YA book review: Blackbird by Anna Carey

Blackbird by Anna Carey
Sunny wakes up with no memories and a Los Angeles subway train coming at her. When clear of the immediate danger, she realizes she has a tattoo of a blackbird and numbers on her wrist, plus a knapsack containing a thousand dollars, a can of mace, and a note instructing her to call a number. Author Anna Carey tells the story in second person, attempting to add immediacy. So, rather than descriptions of Sunny running from the men who are chasing her, it reads YOU run from the men chasing YOU. The intention is to put the reader into the story and make it seem like the action is happening to the reader. Instead, the device gets in the way of the action and serves to make the storytelling more difficult. There is only so much our un-named feminine lead character (Sunny is a name she creates for herself) can determine on her own about the ways in which she has been set up, or the people who are after her. Those we find out in asides. What starts out as an action-packed and attention grabbing story ends up being a disappointing, disjointed tale that will likely confuse as many readers as it entertains.