Wherever Nina Lies

Reader reviewed by Nicole Block

Wherever Nina Lies was so refreshing from all the other books I've been
reading lately. I've never heard of the author before, but now I'll have
to keep a lookout for her new books because I loved her writing in this
book. The plot of this book... well it was crazy. At times I felt like I
was on an acid trip then in a romance movie then in a horror movie.
There was a huge shocker at the end that just makes you say OH MY GOD. I
did NOT see that one coming. I thought this was going to be an innocent
fluffy little book. But was I wrong. It went all Pretty Little Liars on
me.

    If I were to have shared my thoughts on this book when I was halfway
through it, I think I would have said the exact same things as I am
now. All of the characters did a complete literary 180. Like, it just
boggles my mind how surprising it all is. The people who read or watch
Pretty Little Liars will get what I'm babbling about. If you like PLL
then you will definitely love Wherever Nina Lies. It's pretty much a
book everyone will love. Oh, and another really cool thing about this
book was that there were pictures in this book that were supposed to be
drawn by Nina, and they were really cool. Kind of like the drawings in Cathy's
Book by Sean Stuart. So read it and love it. :)

Reader reviewed by Carsten

This was one of the best books I've read in a long time. It usually takes me a couple weeks to read a book but I started this book and I couldn't put it down. I finished it in less than 2 days. It has an amazing, even though the plot is not very realistic (But reading books are about losing yourself in the text),it is a wonderful book. 

     The ending almost brought me to tears. It is a very good book. A brief summary, without giving anything away, is the main character, Ellie's, sister disapers one day. She treis to look for clues of where she may have gone over a period of two year finally giving up. One day her and her friend Amanda go to the store where she works, the Attic. It is a "resale shop". They are scrummunging through things and they find a picture Nina, her sister drew. They follow the picture to a party where she meets a guy. Having an instant connection with the guy, she tells him about her sister. He understands. They go on a trip cross-country to find Nina. The story has suprising twists, and suspensful scenes.

   

Reader reviewed by Nadine-Stella

Overview[from the back cover]
Have you seen Nina? Nina was beautiful, artistic, wild&and adored by her younger sister, Ellie. But one day, without any warning, Nina disappeared. Two years later, Ellie cant stop thinking about her sister. Although everyone else has given up hope that Nina will return, Ellie just knows her sister is out there, somewhere. If only Ellie had a clue where to look. And then she gets one, in the form of a mysterious drawing tucked into the pages of a book. Determined to find her sister, Ellie takes off on a crazy, sexy, cross-country road trip with the only person who believes shes got a chance her hot, adventurous new crush. Along the way, Ellie finds a few things she wasnt planning on. Like love. Mysteries. Lies. And something far more shocking& the truth.

Review
Wherever Nina Lies was terribly amazing. Lynn Weingarten is terribly amazing. I greatly enjoyed this book, such an original plot and story line. The way the plot carried out, Im pretty sure Ive never read anything like it before. I was impressed, especially at how some of the minor details played a greater role later on in the book, and how each clue presented before Ellie was truly connected to the next.
I like how Lynn wrote about finding a lost sister, instead of a lost love or something cliché. Although love did play a part in Ellies life, it took a back seat to her finding Nina.
Sean was definitely a psychopath. He was too good to be true. I knew there wasnt a girl out there who could stumble upon the perfect guy, even it books, there always turns out to be something wrong with then, and in Seans case, lets just say Ellie was a brave, brave girl. Amanda was a true friend, and so was Brad. They were both just very worried for Ellie, and Amanda was probably jealous too. Nina sounded like lots of fun. One of those people youd love to be associated with. Ellie was pretty cool too.  I loved that she followed her heart, and mind and also how she kept hope alive.
Overall, I really really really really liked this book. I would definitely recommend it to everyone. Its really sweet.
I also liked the pictures, who doesnt love a pictured chapter book? Since this was an ARC, I only saw the first picture, but I think they were a great way to get the reader to see what Ellie saw and it just made it easier to connect.
One thing I just dont get is why Nina never called. I mean she didnt have to disclose her location or anything like that but just to call or even leave a message saying, Hello mom and Ellie, Im fine. Dont worry about. I mean it would have made all the difference to Ellie.

