Cage of Stars by Jacqueline Mitchard

I am not sure how I ended up picking this book up but I did get it from the library. This is another book that I probably would not normally read, but I am glad I did. I started it this evening and stayed up to finish it because it was really well-written. I rate it a B+.

Twelve-year-old Veronica "Ronnie" Swan witnesses the murder of her two sisters in her family's yard in tiny Cedar City, Utah. Murderer Scott Early is immediately apprehended, but is diagnosed with schizophrenia and ends up spending just three years in a state mental hospital. The rest of Ronnie's family turns to their faith to forgive Early, visiting him just before his release after a battery of drugs have restored him to normalcy. But Ronnie remains angry and haunted by her inability to save her sisters from him, and as she comes of age she tracks Early to San Diego, becomes an EMT, talks his wife into hiring her as a nanny for their infant daughter, and starts planning her vengeance. But as Early's life comes into focus, Ronnie's plan leads to an unexpected, if overly summative, climax.

This book really tugged at my heart strings. The story was so well written and though there is not a lot of dialogue and action in it, which I really like, I enjoyed it. I couldn't even imagine what Ronnie and her family went through and I think the story had some really important life stories. Told over a span of about 10 years, I really enoyed how we got to see Ronnie grow up. The story is somewhat depressing because of the horrible acts, but I found it so compelling. This is the first book I have read by Ms. Mitchard and I will probably look for more of them at the library. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good story that has a lot of character development. While not exactly suspensful, I had no idea where the ending was going though I was satisfied with the ending. I really came to love and care about Ronnie and thought she was just such a likeable character. The story also allows the reader to get a look inside the Mormon church, and not the radical Mormon's who practice polygamy. I am very interested in the Mormon religion because of all of the news lately about those extremists.

I started this book this evening and finished it in about 2 and half hours. It felt really good sitting down and just getting lost in a book. I got a ton done today, including all of my Christmas decorations up, all of my cleaning and laundry and more work for school. I will probably spend a little bit more time working tomorrow, but I mainly am planning on starting my next book Running With Scissors. I listened to the author's other book, Sellevision, on my Ipod this week and was cracking up, so I am looking forward to it. Hope everyone is getting some reading done and having a wonderful weekend! Happy Reading!