The Voice inside My Head

The Voice Inside My Head by S.J. Laidlaw is a mystery narrated by a drug-taking, violently-tempered boy named Luke who thinks he hears his missing sister’s voice in his head and goes on a trip to Honduras to find her. Yes, it’s as bad as it sounds. Luke seems to be S.J. Laidlaw’s misconstrued idea of a stereotypical teenage boy. He regularly uses marijuana, gets drunk, and leers at girls. By the end of the novel, I still couldn’t find any redeeming qualities in him. Luke is not a good person, and he’s not an interesting character either. His grief for his sister stems from his recognition of the fact that his sister was a better person than he is and actually had purpose in her life. However, other than creepy conversations with his sister in his head, Luke does not interact with his sister and thus I could not find any depth in their relationship. As a mystery, The Voice Inside My Head is poorly constructed and has too much predictability. As a novel, it lacks character development and a moral compass.