This book gets 4 gnomes out of 5 gnomes for having a great character and a plot that promises a very intriguing future for the series.
The book opens with an interrogation scene so you know right away that something bad is going to happen in the book. This showing pages of the interrogation is a great tool that really ratchets up the tension of the story as you go along.
Emily Webb is just seemingly a normal everyday geeky girl until things suddenly change. She's an interesting character who is very introverted but each night starting in the first chapter she finds herself acting more and more extroverted/wild. On the first page she has the urge to jump out the window and run around outside but comes back to her senses before she actually does it. At first being more wild is fun but then it leads to lots of trouble.
There is more to the book then the mystery about what's happening to Emily. A girl in her class with the same first name was murdered after she was alone outside in the middle of the night acting strangely. Things are strange right from the beginning so you really wonder what the heck is going on. Murder reverberates throughout the book and gives it a kind of weight and urgency to see what exactly is going on in this town.
The reader learns that many people in this town are not what they seem. Not only Emily has a secret to hide and changes to go through. She finds herself having the urge to smell boys to see if they're the right one for her which is well a little strange.
The book has an interesting moodiness to it because Emily herself thinks she might just be sick or going crazy. To everyone else around her she just looks to be acting out or acting more like a "normal" teenager. Then others start to get hurt, someone is targeting teenagers.
The only person Emily tells about her change is her best friend Megan. Megan doesn't think anything is wrong with her until she sees some of Emily's antics.
Many will probably figure out what is happening to Emily pretty quickly but there are many more secrets to be explored especially because she finds out that she's not the only one who's more than a little different.
The ending is exciting and opens up the world to a plethora of possibilities. I can't wait to see what happens next.
