"For fans of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, an arresting literary puzzle that introduces an unforgettable young heroine plunged into the twisted world of a secret society occupying the derelict buildings of Philadelphia, which heralds the arrival of an astoundingly imaginative and propulsive new voice in fiction. Lee Cuddy is 17 years old and on the run, alone on the streets of Philadelphia. After taking the fall for a rich friend, Lee reluctantly accepts refuge in the Crystal Castle--a cooperative of homeless kids squatting in an austere, derelict building. But homeless kids are disappearing from the streets of Philadelphia in suspicious numbers, and Lee quickly discovers that the secret society's charitable facade is too good to be true. She finds an unexpected ally in Tomi, a young artist and hacker whose knowledge of the Internet's black market is rivaled only by his ability to break into and out of buildings. From abandoned aquariums to highly patrolled museums to the homes of vacationing Philadelphians, Tomi and Lee can always chart a way to the next, perfect hide-out"--
This book was very interesting and I highly enjoyed it. I liked the way this book is written, the different elements of her life make sure that you get to know her even in just a few pages, and I was never sure if Tomi was indeed someone I could trust. However, this is such a rip off of Dan Brown's books and the ending was just... what the ...? It did not make any sense. I had to reread it several times, but it was still too vague to make sense. Why was this happening? It made this enjoyable three-star book, unfortunately, a two-star book for me. I would not recommend it to anyone unless you like very vague weird endings. If you don't, just leave this book in the library. I get what the author wanted to achieve with this story. The way he wanted to go. Basically, he tried to transform the idea behind Dan Brown's novels (which I did not read yet) into a YA novel to introduce them to this 'overly hyped fantastic book series'. I am all for that. It could have been a lot better. It's a pity.
Edit: I almost forgot about this, but one of the biggest issues of this book is honestly the fact that a pregnant woman, 6 months pregnant woman, is crawling through air vents without any problems and doing impossible things. And why did she not grieve the shopkeeper? He took her in and cared for her, and she did not even care about his death at all.
