January 16, 2016
The novel, Wherever Nina Lies, by Lynn Weingarten, is about the efforts of sixteen year-old Ellie Wrigley to find her missing older sister, Nina. One day, while visiting her best friend, Amanda at work, Ellie finds one of her sister's drawings in a box of junk with a phone number on it. Ellie attempts calls the number, and the person on the other end denies knowing Nina. Ellie and Amanda track down the person who dropped the box off, and go to a house-wrecking party he is throwing. While there are at the party, Ellie meets a boy there named Sean, who says he will be happy to help Ellie find Nina. Ellie and Sean go on a long adventure to Nebraska, looking for Nina. While they are at a motel, Ellie goes through Sean's things and finds out that Sean murdered his own stepbrother, Jason who was dating Nina. Sean wants to find Nina to kill her and Ellie lies to him that she does to. The two head to San Francisco, where Sean prepares to kill Nina, but Ellie tackles him down and the police arrest him. Ellie and Nina reunite and fly home to their mother who is ecstatic to see them again. This novel was an excellent read because of the suspense and shocking plot twist. Overall, Lynn Weingarten did an amazing job with this novel.
January 27, 2010
I can not say enough good things about this book. This is Lynn Weingarten's first book, and it will not be the last I will read by her in the future.
I loved Ellie's character in this book. The book starts off with Ellie working at the coffee shop, she goes to a party with her friend only to meet a guy who shows up at the coffee shop the next day and gives Ellie a ride home. After talking for a little while he offers to drive her to find her sister. And the story really takes off. The guy who drives Ellie is named, Sean. The way they act in the beginning of the book makes me want a relationship like that. But as you read the book and find out more about Sean, you start trying to figure out what is going on. While I was reading I knew there was something different about the book. I was waiting for something big to happen, and when it did-let me just say, I wasn't expecting it.
This is a must read for everyone! A truly amazing book!
I loved Ellie's character in this book. The book starts off with Ellie working at the coffee shop, she goes to a party with her friend only to meet a guy who shows up at the coffee shop the next day and gives Ellie a ride home. After talking for a little while he offers to drive her to find her sister. And the story really takes off. The guy who drives Ellie is named, Sean. The way they act in the beginning of the book makes me want a relationship like that. But as you read the book and find out more about Sean, you start trying to figure out what is going on. While I was reading I knew there was something different about the book. I was waiting for something big to happen, and when it did-let me just say, I wasn't expecting it.
This is a must read for everyone! A truly amazing book!
March 4, 2018
Weingarten, Lynn Wherever Nina Lies, 336 p. Point (Scholastic), February 2009. Language: R (60+ swears, 20+ "f"), Sexual Content: PG (implied).
Two years ago, Ellie's beloved older sister, Nina disappeared without a trace. Ellie is certain that Nina is alive, even though everyone around her is urging her to get on with her life. Then out of the blue, Ellie receives what she thinks is a clue, which leads her to a hot guy who is more than willing to aid her on her cross country quest.
If it weren't for the excessive use of the "f-word", I would have really enjoyed this book.; it is not spectacular enough, however to ignore that.
NO. Cindy: Library-Teacher
Two years ago, Ellie's beloved older sister, Nina disappeared without a trace. Ellie is certain that Nina is alive, even though everyone around her is urging her to get on with her life. Then out of the blue, Ellie receives what she thinks is a clue, which leads her to a hot guy who is more than willing to aid her on her cross country quest.
If it weren't for the excessive use of the "f-word", I would have really enjoyed this book.; it is not spectacular enough, however to ignore that.
NO. Cindy: Library-Teacher
March 31, 2021
Good book. Nice easy read. Of course I’m an adult reading a teen novel. Hehe. Anyway...I loved that Ellie never gave up on her sister...knowing, feeling that she’s alive. I loved that she found a kindred spirit in her crush. Then he turns not so nice. I knew something was wrong with him. But to be the cause of Nina’s disappearance - wow!!!!
I was so happy that Nina was found!!!!! Made my heart happy. But even though she was “hiding” from Sean, I think she could have still contacted her mom and sister to let them know she was ok. As a mom, I can’t IMAGINE one of my daughters just...gone...Or the friend of Nina - Max - could have let them know she was ok.
Great read. I recommended it.
I was so happy that Nina was found!!!!! Made my heart happy. But even though she was “hiding” from Sean, I think she could have still contacted her mom and sister to let them know she was ok. As a mom, I can’t IMAGINE one of my daughters just...gone...Or the friend of Nina - Max - could have let them know she was ok.
Great read. I recommended it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 26, 2009
another junky little YA novel i felt obligated to read in order to fill my 'junky little YA thriller' quota. the story was unimpressive, the characters slightly relatable and a particular overuse of the f-word was perhaps enlisted in order to give the book an 'edge?'
July 6, 2009
This is the best book I have ever read!!!! It is sooooo good I want to read it over and over and over again!!!!
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