Circle Nine
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3.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Abby doesn’t remember what happened the night she woke up in soot-stained clothes, lying next to a burning building with an unfamiliar boy at her side. But her connection with Sam is immediate and intense. And she has no one else: no family, no home, not even a last name. She and Sam start a new life, just the two of them, and Abby’s deliriously happy. Until memories from her past begin to haunt her — and suddenly everything she’s learned to love turns sinister. It’s only a matter of time before her reality cracks apart.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Abby has no clear memory of her life before Sam, with whom she lives in a cave that usually seems like a "palace." There, he reads Dante's Inferno to her and warns her that the outside world is Circle Nine, the worst part of hell. He assures Abby that she is safe, but she sees momentary flashes of their luxurious lair "strewn with garbage and threadbare blankets and stained sheets." There are other mysteries, too: Abby sketches a girl repeatedly, dreams of her, and gains new memories; eventually she ventures out into Circle Nine to discover her painful past. Readers will race through the first part of this imaginative psychological drama, trying to determine what is real and why Abby's memory is so damaged, though the story's intrigue lessens after the mystery is revealed. Still, debut author Heltzel layers her story with questions about guilt, identity, and survival, leading to Abby's insight that "you can never just have good or bad, one or the other. They're both there, all the time, in Circle Nine or in my head." Despite the story's darkness, the conclusion points to a hopeful path forward for Abby. Ages 14 up.
Customer Reviews
Circle 9
This story is twisted and unlike anything you have ever read and won't be able to forget it.