Adult Reader Reaction: The story is gripping and fun. Madison is a character you want to cheer for and yell at, sometimes all at once. She has so much depth, but can also be shallow - which allows the readers to make choices for themselves. Madison's parents and the other adults in the story are genuine; not at all over-the-top or stereotypical. Given the cover and blurb on the back I was expecting something eerier. Even so, I wasn't disappointed. This is a great book.

Pros: Fully developed characters and realism add depth to a story with a "fantastic" subplot.

To read our full review, go to The Reading Tub®.

When I read the description of this book I knew that I had to get my hands on a copy of it. So I posted a blog post on here to trade a book of mine for a copy of this book. I got my copy and couldn't wait for it to get here-Thanks Cindy!! After reading the description on the back of the book I was thinking that it was going to be a YA suspense book. Ghosts popping up in pictures, Madison moving to a sleepy beach town. And I have to say that I was a bit disappointed in this book. BUT, I still liked it.
The book does have "ghosts" but it is not what you think. The book is basically about Madison and her family losing their home and them having to move. It is also about Madison meeting new friends and falling for a boy named Duncan.
I now know that sometimes a book description does nothing for the actual book. But saying this, I still enjoyed the book, and at the end Madison realizes that even though she doesn't have everything that she did before she can still be happy.
So this was a good read. Just not what I expected when I read the book description. ( )

Preppy and pampered Madison Sabatini has just about everything going for her. She got the job as photographer for her school newspaper, she has great friends, great clothes, and she is going on a Hawaiian vacation on her summer break with enough time left at the end of the summer to come home for the newspaper’s pool party. That is, until her parents cancel the trip and inform her that they are going to Sandyland instead. She suspects something is up with her parents, her dad isn’t talking much and her mother has been angry a lot lately. They seem to be keeping secrets from her. Then her prized camera begins to capture images that aren’t there in real life. Images of people who later suffer tragedies. Now Madison has a secret of her own, one she can only share with her new friends at the Psychic Photo store in town. Can she figure out what’s wrong with her parents and solve the mystery of her camera before it is too late?

In many ways this book reminded me of a Sarah Dessen novel. The family, the quirky characters, and the love interest all made me feel like I was reading a book by Sarah Dessen. But then Snow adds in the paranormal aspect which felt slightly out of place in this novel. Madison has enough going on in her life, without her paranormal camera. I felt that this book was almost two separate stories. The realistic fiction of a girl dealing with her parents, the secrets they are keeping, and the changes in her life, and then another story about a girl whose camera captures the images of people who are going to suffer a tragedy. While the book blends these stories together, Madison and her family, and Madison and her camera, I still feel that the blending was awkward.

All in all I felt that it is an okay book, but it had the potential to be great. I love Sarah Dessen’s books and this one really had the feel of one of her novels. The paranormal aspect of the story just felt wrong, It almost seemed like you can either have a book that is paranormal fiction, or realistic fiction, but it can’t be both and that is what the author was aiming for.

A quick read for someone looking for light paranormal stories or semi-realistic fiction. ( )

Snap was one of those novels that you can’t assume about based off the summary. This book was more about Madison and her moving to a new town, losing her old friends, her perfectly planned school year, and a potential boyfriend. It was less about the eerie scenario of her photograph and the possible deaths related to it.

Snap was a decent read for someone looking to take time away. I really didn’t get much of Maddie’s character as she seemed shallow this few chapters around. She did, however, grow on me a bit later on. She grew up you may say. I enjoyed reading about her friends especially Deliah. Loving the whole sale-everything-on-eBay, I can totally relate to that. I also liked Madison’s old friend that she left back home. She wasn’t the typical snobby blond bimbo, in face she was almost the complete opposite.

The last 2 chapters were where I actually loved the book. It portrayed a distinct emotion, answered some dying questions, added some humor and revealed the truth.

As for the “dying” photographs, we actually never figured out how that came to be. Was the physic photo shop influencing the function of Maddie’s camera? We may never know…

Overall: I kind of expected more but the last 2 chapters were quite good ( )

When photograher Madison's family goes to Sunyland, she is told it is for vacation. But soon, she finds that she'll be staying there for the summer, or maybe longer. She doesn't like the small-ness of Sunyland, and just wants to go back to her old life. But, she can't, of course.
When a woman appears in one of her photos, things change. THis wouldn't be weird, except for the fact that the woman wasn't there when Madison took the picture. Days later, Madison finds out that that woman is dead. LAter, a man appears in her picture, and he winds up getting hit of a car. She begins to think that whoever shows up in her photos, will soon die. So when her new boyfriend shows up in the photos, and finally herself, she expects the worse- that they both will die. Can she change this? And will there be enough time?

At first, Madison is rather spoiled. She gets a little better later in the book, but its not til the end when she fully changes. (You'll see why.) I really liked her voice, the realism of her. And the writing style was really good. THere was romance in this book (a little) which I appreciated. There were maybe 3 or 4 cuss words, but they were small and infrequent.
This has been one of my favorite books in a while, and I would totally recommend this book. ( )