Strange Girl

I was a massive fan of Chris Pike's work in my early teen years, and his books literally got me through a tough time at a private school where I didn't fit in. Literally, as in I spent much more time reading his books than paying attention in class or talking to other people. But as I hit my older teens, I aged out of his target audience and went on to other authors. Then I got the bug to come and revisit his work. I'm glad I did - Strange Girl is more of a slow simmer than a hard boil, but it's worth the journey. In fact, I feel like the lower-key nature of the story (opposed to the outright action and horror of some of his other works) are what give it heart. Despite the supernatural elements, it is a "small story," in that the world is not at stake and millions won't die dependent on the conclusion of the plot. I like small stories; they are human and have heart - and this book is brimming with heart. It's a story of star-crossed lovers with a hint of the supernatural, though the titular Strange Girl is more Jesus Christ than superhero (or villain.) Maybe Jesus isn't quite right, because this book hit another note that I love to see in literature - the existential. Aja is a vehicle through which Pike espouses some heavy Buddhist philosophy. Well, I say Buddhist because it's what I'm familiar with, though the book actually pins it on a Hindu faith. The themes are familiar to many philosophies: what separates ourselves from each other, why did we create this illusion of the ego, and why can't we see our own insignificance in the face of a timeless universe. The Strange Girl becomes a vehicle to plant these seeds in reader's heads, and I'm always happy to see that. I'm happy I read Strange Girl. It was emotional, at times suspenseful, and it left me with something I crave from any great book: Strange Girl left me feeling haunted. And, a bit emotional. It's a novel I'll be thinking about for a few weeks, and I urge anyone, whether they're a Pike fan or not, to pick it up. You'll be glad you did.

Strange Girl is pure heart. It has the mystery, suspense and thrills you can expect from Christopher Pike's Young Adult novels, but with a mature building pace and care that is known in his Adult Fiction. Before I had decided if I was invested in these characters, the tears were streaming down my cheeks. Easy to follow yet it is still quite unique in it's simplicity. The best way l can explain Strange Girl is like.... tragic first love. The last night with a lover. Climaxing over and over, all while knowing you will never see them again in this life. Love in it's painfully beautiful form. I highly recommend this book to everyone, as I'm left feeling in on a life changing secret. Strange Girl is going to be a fan favorite for many years to come.

I own every Pike book apart from Spooksville and Alosha. I have Pike on facebook and I read all his posts and he is a top bloke - exactly how you imagine him from his books. But I'm not a sugar coater so here's the deal. This is Pike at the top of his game covering old ground. I honestly think this is his best written book. The dialog is very, very good and a few moments I literally laughed out loud. The characters feel new and I rarely find that his characters feel different from the 50 odd other books he's written - kind of like a classic band whos newer songs sound like less impressive versions of the old ones. But the dialog and characters feel fresh and the writing doesn't feel 80's. Without the need to condense his story to 200 pages he really lets the tale breath. The pacing is perfect and I had the day off work and read the entire thing in 3 long sittings. So why four stars? Because I feel I have read an inferior version of this book before - or maybe a superior one. This is a teenage version of Sati with appropriate pacing. In Sati the characters owned their own cars! This is my main issue with Pike, every teenage book has circumstances and themes more fit for adults. Perhaps because I'm 31 and also a music teacher working in schools I feel like this story (and most of his books) is slighty ridiculous given the age of the characters. But on the other hand that is a glowing endorsement to the how brilliant Pike actually is. I'm a fully grown man giddy with excitement because one of the greatest storytellers has a new work for me to devour. If all you have read is Last Vampire prepare yourself for something a little more spiritual but if you're a fan from way back then I promise you this is Pike's best written tale, but you may have read another one very similar.

