Schwindel: Thriller

by Kristina Dunker

Eva is sixteen and experiencing all of the excitement of being in love for the first time. And this weekend promises to be special, as she and her boyfriend, Julian, will be spending time at his parents’ country house. Nothing could be more perfect. Except the journey to the country is anything but, and Eva’s dream weekend is turning into a total nightmare. When Eva’s train is delayed, she is unable to pick up Julian. She soon finds herself alone on a forest road late at night—and the witness to a group of teenagers beating a young boy. As she somehow sneaks by unnoticed, she also loses her diary, an incredibly personal book that holds all of her secrets—including details of her visits to a psychotherapist. So when she meets a kindred spirit who shares her demons and seems to know so much, she has to wonder whether he has read her thoughts. Exploring the hopes, fears, and dangers of adolescence, Vertigo spins a riveting tale of extraordinary emotional range and intensity.

Genres: Young Adult

240 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2007

About the author

Kristina Dunker was born 1973 in Dortmund, Germany. At the age of 17 she published her first book. Since then, Kristina Dunker written several novels for children and young adults and received several awards and scholarships, including the young literary prize in the city Voerde. She is a freelance writer based in Castrop-Rauxel and holds regular lectures, discussions, and writing workshops for young people.

Reviews

[mauso · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.6 sterne

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’ve never worried about what your sixteen-year-old daughter or granddaughter does when she’s away from home, Kristina Dunker’s Vertigo will give you cause for fear. I suspect most of us might not be quite so sanguine as Eva’s parents about letting a girl take a romantic weekend break with her boyfriend of only six weeks, but Eva’s had problems making friends in the past. Everyone who knows her is sure this marks a new beginning, a chance to step out beyond the boundaries of fear and approach the maturity and hope of adulthood.

The scene is set with a chapter of train delays as Eva tries to reach the small German town of Munkelbach where her boyfriend and future await. A few more foolish decisions later, she’s hiding secrets, wondering what secrets the boyfriend hides, and searching for an anchor to ease her fears. Will Julian prove trustworthy? Will she turn instead to the young man wounded in body and spirit who has so dismayed her? And will her missing journal prove as disastrous as she fears?

The novel reads rather like a scary teen movie with late-night parties, drinks and the allure of the bedroom. Love scenes take place offstage for the most part, but violence and fear are very present. The tension’s well portrayed and the hints of mystery are nicely done. Some parts of tale seemed unconvincing to me, but I’m not a teen and I’m probably not in the target demographic. Wise lessons are learned and Eva does indeed begin to grow. But it’s hard as a parent not to feel sad at the unintended wounds inflicted by adults in this tale.



Disclosure: I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

[Lorri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eva seems to be a troubled teenager. She is seeing a therapist to help her, but still deals with getting paranoid about the smallest things. She writes in a personal journal to help her get through life. After finally getting to her boyfriend's house for a special weekend, witnessing a group of teenagers beating up a boy, and losing her personal diary, she can't get over it and her weekend is ruined. Hanging out with her boyfriend and his friends that weekend opens her eyes and she realizes that people aren't always what they seem to be. She doesn't know who she can trust and then she stumbles--literally, over a dead girl... This book just didn't catch my interest, but there was a murder that leaves you wondering who did it.

I received a copy in exchange for my honest opinion

[Gretel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another dud from AmazonCrossing. Anticlimactic, it leaves you wondering why the hell you even picked it up. The writing is less than stellar, the translation is clumsy. If this is a book for teenagers then the author must presume the readers are stupid, because I felt this novel has the tendency to talk down to you. I found it hard to like any of the characters, or even believe what was happening. Oh, the insta-love doesn't help, either.

[Annie · Rating 1 out of 5]

What is probably a passable young adult novel in German became tedious and repetitive in translation. I received an advance reader copy through the Amazon Vine program and I still took nearly two years to finish this book. I would pick it up and read for twenty minutes before giving up because the language was clunky and dragging down a story that was not terribly interesting to begin with.

[Erika Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

kind of boring... definitely teen literature.

[Teresa Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Young adult girls will probably enjoy the romance and mystery of this book about a girl whose weekend with her boyfriend goes crazily awry.