Book Review: Choker

Choker
by Elizabeth Woods 
233 pages
Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Sixteen-year-old Cara Lange has been a loner ever since she moved away from her best and only friend, Zoe, years ago. She eats lunch with the other girls from the track team and tries to avoid the popular girls who, after an embarrassing incident in the cafeteria, endlessly torture her, calling her Choker. But mostly she spends her time watching Ethan Gray from a distance, wishing he would finally notice her.

Then one day Cara comes home to find Zoe waiting for her. Zoe's on the run from problems at home, and Cara agrees to help her hide. With her best friend back, Cara's life changes overnight. Zoe gives her a new look and new confidence, and the next thing she knows, she's getting invited to parties and flirting with Ethan. Best of all, she can talk about everything with her BFF.

But just as quickly as Cara's life came together, it starts to unravel. A girl goes missing in her town, and everyone is a suspect - including Ethan. Worse stil, Zoe starts behaving strangely, and Cara begins to wonder what exactly her friend does all day while Cara's at school. You're supposed to trust your best friend no matter what.... but what if she turns into a total strange?

Choker is by far the creepiest book I have read all year long. Granted I haven't read Anna Dressed in Blood yet, but still. Choker was dang creepy. It was basically like reading a horror/thriller movie complete with my skin crawling and several "Oh my gosh I'm afraid to turn the page" moments. I loved every bit of it!

Anyone who has seen a horror/thriller movie knows that the strength of the movie is not in its characters but in how well its able weave a convincingly creepy story. The same goes for Choker. None of the characters are particularly amazing but the plot more then makes up for it. Elizabeth Woods had me questioning everything. What was real? What was an illusion? I did see the ending coming about halfway through the book but that didn't make it any less shocking because I was still second guessing myself!

I give Choker 4 out of 5 ice cream cones!

If you're looking for a chilling thriller that's sure to get your skin crawling then Choker is most definitely the book for you!

Julia :)