When You Reach Me

Synopsis from Goodreads:

"Four mysterious letters change Miranda’s world forever.

By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it’s safe to go, like the local grocery store, and they know whom to avoid, like the crazy guy on the corner.

But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a new kid for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda’s mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then Miranda finds a mysterious note scrawled on a tiny slip of paper:

I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own.

I must ask two favors. First, you must write me a letter.

The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them knows all about her, including things that have not even happened yet. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she’s too late."

When You Reach Me was interesting in such a way that you would crave to know the person behind the letters. The mystery behind the clues left would keep you wondering and trying to connect the dots. I thought it was close to being real in that the circumstances involved in the book are possible to happen to people, and yet I found that this was mixed with time travel. Although I thought this was just a part of a silly topic that these kids tried to understand and explain, it eventually became an essential part in the story, which for me, is kind of a let-down. 

The book gave some background of the characters, especially that of Miranda and her family and friends, some things that needed to be known. However, I was quite dissatisfied with how the realization came to Miranda and of the unfolding of events that went so fast, which was all crammed near the end. Somehow, it failed to establish an emotional connection with the reader. Plus, the idea of time travel incorporated in the story was not of my liking. It was a nice read but in the end, it made the whole thing very unrelatable.