Numbers by Rachel Ward

*** 5 Stars

OhMyGod.
I just finished this morning and I am a little lost.  This is one of those books that made me physicaly sad to be done with.  I closed the book and just looked around and wondered why everyone else was just going on with their lives like something tragic HADN'T  happened to me.  But, anyways...

This book is about a 15 year old girl named Jem, who grew up with a lot of problems in her life and a "gift" she has always kept secret.  When she looks into someone's eyes she knows the exact day they will die.  For this reason Jem has separated herself from human contact in hopes to never get too attatched to anyone.  But then she meets Spider, another kid with no future and they slowly become close.  Then Jem forsees a tragic event and suddenly she and Spider are the prime suspects and on the run.  They travel across the English countryside, hiding and trying to get by.  But, as the time passes together, Jem is faced constantly with the reality of Spider's number, drawing ever closer.

I wasn't impressed with this book in the beginning, I must say.  The characters and the setting were just so messed up.  Everything in Jem's life is creepy and sad and dangerous.  But then I started to get so attatched to the characters and their struggles and soon enough I was hooked.  The plot is so thick in this book that I could NOT put it down.  And the ending was like a punch in the stomach.  I am not afraid to say that I cried, which I rarely do in books by the way.  But it was just. so. sad.  Man, just read it.  Please.