Review: Blink and Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones

I finished up my summer reading with two really good books: Amy and Roger's Epic Detour and this one, Blink and Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones. Vastly different books but it is a virtual tie as to which one I liked the best.

This story is about two runaways, Brent (Blink) and Kitty (Caution), who end up together after Blink witnesses a crime while Kitty is running away from the drug dealers who are hunting her.  The two get tangled up in a plot that is way over their heads relying on street smarts as they make decisions to slip away from their captors. "Charged with suspense and intrigue, this taut novel trails two deeply compelling characters as they forge a blackmail scheme that is foolhardy at best, disastrous at worst - along with a fated, tender partnership that will offer them each a rare chance for redemption."(Goodreads)

This book has a lot to offer readers.  It has multifaceted and likable characters. I found myself really rooting for both Blink and Caution, even when they were involved in illegal/marginal activities. The book uses flashbacks appropriately as the back story is revealed. The plot is extremely suspenseful and exciting, yet aspects are poignant and moving.  I was on the edge of my seat one minute and then wiping tears out of the corner of my eyes the next. I couldn't consume the book fast enough.  I read it voraciously and when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it and wondering how the story would go.  That is very rare for me.

I have only one small criticism of the book. The ending wraps up so nice and neatly.  How often does that actually happen in real life?  I like books to end on a note of ambiguity so that my imagination can keep working after I close the cover on the book.  I know a lot of students disagree with me on this point so I predict that this book will be very popular with my readers.

One very interesting aspect of the book is that Blink's voice is written in second-person narrative. It has such a unique sound to it since this is a voice rarely used in novels.  Here is what Tim Wynne-Jones says about his decision to write the book this way:

This was the voice that came to me when I started writing Blink. I half dismissed it at first...Then I had a revelation: the story was in the second person because there was somebody talking to Blink! I wasn’t saying you meaning “dear reader.” I was using you to mean a persistent voice in Blink’s head, someone who cares for him and cannot really alter what happens to him but is there with him constantly. Someone who thinks about him all the time. When I realized this, there was no fixing to do; I just had to give myself over completely to the voice.

I don't think that my review is doing the book justice. Just read it for yourself.  I trust that you will like it, too.