Reader reviewed by Emmalea

I finished this book earlier today and I am in love with it. I literally could not put this book down. The author was very creative on how she described certian ehmm.... scenes. I like the plot from the beginning, and it just got better and better as the story went along. I loved the different places that Ellie visited because they seemed so real.  My favorite chapter was Ellie discovery of Sean secrets. The author really knows how to get in the head of a boy who has gone insane.

Reader reviewed by Adriana

I think this book is unique among recent YA titles I've read because it incorporates drawings and it has some great suspense thrown in. Ellie's sister Nina disappeared one day two years ago. It wasn't investigated and just assumed that she ran away, especially since she was 18 at the time. But Ellie can't believe that her sister would just abandon her and her mom. And she definitely doesn't think she is dead either, or at least chooses not to go there. After two years Ellie's best friend is getting tired of Ellie not being able to let go of her sister's absence, but then they find one of Nina's drawings in some random box of thrift store donations. From there Ellie goes on a quest to track Nina down, no matter who she leaves behind and what she has to go through. I won't go any further because there are some great twists and turns, but some parts of the story are not appropriate for younger teens. A great read and I will certainly be watching for more from this author.

Reader reviewed by Sara

From book jacket: HAVE YOU SEEN NINA? Nina was beautiful, artistic, and wild& and adored by her younger sister, Ellie. But one day, without any warning, Nina disappeared.
Two years later, Ellie cant stop thinking about her sister. Although everyone else has given up hope that Nina will return, Ellie just knows her sister is out there, somewhere. If only Ellie had a clue where to look.
And then she gets one, in the form of a mysterious drawing tucked into the pages of a book. Determined to find her sister, Ellie takes off on a crazy, sexy, cross-country road trip with the only person who believes shes got a chance her hot, adventurous new crush.
Along the way, Ellie finds a few things she wasnt planning on. Like love. Mysteries. Lies. And something far more shocking& the truth.

Favorite characters, quotes/lines: Ellie; Nina: I liked her even when she wasnt around& she was so full of life

When I finished this book I felt: I was really surprised by this book; it wasnt what I thought it was going to be. And it had a definite twist& I had guessed some it, but didnt even come close to guessing the whole.

Other books to read by this author: this is her first book.

I would recommend this book to: anyone& it isnt really a book that would be limited to one type of reader& teen and older though. It has some aspects that some younger readers might find troubling... I suppose it depends on the reader.

Reader reviewed by the book muncher

Its been two long years since Ellies older sister Nina has disappeared. Pretty much everyone has given up any hope that Nina will return, but not Ellie. Ellie cant bear to think Nina, her sister whom she loves and idolizes, could be dead. Ellie desperately wants to find Nina, and when she stumbles upon a portrait of her, drawn by Nina, shes certain shes found her clue. With the help of a hot and mysterious stranger named Sean, Ellie sets off on a seemingly wild-goose chase for the whereabouts of her sister. But Ellie isnt prepared for what she learns along the way, regarding her sister and her new love interest Sean. In this suspenseful and fast-paced debut, readers will be swept along with Ellie as she journeys and finds love, lies, and the strength of sisterhood.

I was immensely impressed with this solid debut novel. Weingarten shows a mastery of her skill with words, especially when manipulating the plot. Ellies cross-country escapade was filled with humor and lust yet also disappointment, anticipation for the next clue, confusion, and danger. I like how the story strings the reader along nicely and then twists nearly completely around. In the back of my mind, I think I expected part of the outcome of Ellies journey, but I was still shocked when it actually happened. I also really liked the development of both Ellies and Ninas characters. Ellie is easy to relate to, especially in her sisterly affection, friendship dilemmas, and thoughts of self-preservation, and this increases the readers sympathy for her as well as interest in her story. The reader gets to know Nina mainly through Ellies memories and thoughts of her sister, and it creates an image of a wild yet thoughtful girl anyone can love. Some of the minor details of this novel, though, were not as well executed as the plot and development of the major characters. There were some details that never completely added up. Also, Ellies relationship with her best friend Amanda seemed strange at times, and their problems seemed to magically disappear at the end of the novel. Other than these few aspects, Wherever Nina Lies was an extremely well-written and enjoyable story.

Wherever Nina Lies is very impressive for a first novel, and I hope Weingarten plans to write more novels especially if theyre as good as this one. Readers will see this novel as a hybrid between two fantastic novels, How to Be Bad and The Year My Sister Got Lucky, and will not be disappointed in this fantastic story of mystery, romance, suspense, and, most of all, sisterhood.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com