The Gift

by Louise Jensen

[Leah]

The Gift is one of those books that keeps you hooked, from first page to last. I was genuinely gripped throughout and it got to the point where I literally had no idea what had happened to Callie, or if Callie was even real, or is perhaps Jenna was just slowly losing her mind. Which is actually a terrible thing to wonder, but it’s hard to trust someone who can barely remember if she locked her front door or not, that’s shocking. Not to mention the fact Jenna doubted herself so how in the world were we supposed to believe her? She was just as baffled as we were and that’s what made this such a compelling, intriguing, hard to put down book. It’s why I kept reading, reading, reading despite the fact my eyes are literally beginning to be put to sleep. It was intoxicating.

It’s incredibly hard to explain the part of the book, and depending on where you fall on the scale of someone having someone else’s organ in their body, and that organ effecting their life will make your decision on how you see this book. On the one hand, there’s a part of me that things an organ is just an organ. It doesn’t have feelings, it can’t make you feel another person, but then there’s the romantic side of me that kind of likes the idea that you can feel someone else inside you. That there is such a thing as cell memory theory, because it lets me believe that even though someone you love may have passed away, they can live on in someone else and that’s amazing. And that’s basically the premise for The Gift. Jenna has a new heart (although I’m not sure it’s ever explained why her old one wasn’t good enough – it’s hinted at a major emotional moment, but never fully explained, imo) and she’s absolutely sure that the girl whose heart she has, Callie, didn’t just die on a random road, with no seatbelt, for no reason. She’s sure there’s something more at play, and she’s determined to find out the truth, no matter what.

Like I said, it’s tough to really believe Jenna, when she feels she’s being stalked, or that she really is feeling Callie’s memories because there’s no proof. Jenna has no luck when it comes to actual, tangible, physical proof and so a lot of it is based on gut instincts, and pretty lucky plot devices. Would Nathan, Callie’s ex, really be so forward with a girl he doesn’t even know? He helps her up after she faints, and all of a sudden he’s calling her the next day? That’s debateable, but it moves the story along, and I was okay with it. The plot really motors on, as Jenna finds herself putting clues together, and figuring stuff out, and I cannot deny at all that her narrative was so compelling. From her mind maps, to her seeing a random man in a hoody, to things at work being tampered with (her orders, a pet dying) it all adds up, and it gets to the point where you’re on the edge of your seat like, “WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?!?!?!?!?!” Why are they doing this? Jenna was not, by any means, a terrible person. She just wanted the truth – whether it was her truth to find or not, at least she was being pro-active about it.

I really, really enjoyed The Gift. Louise Jensen really has a knack for telling a gripping story and there’s no doubt at all that she left me on the edge of my seat throughout. I really liked Jenna, she was a compelling heroine, and I appreciated the fact that she wanted to know what had happened to Callie, I’m not saying that no one else cared – they thought it was indeed just a tragic accident, but I liked that Jenna had the force in her to go hell for leather, no matter if it made her scared for her life, all in a bit to find the truth, for someone she didn’t even really know. That’s impressive. This is such a good thriller, one you definitely won’t regret reading, although be warned: It will keep you up late into the night!