[ARC Review] You Know What You Have to Do

You Know What You Have to Do
Bonnie Shimko
March 26, 2013
Amazon Children's Publishing

ARC Curtesey of Amazon Children's Publishing
via NetGalley

Amazon/Book Depository/B&N

You do not kill a man in cold blood and then talk your way out of it. Other than her real name — Mary-Magdalene Feigenbaum — fifteen-year-old Maggie’s problems seem ordinary. She has tiffs with her too-critical mother, a crush on her cute psychologist, and worries that her only friend — fellow outcast Abigail — is morphing into a popular girl, leaving her behind. But Maggie has a few not-so-ordinary problems. A voice in her head is telling her to kill. And not just anyone. Each time the target is a person who has done something terrible to someone Maggie cares for. You know what you have to do, the voice commands. Maggie struggles to resist, but the voice is relentless. And as its demands escalate, her world begins to crumble. With rising suspense, this story of psychological horror introduces a narrator whose own unique voice and irreverent humor are unforgettable – an unlikely hero fighting a desperate battle against incomprehensible evil.

Mary-Magdalane has a dark side she hears a man's voice in her head that tells her to kill people.  I liked this book it was dark but it had hope if a little unrealistic.  Mary-Magdelene's character reminded me of a cross between Jessica Darling and Dexter.  She navigates high school, boys, a mom who is more like a sister all the while hiding a secret that she kills bad men.  Men who abuse their family, beat up mentally challenged women's tricycles, and torture animals. 

This book is twisted in the fact that narrator kills but I was wrapped up in her life and hopped she would work everything out.  Mary loves her step dad Harry he keeps her grounded.    It is with that love that she finds the strength to turn her life around and realizes she doesn't have to end up like her grandmother and she can fight the voice.  This book was a quick and easy read and before I knew it I had finished the book in 48 hours.  This book asks age old questions, is it ok to kill if it is for a good cause?  Who has the right to say who live or die?  These are the struggles that Mary goes through and I liked how it all turns out in the end.  I give You Know What You Have to Do four laser pistols.