Review: Made for You

Made for You by Melissa Marr
Publication date: September 16, 2014
Publisher: HarperCollins

MADE FOR YOU by Melissa Marr is a modern murder mystery that explores a classic plot through a new and updated angle with just a hint of paranormal. After narrowly escaping her own death at the hands of a psychotically deranged killer, Eva begins a journey to discover the identity of the murderer that has started to kill her friends one by one. After waking up in the hospital after her brush with death, Eva discovers that she now has the ability to foresee people’s deaths by touch. With this newly found skill, Eva and her old childhood friend Nate race to uncover the identity of the murderer before the rest of their friends are killed. She’s on an emotional roller-coaster of grief, adrenalin, romance, and fright that will only snowball to a jumbled mess of emotional confusion as the story goes on.

I have never read a murder mystery book, and it scared me in a way I never thought possible. It was exciting and fast paced throughout, and the anticipation was palpable. I think the author did an amazing job of portraying the emotions and thoughts of each character as the story was portrayed through many different character’s viewpoints. It highlighted the tragic problems affecting our society regarding murder and mental health problems. My greatest problem with the book was Eva's "gift". It was not explained and I don’t think that she reacted realistically when discovering her ability. An idea that had so much potential did not play out in the way I hoped, and it just seemed like an easy way for the author to continue the plot. The murderer’s reveal was not as dramatic as it could have been, nor were there any foreshadowing or hints to who it was, which seemed as if the author did not make a definite decision on the murderer until long after she began to write it. Because of the events of this book, I would rate it ages 14-15+ with a slight trigger warning.