Customer Reviews

Echo

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You must block out whatever time it will take you to read all 137 pages of this book because putting it down and coming back to it the next day or even just 'later' may NOT be possible. Morgenroth grabbed me from page one and I HAD to know what happened to this main character ... she made me worry, she made me wonder, she made me fearful right to the end.

I've read all of Morgenroth's books - psychological thriller is clearly her expertise. This book, "Echo," is my new favorite and I can't wait for the next one from her.

I'm a tutor and happily recommend her work to my teen students on a regular basis. The story keeps them interested and involved and her ability to clearly draw the characters allows my students to 'see' what's going on between the lines.

Excellent!

Gail M. Ross, Ph.D.

this book is remeniscent of that movie groundhog day. Justin relives the horror of his brother's tragic accident and a terrible fight with his former best friend over and over and over. each time though, something small changes. the small changes change everything big though and Justin seems to be just plain crazy. this is an excellent read for reluctant readers, thrilling and not too long. a good book to reccommend to all teens.

Justin's younger brother died in a terrible accident and in the year following, Justin's life has fallen apart. He's unpopular at school, he even gets into a fight with his former best friend - and now he's hearing a voice that makes him relive the accident over and over. Justin's recovery process is realistically charted in a moving story which will attract ages 12 and older.

It's never easy to lose a sibling. When you actually see your younger brother die in front of you, though, it's even worse.

That's what happened when Justin, playing around with his twelve-year-old brother, Mark, saw his brother accidentally shoot himself in the head with their father's gun. For almost a year now, Justin has been plagued by ever-increasing problems. The guilt is horrible, as are the questions that keep running through his mind: Was Mark's death his fault? Did Mark really shoot himself by accident?

Although Justin is supposed to be on medication to help with his depression, he's stopped taking it. There's a voice inside his head that makes him relive his brother's death over and over again on a daily basis. His mother is alternately hostile and nonchalant towards her remaining son. His father doesn't have much to say beyond "don't upset your mother." In this family, guilt is a constant, nagging reminder of what could have been, and what is instead.

Ms. Morgenroth is great at creating realistic situations and characters that pull at the heartstrings. Although you can see this family breaking down inside the pages of ECHO, it's not immediately clear how each family member is dealing with Mark's death -- or, rather, not dealing with it.

I recommend this book for older teens, especially those who have dealt with loss and/or depression. ECHO is a psychological thriller that you won't want to miss.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

Though only 137 pages long, Echo by Kate Morgenroth is one of the best psychological tales I've read so far. The story begins with Justin and his younger brother, Mark, just playing around the way children do, until something goes horribly wrong and Justin's ends up drenched in the blood of his younger brother now lying lifelessly on the floor. Skip forward a year and you again meet Justin, well at least what is left of him, speaking to an unknown voice-not person just voice.
As the story proceeds on you see the effects that Mark's death has left. Justin, now broken and alone, walks us through a typical day at school confronted with the people he suspects blame him for his brother's death. just when you think that you've figured it out,you get the strangest feeling of de ja vu... The story begins over. Only this time its not The World against Justin. The same day but differing details allows the reader to see that everything is not as it originally appeared. Could it be that Justin has contributed to his own unhappy miserable state? Once more de ja vu... the day begins again. As you see this perspective of Justin's life, you begin to understand that Justin may very well be the antagonizer, not the victim.

Review of Echo
By Noah E. Morrison
Genre: Realistic Fiction

"He remembered with Mark, it had been like a fine mist, but [the blood was] all over - on his face and arms, and body."
This quote is referring to the emotionally disconnected main character, Justin, whose brother is Mark. In the beginning of the story, which is similar in many aspects to the 1993 movie Groundhog Day, two brothers (Mark and Justin) are fooling around with their fathers gun. Justin, who is the older brother, says put that down, or you're going to be in big trouble, but Mark, the younger brother doesn't. So Justin tries to forcibly take the gun from his brother, and in the process of that, the gun goes off, and kills Mark.
In the chapter after we find out about the accidental suicide of Justin's brother, the book immediately transitions to about a year later. In this scenario, Justin begins to hear a voice in his head that controls everything he does, from brushing his teeth, to pushing someone down a stairwell. As the book progresses, the voice gets more demanding, and the scenarios keep changing. For example, the first morning that Justin wakes up, he goes to school, and a series of events occur where he is the one being bullied, and he is the one that you pity. The second day Justin wakes up, the voice becomes more commanding, and Justin becomes more of the bully, and less of the subject. On the second day, you can almost hear the fear in the people's voices who Justin talks to. On the third day, Justin becomes the full out bully, beating up people who are just trying to be nice, and helpful for no reason whatsoever.
This book is a great book for teens of all ages, and adults also. Despite a sub par twist at the end of the book, this is a short (137 pages), sweet, and simply amazing book.