"Cemetery Street is a compelling story and one that had me hooked."

Cemetery Street

Written by John Zunski

Genre: Young Adult

Book Synopsis

In a world where dreams are possible and nightmares come true, can you romance a memory? James Morrison thinks so. In a snowy cemetery, James reenacts a childhood ritual unleashing an avalanche of memories. Laugh, cry and blush with James as he recounts a late 20th century American life.

Bec's Rating

Bec's Review

Cemetery Street is a compelling story and one that had me hooked, despite the disjointed nature of time in the story. While maintaining the basic chronological order of the story, many events occurred via flash back or flash forward without any notice in regards as to when in time these events occur. While the reason for this somewhat disjointed nature of the story is explained by events later on, it does serve to cause some confusion that could be avoided in some way.

Another aspect of the story I didn’t particularly enjoy were the letter and diary aspect halfway in the story. On finishing that aspect I can totally understand their inclusion as an attempt to make an emotional event directly afterwards more emotional and maintain contact with a specific character while said character is not with the main protagonist. And yet I feel the emotional impact of the event in question would have been just as emotional without their inclusion. The letters and diary were a little too off and a tangent and at times their inclusion felt forced. It took you away from the main story for a time being, and while I understand the reasoning behind them I still did not enjoy them.

Despite this slight confusion I did enjoy Cemetery Street. It is one of those novels that tells you the shocking event within the first few pages, and then later surprises you with it later on as you know it’ll happen but not when in the story or how. So even though I knew of this major event and tried to brace myself for it, I was still surprised by how it occurred and able to feel slightly emotional. Overall Cemetery Street is a great book and one I recommend.

Disclaimer: May not be appropriate for children due to violence and sex.