Review: The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie by Jaclyn Moriarty

This book was incredible. I don't know where to start. First of all, let me just say that this is part of a "kind-of" series. It's not a sequel, it's a companion novel to 3 other books, I believe. They're all set in the same world and a lot of them contain many similar characters but they're all completely different stories. Also, these books are told through letters, diary entries, messages, transcripts. It's such a creative and inventive way to get a story across, I think. The writing, itself, is really nice where you can just HEAR the main character's voice in your head.

Jaclyn Moriarty's books are always strange. But they're strange in the best way possible. Because they catch this emotion in you that is a cross between sadness and happiness. I don't know what to call it because you'll be reading a paragraph in the book and want to cry and laugh at the same time. I think the term I'm going to use is heartbreakingly funny. Seriously.

Basically, the book is about this girl named Bindy who is kind of what we like to call...a freak. She's a nerd, a know-it-all, a really big dork. And worse of all, she has NO IDEA that she comes off like that. She thinks that she's probably the best person around...until she finds out that not all her classmates like her very much. From then on, Bindy kind of spirals out of control. She loses interest in a lot of her classes and her schoolwork. She starts hallucinating, having strange dreams, throwing up. Also, she starts becoming OBSESSED with trying to make her fellow classmates like her again. But there's WAY more to the story than I'm telling you. Trust me, you're just going to have to read it to find out.

I didn't think that I'd be able to relate to Bindy at all. But, I think I learned from this book that no matter how different someone seems to be from you, you have to remember that they're still human. That they still have feelings. They're not indestructible and that they can break just as easily as you can. I ended up not only relating to Bindy throughout the course of the book, I became her cheerleader and rooted for her unconditionally and got mad at any character that tried to be mean to her. It was a crazy ride.

I finished this last night at, like, 3 AM. After you get through a certain point in this book, it's really hard to put it down. It has a little bit for everyone: romance, jokes, adventure, friendship, family, and larger more complex themes woven throughout the book. I think a lot of people can get something good out of this book. Go read it. Oh and it's set in Australia (did I not mention that?). But don't worry, I'm an American student and I related more to the school setup in this than anything I've read in those other silly high school books that are now abundant in YA lit.

In conclusion, I give it a: 5/5