When by Victoria Laurie Review!

Title : When
Author ; Victoria Laurie
Pages : 336
Published : January 13th 2015
Publisher : Disney-Hyperion
Source : Netgalley
Purchase : Amazon/ iTunes/ 

Maddie Fynn is a shy high school junior, cursed with an eerie intuitive ability: she sees a series of unique digits hovering above the foreheads of each person she encounters. Her earliest memories are marked by these numbers, but it takes her father’s premature death for Maddie and her family to realize that these mysterious digits are actually death dates, and just like birthdays, everyone has one.

Forced by her alcoholic mother to use her ability to make extra money, Maddie identifies the quickly approaching death date of one client's young son, but because her ability only allows her to see the when and not the how, she’s unable to offer any more insight. When the boy goes missing on that exact date, law enforcement turns to Maddie.

Soon, Maddie is entangled in a homicide investigation, and more young people disappear and are later found murdered. A suspect for the investigation, a target for the murderer, and attracting the attentions of a mysterious young admirer who may be connected to it all, Maddie's whole existence is about to be turned upside down. Can she right things before it's too late?

My Thoughts :

Could you imagine if every time you looked at someone you could see the date they will die!! Well that's what Maddie sees. Every time she looks at someone she sees their death date and it never changes. She can even see the dates on a picture. When her father passes, her mother starts drinking and its up to Maddie to look after her. Her mother gets her to "read" for people and tell them their dates if they ask. One day at a normal reading a mother ask Maddie to read for her sick daughter. Maddie does but as the mother is putting away the picture Maddie catches a glance of the womans' son.  She grabs the picture and cant help but tell the mother that the little boys date is next week. The woman gets angry and calls her a fraud. Maddie tells her best friend Stubby about the reading and they try once more to tell the woman that her son is in danger. The woman takes it as a treat and threatens to call the police.  

The next week Maddie sees on the news that the little boy is dead and feels terrible sadness. She goes to school only to be called to the principles office soon after. She arrives and is introduced to 2 FBI agents. From that moment on Maddie and Stubbys life is thrown into turmoil. Both of them are the main suspect in the killings and Maddie knows she needs to tell them of her gift, but will this just make it worse?? 

I absolutely loved this book! When I first read the synopsis I was sufficiently intrigued enough to add it to my list and I was so happy when I got an advanced copy to review. Well I flew through When and devoured it.

I loved Maddie. Her story broke my heart. Her dad is dead and her mother an alcoholic and she is left to be the adult. Its hard enough to deal with knowing when everyone is going to die, but to do it for money is so hard for her. She feels overwhelmed and upset so much that her only release is to write the death dates down in her diary. Every single person in her school thinks she is a freak except for her friend Stubby. He is her rock through everything. Maddie is a quiet, kind and nice girl. She is sensible, determined and loyal and I loved her character. 

I loved the idea of When as well. The idea of seeing everyones death date is frightening but intriguing also. I don't know if I'd want to know when mine would be but in a way I'd also like to know so that I was prepared. Poor Maddie has a hard thing to live with and I don't envy her because she is bullied because of it, both from kids and adults. 

Overall When was a suspenseful and intriguing read. It hooked me from the start and I flew through the pages eager to see what happened next. I think at one stage or another I suspected every character, including the FBI! I loved the little twist at the end and didn't see it coming. From the well written characters to the tense plot When is a must read and one that I've no problem recommending to everyone.