3.5 stars I have been a fan of Christopher Pike for a number of years. I was very eager to get my hands on his latest book, Strange Girl. While this makes for a fairly good story it failed to captivate from start to end and had a number of areas that did not work. I shall explore these: Characters: What has made Pike's work great in the past is his ability for you to care about his characters. We felt this in Thirst with Alisa, Remember Me and Sati. However I found I did not care so much about the other characters that revolved around Fred and Aya except for Janet. They were simply not interesting enough and added no value to the premise. Fred's friends or 'band' were simply space fillers who bored the reader, you didn't care whether they were mentioned or not. Their story lines were dull and they simply existed as the 'other' members of Fred's band, however this was a band that never really took off for their audience. Pike did not develop them well enough, the characters would have worked better if the story just focused on Fred, Aya, Janet and Bo. In the past Pike has had interesting and well crafted stories or vignettes for some secondary characters that added a certain richness to the story. However Strange Girl showcased very weak and unimaginative story lines for these characters and if would have been better if they had a much smaller role or not even mentioned. I think Pike could have explored Bart and Clara's character in more detail and added a story or two. Perhaps Aya's character could have been developed more like how she never got sick and maybe link this as to why Bart and Fred decided to burn the house which would drive home the idea of the enigma and curiosity that Aya was. Setting: Pike could have made the small one horse town of Elder really work but did not manage to do so. If Elder was focused on in greater length and more interest was stimulated for a small and peculiar town that would be taken by storm by this Strange Girl the town would have added some value to the overall story. Pike has done a great job of this in the past, whether he was describing a unique forest or how some of it featured well in pivotal scenes. However Elder became nothing more than a forgettable and unimaginative small town that the characters just happened to live in. Could Pike have offered more stories about Selva where Aya came from or a mystery that could have added another layer of mystery to Aya? Why did Aya ever decide to come to Elder? This question is asked but poorly answered. This has to be the biggest flaw because we are told Aya came to choose Fred but the why is never given. Fred's future after Aya is simply ordinary and quiet dull begging the question as to what was the point of her coming to this town and choosing this person? She enriched their lives but what made Fred and Elder special is not fully explained and ten years after we are none the wiser as Fred really has not achieved anything remarkable or significant. Neither did the other characters who also achieved ordinary lives and since we do not care much about them we are left disappointed. Unlike Sati, she had a big effect on the characters whose lives changed dramatically plus we cared and were very interested in the characters. Similar to Sati but falls short: I read in someones review that Strange Girl was like Sati but written for children. This novel is quite similar to Sati but where Sati excelled in story lines, character development and pace Strange Girl really falls short. I do not think it was written for children. Sati was a great novel and hit the nail on the head but Strange Girl lacked the pace to captivate readers. You could say it conveyed less using more pages, dull stories did not make it easy to go through the pages. The end was somewhat captivating but it was a shame you had to go through so many chapters to get there. When reading a great Pike novel you barely notice how many chapters you've read because its so captivating. I hope this is a one off for Pike and he returns to the type of stories that made him a great author.

I really enjoyed this book. I read alot,have kindle unlimited, library e books and buy new and used books. I normally read 3-4 books at a time but this 1 made me want to focus on just this 1 book. I don't want to give the plot away so I will just say its not just YA,its for any age. I'm not YA,nor do I read much of that genre but I was impressed and very entertained. It was thought provoking and something different,unusual and special. I know I will read it again as well. A great author,although I haven't read all his work. I have read his vampire series long before everyone was writing about vampires and it became tiresome. Those are all worth buying as well. Happy reading!

Christopher Pike is probably the most under rated writer in young adult genre. How can I describe Strange Girl that hasn't been said by other reviewers. This is a novel that explores our relationship with the divine, how can we flourish in the center of sometimes horrible circumstances, forgiveness, and most importantly how deeply connected we are to each other in the universe. That is what I took away from this novel. Humans can be evil, flawed, deeply loving, brave, and full of wonder. I read this book in one day sitting. Pike has always been known to have a level of spirituality through his books, Strange Girl also has similarities to Sati(his first adult novel) but Aja's story is unique. I donut want to give away the end but Strange Girl can be a thought provoking read if you look more at whats not said then said.

I was absolutely devoted to Christopher Pike's work as a teenager and I'll read anything he publishes. This is an excellent book - perfectly paced, realistic dialogue, and characters that feel real and easy to relate to. I don't want to post any spoilers but I feel like the way the story wrapped up was also realistic and heartwarming - it was a mature and appropriate outcome (in terms of the epilogue-style ending). This is a book I would read again - whenever I re-read Pike's books I find new things to think about in the story. If you are a first-time reader of his I definitely suggest picking this up, and if you enjoy it, you should also read Falling (no supernatural stuff but a book I absolutely love) and The Season of Passage (my favorite book OF ALL TIME, no other Mars story is as good as this one).

I've read almost every book Christopher Pike has put out, and I can say this book just lures you in and you devour it. I just finished it, and like with any book I finish by Mr. Pike, I feel like I've lost good friends, which is most certainly not a bad thing. He has this way of making characters come alive, and you genuinely care for them and their story. When I started Strange Girl, I had to force myself not to finish it in one sitting. I don't want to say too much and spoil anything, but whether you are a long time Pike fan, or someone looking for a good mystery with a touch of the unknown, this book won't disappoint.