Nev's Reviews > Gone, Gone, Gone

3.5 - I grew up a little over an hour outside of Washington DC and was 12 years old during the 3 week period that the 2002 DC sniper attacks were happening. People were getting shot at random just getting gas or going to the store in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. It’s the first memory I have of really being terrified for my life. We couldn’t go outside for gym class anymore and were instructed to run in a zig zag whenever you had to move from a building to a car. I personally haven’t seen this event portrayed in fiction before, so I was interested to check out Gone, Gone, Gone and see how it used these attacks as the backdrop for a queer YA story.

Craig and Lio are both dealing with past trauma, some of it related to 9/11, previous relationships, cancer, death of a sibling, and parental abandonment. They’re navigating their lives as friends that might turn into something more all while these shootings are happening around them. I thought that all of the serious topics were handled sensitively but I was frustrated with how long it took some aspects of the plot to play out. A pet peeve of mine is when something happens basically right at the end of the story and you don’t get enough time to see it on page. Also, this is a dual POV book and sometimes I’d confuse the two perspectives since their voices weren’t completely different.

For the most part I did enjoy this book. I definitely wouldn’t put it at the top of any “must read queer YA books,” but I think if the idea of a YA book that deals a lot with the aftermath of 9/11 and the DC sniper interests you then give it a try.