Early Review - Hanging by a Thread by Sophie Littlefield

“Hanging by the Thread” is a Young Adult mystery novel that focuses on the life of 16 year old Clare Knight. Clare is a person who loves to make her own clothing. In fact, she and her friend Rachel run a booth called “NewToYou” where she sells her latest creations in hopes of going to fashion college when she graduates from High School. She lives in the small town of Winston, California (population 2,000) and in the same house her great grandmother did. However, this isn't the whole story behind Hanging by the Thread.

You see, Clare has the unique ability that when she touches clothes, they speak to her. Not all clothes, and not all the time. By touching them, she can see certain events and learn things about people. She can tell if the person who wore a piece of clothing was up to no good or not. This ability has been handed down from her great, great, Grandmother Alma who was shot to death while being pregnant with Clare's great, Grandmother Josie who also had the ability. It was later passed down to her own grandmother Nana Raley, but, not to her mother Susie. This, it seems, has caused nothing but problems between mother and daughter. Clare fully believes that her family has been given this gift to right certain wrongs.

The story gets interesting when Clare touches a jacket found on her doorstep. It triggers a vision that leads Clare down the road to discovering who killed Dillon Granger, and Amanda Stavros two kids who disappeared a year apart from each other. It’s the perfect timing as well since the town of Winston is in the process of celebrating the Fourth of July in hopes of putting the past behind them.

The gift of psychometry isn't a new idea or concept. Yet, it's still interesting when a person is given this ability to right some wrongs, even at the expense of their own relationship with their parents who abhor the idea behind psychometry. Just read Jennifer Estep’s Mythos Academy series if you want to learn more about psychometry.

I was totally lost in the fashion aspects of this book. I mean, I realize there are probably people out there who can't wait to read the different types of stitching and material that Clare uses to make outfits she wears with. Personally, I found it to be a snore fest. Maybe had I grown up in a household where the women were clothing makers, I would feel differently about this story. But, alas, I wasn't. My mother and grandmother made quilts and blankets, not clothing.
 
I found the idea behind the romance with Jack Dimaunahan kind of touching, yet maybe a little unrealistic. Clare kept thinking about having that one night reckless stands not caring what anyone thought about it. She felt that fitting in with her best friend Rachel, was more important than anything else. She was so obsessed with having sex, that she pretty much throws herself at Jack who is a troubled character.

In the end, while this book is interesting enough, it wasn’t as engaging as her Aftertime trilogy and that's just my opinion. Reviews are like anything else in the world. They are subjective to what the actual reader/reviewer likes in their reading stashes. Just because I rated this book 3 stars, doesn't mean I didn't enjoy reading it! I’m glad I was given a copy thru Netgalley to read this book. Littlefield knows how to write, and she knows how to create a unique world for her characters. This appears to be a standalone and NOT part of any series.

*ARC Recvd via NetGalley for Delacorte Books for Young Readers*
*Expected publication: September 11th 2012

Title - Hanging by a Thread
Author - Sophie Littlefield
Publisher - Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Releases - September 11, 2012