Review: The Raising by Laura Kasischke

The Raising

by Laura Kasischke

Publication Date: March 15, 2011

Published by Harper Perennial

Pages: 461

Source: Netgalley

Purchase  Amazon /  Indiebound








(from Goodreads)
Last year Godwin Honors Hall was draped in black. The university was mourning the loss of one of its own: Nicole Werner, a blond, beautiful, straight-A sorority sister tragically killed in a car accident that left her boyfriend, who was driving, remarkably—some say suspiciously—unscathed.

Although a year has passed, as winter begins and the nights darken, obsession with Nicole and her death reignites: She was so pretty. So sweet-tempered. So innocent. Too young to die.

Unless she didn’t.

Because rumor has it that she’s back.


My Thoughts

 This book has left me all kinds of messed up. I was entranced by it  from the very beginning and I just couldn't read it fast enough and I even considered playing hooky from work just so I could finish it. I didn't do that, but any free moment I had, I spent reading this book.

The Raising intertwines the lives of Shelly, Perry, Mira and Craig as they try to uncover what happened the night Craig's girlfriend, Nicole, died. The story begins with Craig returning to college after being accused of murdering Nicole, but not formally charged without sufficient evidence. He can't remember the details of that night, and only feels the loss of his one true-love, the girl he thought he was going to marry.

He tries to assimilate back into his college life, moving in with his friend, Perry.  But it isn't that long until strange things begin happening. Mysterious phone calls,  postcards and then the sightings. Sightings of Nicole, or someone who looks like Nicole, blurred  in photographs and then in the flesh. Could she be alive?

I don't want to reveal too much more of the story because it is one that should be discovered by the reader. The writing was exquisite without one false note. I caught myself holding my breath in anticipation time and time again. I desperately wanted to know happened the night of the accident.  I often thought I had it all figured out and finally realized that I had no idea what was going on. With so many twists and turns and what ifs and what may have been, I felt like the characters in The Raising - astonished, bewildered, always seeking answers.

The Raising will be available on March 15, 2011 from Harper Perennial. I highly recommend this book (and that you clear your calendar so you have nothing else to do but read it).

Disclaimer: I requested this novel for review from NetGalley and this review is based on the Advance Reading Copy. Thoughts and opinions are my own.