Every city has it's own urban legend and they are often associated with people going missing. But people going missing is just a fact of life growing up in the Bronx and Raquel does her best to ignore it. But when her old friend and crush Charlize's cousin goes missing and Raquel mother, who is a nurse, come down with a mysterious illness, Raquel can ignore it no longer. She discovers a terrifying urban legend game called the Echo. The game is rumoured to trap the people in the echo if they go against the rules of the game. Raquel and her friends will risk it all by playing the game, to help the ones that they love. But this game is a deadly one and the Echo knows if you break the rules.
This is Tirado's debut novel and I will say that there are points within this book that it reads like a debut novel and some of the the plot points are not fully fleshed out at time. That said I found the story extremely interesting as it drew from popular culture with the internet challenges as well as a stranger things vibe with the Echo. Personally I would classify this book as a YA horror romance book as it has elements of both of these. While the horror aspects are not extreme in this book, I could see people being disturbed by some of the events that occur especially in regards to the Echo.
The echo is such an interesting concept and I do not want to give that much away about it as part of the best part of the book revolves around the echo, but it is basically a place in time that the City, as an entity remembers. So for the Bronx it is in the 1970, when the Bronx basically burned down. I will admit, I did not know that the Bronx burned down in the 1970s, so this was a history lesson for me. I liked that Tirado explained why it was burning and what lead to it, so the background information was appreciated. I also like that they included a link to another Echo in England which showed why an Echo would occur at a certain point in time from a city.
I really enjoyed Raquel as a character. She is loyal to a fault, admits when she is wrong and will fight to the very end. She is someone you want to have your back as she will do anything possible to help you. The one aspect of the story around Raquel's character that I did not get was the Slum Lord. Raquel is extremely smart, book worm smart and you’re trying to tell me she doesn’t know what a Slum lord is? Nope don’t believe it, especially given what is wrong with her dad’s home.
Please save me from teenage romance, lol. I understand that this book is in the YA genre, so the aspects of the romance that Raquel are feeling in the book would probably be what any teenager would feel when talking to their crush and trying to tell if they like her back or not. That said, I found that the plot often got side tracked at times as Raquel was trying to figure out her feelings. I wasn't looking for a coming of age novel with this book, I was looking for the horror aspect. I think the romance could have been downplayed a bit without hindering the flow of the story, as the romance is an integral part of it and shapes some of Raquel actions, it just seemed that the romance sidetrack Raquel more that I would have liked. She seemed to forget about her mom, dad, friends and what was at stake so.
This book is probably one of the most creative novels I have read in a long time and really did enjoy the book, especially the aspect surrounding the Echo. I look forward to seeing what Tirado comes up with next.
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