Dead Flip by Sara Farizan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**4.5-stars**
When they were kids, Cori, Maz and Sam were best friends; three peas in a pod. The trio were always together, bopping around, getting into childhood mischief.
As they grew older though, things began to change. One fateful Halloween night cracks appeared, the three had a bit of a spat and Sam took off on his own. That was the night Sam disappeared without a trace.
In 1992, five years have passed since Sam disappeared, but the aftershocks of that tragedy are still felt every day by Maz and Cori. They have never forgotten him.
After Sam vanished, Maz and Cori’s friendship dissolved. Maz and his family moved to a nearby town, so the two didn’t even go to the same school anymore. They went their separate ways; tried to move on.
Now it’s their Senior year and Maz is a track star at his school, with a penchant for partying. That’s all surface level though, what he’s really doing is hiding from his past.
Cori is the queen bee at her high school. A pretty, popular girl, a shoe-in for Homecoming Queen, who secretly pines for another girl, Janet, loves Horror movies more than anything and feels like she needs to hide who she truly is.
Cori is adept at plastering on a smile and pretending all is well, when really she is just passing time until things might be different.
The old friends lives are turned upside down when Sam suddenly reappears. While this would be an exciting and jaw-dropping turn of events, the most shocking thing is, he still appears to be 12-years old, the age he was when he disappeared.
The friends cannot explain it, but they believe it has something to do with a pinball machine they used to play at a local store. A haunted pinball machine?
They need to keep Sam hidden until they get this figured out. Luckily, Cori’s parents are out of town, so that at least provides a safe haven. But as the trio begins to spend time together again, it’s clear not all is well with Sam. He didn’t return quite the same.
As increasingly disturbing events begin to plague Maz and Cori, the race is on to solve this mystery, before anyone else gets hurt.
I absolutely adored every moment I spent with this story. It’s told through alternating timelines. The first is 1987, when the trio are kids. You get to know them, the dynamics of their friendship group, as well as the events leading up to and the aftermath of, Sam’s disappearance.
A young boy going missing, in such a small town, was a huge deal. It was felt by the whole community and Farizan did a great job of examining that.
The other is in 1992, leading up to and following Sam’s return. Through this format you get a lovely coming-of-age feel to this quirky YA Horror tale.
I really enjoyed the format and all of the characters. I found Farizan’s writing to be extremely engaging. I was loving every moment. Granted, I am right around the same age as these characters, so getting the alteranting 1987 and 1992 timelines was so nostalgic for me.
I have seen this compared a lot to Stranger Things and I do sort of get that, but it’s also very much it’s own thing.
I was definitely picking up that vibe, but you know what else I was picking up? You know the movie Big, the whole pinball element of this reminded me of the fortune-teller machine, Zoltar, except in this, Sam returns smaller than his friends, not bigger.
I loved the mystery behind what happened to Sam. It was so interesting. Watching Cori and Maz come together to try to help Sam, while also trying to solve the mystery was a ton of fun.
I always love some amateur sleuthing and I was captivated by the whole process. This was just pure fun, all the way, exactly what I needed for the chaotic end of summer. I was absolutely surprised by this one. It swept me away.
My slight critique would be that I felt like some of the events at the conclusion were too quick, up-in-the-air and not necessarily explained to my liking. Regardless, that’s simply personal taste. It was close to perfection for me.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Algonquin Young Readers, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I cannot wait to pick up more from this author!