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absolute_bookery's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Really not what I was expecting but it was really bloody clever!
hayleybeale's review against another edition
3.0
I was intrigued by the premise of this novel. There are two versions of the story of what happened between a drunk-to-the-point-of-passed out female high school student, Alice, and two male members of the lacrosse team, Richard and Max, who gave her a ride home from a party. Both versions come from the young men: in one there is sexual assault and in the other they simply drop her off home. Nick, a friend of Richard and Max, and Haley, a friend of Alice, choose the story they believe to be true.
Years later, Alice is in an abusive relationship, Haley makes documentaries about women who’ve suffered sexual assault, Richard is a successful entrepreneur, Max is dead, and Nick is an alcoholic.
The novel is a weird, but deliberate, patchwork of points of view and styles. There are scripts of horror movies that Alice and Haley wrote in middle school, an interview, a collection of emails, a horror-tinted weekend which is scary but doesn’t quite work in the context , even a section written in the second person (never my favorite) as well as regular first and third person accounts. Nick and Alice are the main protagonists, but both Richard and Haley are ever-present.
But I never felt I quite got the rhythm of the novel: it seemed to be going one way then would abruptly change to something quite different which made it hard to settle into. The different facets shown add up to some sort of coherent picture in the end but maybe not the one I was expecting.
Thanks to Viking and Netgalley for the digital review copy
Years later, Alice is in an abusive relationship, Haley makes documentaries about women who’ve suffered sexual assault, Richard is a successful entrepreneur, Max is dead, and Nick is an alcoholic.
The novel is a weird, but deliberate, patchwork of points of view and styles. There are scripts of horror movies that Alice and Haley wrote in middle school, an interview, a collection of emails, a horror-tinted weekend which is scary but doesn’t quite work in the context , even a section written in the second person (never my favorite) as well as regular first and third person accounts. Nick and Alice are the main protagonists, but both Richard and Haley are ever-present.
But I never felt I quite got the rhythm of the novel: it seemed to be going one way then would abruptly change to something quite different which made it hard to settle into. The different facets shown add up to some sort of coherent picture in the end but maybe not the one I was expecting.
Thanks to Viking and Netgalley for the digital review copy
jesstandrews's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
mialeee's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.75
rmarcin's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. This was a very unique book. It is a story of lives affected by something that happened while the characters were in high school. The story is told by Nick, a lacrosse star in school, who is friends with Richard and Max, and who has a crush on Haley. It is told by Alice, who was best friends with Haley. The two girls would write and act out horror films. They grew apart while in high school, but reconnect years later.
One night after a party, a bunch of them are at a diner when a story is told. The story takes on a life of its own and changes the trajectory of the lives of those involved. Some lives are irreparably changed.
This is written like no other novel I have read. It is written in scripts, in college application drafts, in manuscript form, and in flashbacks. It is an interesting story and is written with raw emotion. It is a horror story of what can happen.
I will be thinking about this book for a long time.
Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC.
#TrueStory #KateReedPetty #Edelweiss
One night after a party, a bunch of them are at a diner when a story is told. The story takes on a life of its own and changes the trajectory of the lives of those involved. Some lives are irreparably changed.
This is written like no other novel I have read. It is written in scripts, in college application drafts, in manuscript form, and in flashbacks. It is an interesting story and is written with raw emotion. It is a horror story of what can happen.
I will be thinking about this book for a long time.
Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC.
#TrueStory #KateReedPetty #Edelweiss
ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
5.0
I wrote it my own way. I made it a thriller, a horror, a memoir, a noir. I used my college essays, emails and other found documents to ground the story in truth--they're the closest thing I have to "evidence," proof that my memories, however few, are real.
What does it mean when the worst happens and you can't remember it? A drunk teen-age girl is given a lift home by two members of the lacrosse team. She only found out what happened in the car because the boys bragged about it. A man goes to an isolated mountain cabin for a final bender before he gives up drinking, for real this time. He doesn't know how the accident happened, but he'll carry the evidence of it with him for the rest of his life. A wealthy entrepreneur hires a woman to ghost write his motivational self-help book.
Kate Reed Petty uses the tropes of different genres and a variety of characters to explore memory and how an event can shape a life even if the person doesn't remember what happened. I enjoy novels that use the conventions of genre to dig more deeply than genre usually permits, and this one was so well done. There's a central story that emerges and as the different seemingly disparate threads come together, the novel twists into different things as it goes. There are screenplays written by middle-schoolers, emails, and sections that fall into different genres, that combine to form a cohesive, and very interesting whole. I'll be thinking about this one for some time to come.
What does it mean when the worst happens and you can't remember it? A drunk teen-age girl is given a lift home by two members of the lacrosse team. She only found out what happened in the car because the boys bragged about it. A man goes to an isolated mountain cabin for a final bender before he gives up drinking, for real this time. He doesn't know how the accident happened, but he'll carry the evidence of it with him for the rest of his life. A wealthy entrepreneur hires a woman to ghost write his motivational self-help book.
Kate Reed Petty uses the tropes of different genres and a variety of characters to explore memory and how an event can shape a life even if the person doesn't remember what happened. I enjoy novels that use the conventions of genre to dig more deeply than genre usually permits, and this one was so well done. There's a central story that emerges and as the different seemingly disparate threads come together, the novel twists into different things as it goes. There are screenplays written by middle-schoolers, emails, and sections that fall into different genres, that combine to form a cohesive, and very interesting whole. I'll be thinking about this one for some time to come.
susiegorden's review against another edition
3.0
It was fun. I'm not sure the so-called "twist" at the end works 100 per cent? But it's a pretty good book and worthwhile read in the midst of the Me, Too movement.