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marbles66's review against another edition
4.0
Annie leaves her husband Bobby as she believes he is having an affair. She goes to her twin sisters house. Here her life falls apart when she is arrested for grand larceny and internet fraud. Once this is cleared up she thinks things will get better however they get much worse when she is arrested for murder. Read this book to find out who the real murderer is.
digerbop's review against another edition
2.0
Cons:
When you are half-way through a book and you're still asking the question, "when is the story going to start" there is a problem. The first couple chapters are supposed to hook me as a reader and make me want to continue. Apparently Lief has other ideas. Reading this book is like watching someone play the Sims. You get to watch the characters live their lives but have no control over what they do. At least if you are the one *playing* the Sims there is a sense of interactivity, but watching someone play?
It seemed like Lief wanted to tell a story but was struggling with how to progress. Just when the reader thinks something is going to happen finally, we get to be disappointed by the brief tension breaking up the monotony not leading to a plot point, or more tension, or action, or drama, but simply more monotony.
This is not a story but simply a serious of monotonous events. Yes there is a mystery going on, but the characters aren't directly related with the whole murder-mystery motif and in fact have such a hands off approach that it really has nothing to do with their lives, thus effects the story in no way. (Bear in mind this is talking about the first part of the book. The plot thickens by the end, but it is a slow laborious process.)
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that I am a sucker for action and because there is no action this is not a good book. It is simply not a good book because there is no story and the characters are flat. If any of the main characters died at this point I really wouldn't care. Why? Because even though I have invested my time into this book, the characters haven't drawn me in. I am quite surprised by this given the amount of internal dialogue on the part of the main character. She does a lot of thinking, but it is more observations about what is happening or has happened in her life, not giving it much life or flavour. It is not lack of action that is the biggest problem but lack of character development and plot (although throwing some action in might make the lack of plot less monotonous and more forgiveable... but probably not).
Pros (finally):
All the cons aside, once you get through the first half of the book struggle, the story picks up nicely and there is even some character development to the effect that by the end of the book I felt a little bit for the characters... a little bit. The book is in three "parts" and honestly I feel that if you just skip straight to last chapter of part 1 you won't miss a whole lot. Yes there are some fine details which aid in wrapping up the story, but for all the monotony and poor story telling at the beginning, is it really worth the time investment. I will say that I almost put the book down a number of times during the first half but just when I was going to give up on it for good, the story finally started (i.e. in the last chapter of part 1).
To conclude the tale there is a slight twist, but the last couple chapters are pretty dry otherwise. Out of the three parts that this book is separated into the second one is really the only one worth ready in its entirety. The first and third parts can just be skimmed for the important points to give you context and closure for the second part.
When you are half-way through a book and you're still asking the question, "when is the story going to start" there is a problem. The first couple chapters are supposed to hook me as a reader and make me want to continue. Apparently Lief has other ideas. Reading this book is like watching someone play the Sims. You get to watch the characters live their lives but have no control over what they do. At least if you are the one *playing* the Sims there is a sense of interactivity, but watching someone play?
It seemed like Lief wanted to tell a story but was struggling with how to progress. Just when the reader thinks something is going to happen finally, we get to be disappointed by the brief tension breaking up the monotony not leading to a plot point, or more tension, or action, or drama, but simply more monotony.
Spoiler
I find a dead body! Oh, no! Is it my sister! I'm so sad and scared... no wait... it's just some random non-character. Okay. Go on with my life then. Or maybe - I am woken in the middle of the night! The alarm is going off! Someone is in the house! I have to escape! I'm going to jump out the window... no wait. It's just a false alarm. No on here but my sister... but wait! Someone must have been here! My wallet is gone! ... no. I just lost it. I do that all the time.This is not a story but simply a serious of monotonous events. Yes there is a mystery going on, but the characters aren't directly related with the whole murder-mystery motif and in fact have such a hands off approach that it really has nothing to do with their lives, thus effects the story in no way. (Bear in mind this is talking about the first part of the book. The plot thickens by the end, but it is a slow laborious process.)
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that I am a sucker for action and because there is no action this is not a good book. It is simply not a good book because there is no story and the characters are flat. If any of the main characters died at this point I really wouldn't care. Why? Because even though I have invested my time into this book, the characters haven't drawn me in. I am quite surprised by this given the amount of internal dialogue on the part of the main character. She does a lot of thinking, but it is more observations about what is happening or has happened in her life, not giving it much life or flavour. It is not lack of action that is the biggest problem but lack of character development and plot (although throwing some action in might make the lack of plot less monotonous and more forgiveable... but probably not).
Pros (finally):
All the cons aside, once you get through the first half of the book struggle, the story picks up nicely and there is even some character development to the effect that by the end of the book I felt a little bit for the characters... a little bit. The book is in three "parts" and honestly I feel that if you just skip straight to last chapter of part 1 you won't miss a whole lot. Yes there are some fine details which aid in wrapping up the story, but for all the monotony and poor story telling at the beginning, is it really worth the time investment. I will say that I almost put the book down a number of times during the first half but just when I was going to give up on it for good, the story finally started (i.e. in the last chapter of part 1).
To conclude the tale there is a slight twist, but the last couple chapters are pretty dry otherwise. Out of the three parts that this book is separated into the second one is really the only one worth ready in its entirety. The first and third parts can just be skimmed for the important points to give you context and closure for the second part.
tomaind's review against another edition
2.0
I felt like this story dragged on & it did not hold my interest. I enjoyed the 3 other books I have read by Kate Pepper, but this one was boring to me.
alienhard's review against another edition
3.0
Eh. I have loved all of her other books, but this one just seemed "rushed". And the things that happen in it (as far as emotions of the main character) don't seem even remotely realistic.
teresabutler19's review
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
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