You Have Seven Messages ~ Stewart Lewis

The premise of You Have Seven Messages is exquisite. Luna's mother was in a fatal accident. Luna, visiting her mom's writing studio, discovers that her mother had seven messages on her cell phone at the time of her death. A death that Luna suspects was not entirely accidental. Those last seven messages are the only clues Luna has to discover what was happening in her mom's life in those last days. The last tangible connection with her mom.

She decides to follow the trail of these seven messages, enlisting the help of her neighbor, Oliver, who she's had a crush on for a while. The clues lead them to a clandestine affair, jealousy, and a new understanding of both Luna's parents. She discovers that they are both human, a lesson every child must learn.

If Stewart would have gone with that story and told it straight up, this would have been a fantastic thriller with beautiful coming of age overtones. However, he had to throw in complications that make this book an exercise in deciphering dropped names. Luna's mother is a famous model as well as an author. Luna's father is an iconic film-maker. Her gay uncle is married to a physical trainer to the blue bloods, and they live on a garden swathed villa estate in Italy. (Cliche much?) Luna gets "discovered" and has a her first photography show in a prestigious gallery in Manhattan. Luna has fond memories of having Orlando Bloom live in their apartment for a time and seems to be friends with Drew Barrymore.

The usual goal of fiction is to not stretch the boundaries of disbelief too much. Or at least not distractingly so. This effort to include as much wow factor as possible becomes rather distracting. Especially, as we can all do the math and figure out that many of Luna's wow memories can't have happened at all.

That said, teens may be able to brush all that off. They may not even notice. And as I said before, the plot is great. The action is great. The resolution, while not earth shattering, is perfect. So it would probably make a good read for teen girls. And yes, it is definitely a girl story. Boys aren't going to care and will likely get turned off by the awkward, angst-filled romance in the story.