Molly Morris's ANNIE LeBLANC IS NOT DEAD YET

​Thanks to partners NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the digital ARC of Molly Morris's Annie LeBlanc Is Not Dead Yet. The book will be published tomorrow!

I knew from the first page that I was going to love Molly Morris’s Annie LeBlanc Is Not Dead Yet. It’s quirky and original and just totally captivating.

Here’s the premise: Wilson Moss is a high school senior, and she’s completely alone. She’s been alone since both of her best friends abandoned her, just as they were moving into their junior years. Ryan cut her off completely (though they—awkwardly—still work together at Ryan’s mom’s restaurant).  Wilson’s mom left Wil’s long-time stepfather, the adult who provided the most stability in her and her younger half-sister’s life.

Her friend Annie? She not only transferred to the local private school but also ended their friendship. And then, she died.

Wil’s not exactly sure what happened, though she has some ideas. So, she takes a chance on her town’s unique contest, a once-every-decade anomaly. Any resident of Lennon can throw their name in the hat for a chance to bring back someone dead . . . for 30 days.

Shockingly, Wil wins the contest, which means she has 30 days to (temporarily) resurrect her friendship and to figure out just what makes her so unlovable.

The whole situation is complicated. Ryan had begun making small forays into friendship again, but Wil’s choice makes Ryan beyond angry since the first fissures in their friendship began with Annie and Ryan. And Wil isn’t content with 30 days, so when she picks up on a loophole from Ruth Fish (the seemingly immortal being who’s in charge of the town, and the contest) Wilson vows to mend the trio’s friendship and—hopefully—make this a real chance at life again for Annie, and a real chance at friendship again for her.

This book has so many layers. I love the magical realism, the strangeness of the contest and the matter-of-fact way that everyone in the town accepts it. The world building is just fantastic.

I love the complexity of Wilson’s character, the way she’s so valiantly trying to gain some control over the areas of her life that she lost, searching for love and friendship and family.

The secondary characters here are incredibly vivid, too, and I could feel the ways that they’re struggling for so many of the same things that Wilson is hoping for, each existing as fully realized people in the same way that Wil is.

After finishing Annie LeBlanc Is Not Dead Yet, I found out that Morris has one previous YA novel—I’ll be picking it up soon. Do yourself a favor, and put this one on your TBR.

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