Spontaneous

How did I get it?:
I received it as a gift from Mr B’s Reading Year.

Synopsis:

Mara’s senior year is proving to be a lot less exciting than she’d hoped, until the day – KABAM! – Katelyn Ogden explodes during third period. Katelyn is the first, but she won’t be the last senior to explode without warning or explanation. The body count grows and the search is on for a reason, while the students continue to pop like balloons. But if bombs or terrorists or a government conspiracy aren’t to blame, what is?

With the help of her oldest friend, her new boyfriend, a power ballad and a homemade disco ball, will Mara make it to graduation in one piece? It’s going to be one hell of a year, where the only test is how to stay alive and where falling in love might be the worst thing you can do . . .

Thoughts:

I hadn’t heard of this book before it was sent to me. However, one read of the blurb settled it for me. This was going to be one of the most unique pieces of YA that I have read. It was. Mainly because it was about spontaneous combustion. Yes, you read that right, spontaneous combustion!

Spontaneous centres around Mara who is a senior at a New Jersey school. Mara’s life is normal, until people randomly start to spontaneously combust. KABOOM! They are gone within seconds leaving quite the mess behind them…It seems to be only happening to teenagers, every single teenager in the town is left wondering whether they’ll suddenly combust. The FBI are on the case as a community mourns the loss of so many of their young!

I thoroughly enjoyed Mara’s voice in this story. I can imagine that she’ll wind a few readers up. She has such a dark sense of humour, but to be honest, this book has a dark concept, so for me- it really worked! I loved Mara’s friendship with Tess and whilst I could have done without the romantic element to the story, it didn’t ruin it at all for me.

The reason why I didn’t rate this book any higher is because I felt it lost its way throughout the story. I wasn’t as engrossed as I was initially. I also became frustrated with some plot-lines that didn’t seem as thought out as they could be. I was left quite confused and dissatisfied with the plot-lines that were left unexplained. 

I have heard that this book is set to have a film adaptation. I’m certainly intrigued to see how they portray this story. I can see why it was picked up, as it is incredibly unique and I imagine will translate well to the big screen.  

Would I recommend it?:
Yes! 3.5 stars

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