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Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
Dona Masi’s The Taking follows Vera Diparma, a girl in rural New England whose childhood is marked by lights in the sky and missing hours she cannot explain. Her father, John, raised her in an old house near Pangea after her mother, Suzy, disappeared under circumstances he has never understood. When Vera loses time near the woods and returns with marks on her body, John begins to question everything he once dismissed as Suzy’s illness. As Vera grows older, her friendship with RJ begins to change while the beings who have followed her since childhood draw nearer. The novel follows one family’s attempt to name what has been happening to Vera for years before the life she trusts can be taken from her at once.
Dona Masi’s The Taking is a gorgeous piece of literary science fiction in a story that spans years, with enough substance to keep the pages turning. Masi is excellent at letting ordinary domestic life show the unease that is always present, so John's wanting to make waffles after finding Vera in the woods becomes as important as the burned ground outside. I love the way Gwen, the mother of Vera’s best friend Louisa, widens the book through her conversation with a Pangea man who blows open an ordeal that makes Vera’s fear part of a hidden community, and not just a private nightmare. Vera is a beautifully drawn heroine, brave enough to protect others at school despite being frightened herself by the firestorm surrounding her own sense of safety. Readers who enjoy literary science fiction like Russell’s The Sparrow and Faber’s The Book of Strange New Things will adore this book. Very highly recommended.
