READING: Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

Publication date: June 14th, 2011
Published by: Dutton Juvenile
Genre: Paranormal YA, Mystery
Rating: 3,5/5

Chloe's older sister, Ruby, is the girl everyone looks to and longs for, who can't be captured or caged. When a night with Ruby's friends goes horribly wrong and Chloe discovers the dead body of her classmate London Hayes left floating in the reservoir, Chloe is sent away from town and away from Ruby.

But Ruby will do anything to get her sister back, and when Chloe returns to town two years later, deadly surprises await. As Chloe flirts with the truth that Ruby has hidden deeply away, the fragile line between life and death is redrawn by the complex bonds of sisterhood.

Wow OK where do I even start with this book? It was a hell of a ride reading Imaginary Girls, and not a bad one at all. Maybe not as smooth as I would have liked, but still a good one.
First off, I want to say congratulations to Nova Ren Suma for her exquisite writing. Absolutely mesmerizing and beautiful! Every scene that she describes is very vivid and you feel like it's about to come alive in front of you. Especially the parts between the sisters are so powerful, you find yourself holding your breath till they're over and you can breathe safely again. So, besides believing that the story is by itself unique in the YA genre, Suma's writing is unique enough to completely support such a story.
Chloe and Ruby's relationship reminded me a lot of Kit and Fancy's in Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves. It was intense, disturbing and a tad perverse, which I didn't mind at all. However, in Slice Of Cherry both girls were portrayed as confused and troubled, whereas in Imaginary Girls, Ruby is the one who has power over her sister and over everyone else around her. Every friend she has, every boyfriend she has, is always on her beck and call, under her "influence". She treats her sister the same way, with that exact possessiveness, even though Chloe mentions at occasions that she doesn't always do what her sister tells her to do. Which of course is a lie and she knows it. So, the sisters' relationship is dysfunctional for sure, with Ruby having the upper hand and treating everyone badly which led to me practically hating her till the end of the book. One thing's certain though: that they both love each other immensely, beyond comprehension even.
The only things that put me off about Imaginary Girls was its sometimes slow pace, especially in the beginning when you're anxiously looking forward to get to the good parts and it takes a lot longer than you would have wanted.That and the resolution to the supernatural element of the story, which was a bit disappointing in my opinion. I know now that the paranormal aspect has little to no importance in the story which is all about the sisters' relationship and the bond they have created, but honestly, I was kinda thrilled to finally find out what happened to London that day at the Reservoir(especially after that scene in the car!Yikes!)and what consequently happened in the end, but I didn't. Well, I guess there was some explanation but I'd like it to have been more "realistic" and not so wondrous and unreal basically.
Beautiful and haunting, Imaginary Girls is the book I'd recommend to anyone who's open to a completely different take on YA paranormal mystery.Fans of Dia Reeves will devour this!
I know covers have nothing to do with what's inside a book, history has proven that, but I cannot pretend I haven't seen the Imaginary Girls cover. Basically because it's gorgeous and the best 2011 cover I have seen so far.
A huge thanks to Dutton Juvenile for sending this book my way :)