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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
In a nutshell: Geo, An unlikable protagonist is arrested for being a part of her best friend’s murder 14 years earlier, with her ex-boyfriend Calvin, a now-infamous serial killer.
Recommendation: Stop trying to be the next Gone Girl please.
I’m here because of the cover art. But also, reviews were good and the book was on sale so I bought it. Impulse buy for sure. This one is regrettable. Even though I’m going against popular opinion here.
Geo has it all. She is an esteemed executive at a pharmaceutical company along with her rich fiance, the CEO. But it all comes crashing down when the remains of Angela Wong, Geo’s high school best friend, are found 14 years after she disappeared. She fought so hard to forget what happened and now it all comes back to her as she is locked in a jail cell. She must face what she’s done during her jail time, as well as afterwards, when she becomes the black sheep in her neighbourhood and a much larger threat comes back into focus. Her ex-boyfriend, Calvin, a now infamous serial killer, who was found guilty of killing Angela prior to Geo’s arrest, has escaped from jail.
PLEASE stop trying to make the next Gone Girl. Gone Girl was the first of its kind in terms of mindfuckery in mystery novels. You think you know something and you think you know the characters and then the entire plot just unravels and you’re left feeling betrayed for being tricked to feel something different before. At the time, I didn’t like Gone Girl because all the characters were phony and I felt conflicted about the plot. And now I realize Gone Girl created a cult following where every wannabe author that was struggling to thing of a unique idea for a fiction novel just took that plot and the characters and rewrote them into a “new” narrative. They even copied the cover art in some way and incorporated “girl” or “she” or “her” or something feminine in the title. Granted, some of these recycled concepts actually worked… I am a huge fan of Lisa Jewell. But you know what? STOP. IT’S OVER. You won’t be “the next Gone Girl” because Gone Girl is as its title suggests, over and gone.
And this book just gave me so many Gone Girl vibes with a fake female protagonist that is not likable in any way shape or form. Just stop. And this obviously isn’t the only book that’s guilty of trying to be the next Gone Girl and actually being super lame. There are many others I’ve read that gave me Gone Girl vibes. Sometimes it sits well with me, other times not so much. This book is just the one that got me triggered enough to go on a rant.
ANYWAY. Now that I got that out of the way, because I know this book got so many great reviews and people are wondering why I gave it such a low rating when it has over 4 stars on Goodreads, I can go over why I disliked it. I already brushed on the fact that Geo is unlikable, and for me that’s a lot of it. Next, this entire concept is recycled. There are just so many thrillers/mysteries out there that are so similar. Girl disappears. Secrets are kept. Secrets are revealed. Past comes back to haunt the protagonist. It’s revealed the protagonist is actually sick in the head. Have you read this story before? Because I totally have. 448783884 times.
I also hate when a book is you know… 98% build up and then literally the last 2% comes and you’re like well… that’s all there is? Seriously? I had also figured this out about halfway through the book when the introduction was briefly mentioned. Quit giving away the ending halfway through. Not cool.
But the build up also wasn’t that extreme for me? I just didn’t care. I can’t really explain it aside from the fact that I didn’t care about Geo or what would happen to her because she was flat and boring and had no dimension to her whatsoever. That’s kind of it. And then she was wondering why she was becoming the town pariah and it’s like… get with the program. I don’t feel sorry for you because you’re the reason that your life is messed up.
If you haven’t read this book yet, this is a spoiler: Are we going to ignore the fact that it was GEO’s IDEA to cut up Angela’s body? And that she was pushing Calvin in the woods to do stuff even though technically he’s SUPPOSED to be the unlikable one since he’s an actual serial killer? Are we going to ignore the fact that Geo tells Calvin she does love him, then she kills him and she immediately ends up with Kaiser, happily with child? I mean. You have serious issues. You should be going to therapy for loving a sick, twisted person. You don’t deserve to have your story tied neatly and perfectly with a bow by the end of the book when you have a secret twisted side that made you decide to cut your best friend into pieces after she was raped by your boyfriend. If you didn’t read the book yet and you wanted to, i’m saving you. DON’T FALL FOR THE HYPE. IT AIN’T WORTH IT.
Recommendation: Stop trying to be the next Gone Girl please.
I’m here because of the cover art. But also, reviews were good and the book was on sale so I bought it. Impulse buy for sure. This one is regrettable. Even though I’m going against popular opinion here.
“Whoever said lying was hard was so, so wrong. Lying was easy. Lying was like a hot knife slicing through room-temperature butter. Lying was a bunch of words strung together in a pretty sentence designed to make the other person feel like everything was fine. Telling the truth, however, was impossible.”
Geo has it all. She is an esteemed executive at a pharmaceutical company along with her rich fiance, the CEO. But it all comes crashing down when the remains of Angela Wong, Geo’s high school best friend, are found 14 years after she disappeared. She fought so hard to forget what happened and now it all comes back to her as she is locked in a jail cell. She must face what she’s done during her jail time, as well as afterwards, when she becomes the black sheep in her neighbourhood and a much larger threat comes back into focus. Her ex-boyfriend, Calvin, a now infamous serial killer, who was found guilty of killing Angela prior to Geo’s arrest, has escaped from jail.
PLEASE stop trying to make the next Gone Girl. Gone Girl was the first of its kind in terms of mindfuckery in mystery novels. You think you know something and you think you know the characters and then the entire plot just unravels and you’re left feeling betrayed for being tricked to feel something different before. At the time, I didn’t like Gone Girl because all the characters were phony and I felt conflicted about the plot. And now I realize Gone Girl created a cult following where every wannabe author that was struggling to thing of a unique idea for a fiction novel just took that plot and the characters and rewrote them into a “new” narrative. They even copied the cover art in some way and incorporated “girl” or “she” or “her” or something feminine in the title. Granted, some of these recycled concepts actually worked… I am a huge fan of Lisa Jewell. But you know what? STOP. IT’S OVER. You won’t be “the next Gone Girl” because Gone Girl is as its title suggests, over and gone.
And this book just gave me so many Gone Girl vibes with a fake female protagonist that is not likable in any way shape or form. Just stop. And this obviously isn’t the only book that’s guilty of trying to be the next Gone Girl and actually being super lame. There are many others I’ve read that gave me Gone Girl vibes. Sometimes it sits well with me, other times not so much. This book is just the one that got me triggered enough to go on a rant.
ANYWAY. Now that I got that out of the way, because I know this book got so many great reviews and people are wondering why I gave it such a low rating when it has over 4 stars on Goodreads, I can go over why I disliked it. I already brushed on the fact that Geo is unlikable, and for me that’s a lot of it. Next, this entire concept is recycled. There are just so many thrillers/mysteries out there that are so similar. Girl disappears. Secrets are kept. Secrets are revealed. Past comes back to haunt the protagonist. It’s revealed the protagonist is actually sick in the head. Have you read this story before? Because I totally have. 448783884 times.
I also hate when a book is you know… 98% build up and then literally the last 2% comes and you’re like well… that’s all there is? Seriously? I had also figured this out about halfway through the book when the introduction was briefly mentioned. Quit giving away the ending halfway through. Not cool.
But the build up also wasn’t that extreme for me? I just didn’t care. I can’t really explain it aside from the fact that I didn’t care about Geo or what would happen to her because she was flat and boring and had no dimension to her whatsoever. That’s kind of it. And then she was wondering why she was becoming the town pariah and it’s like… get with the program. I don’t feel sorry for you because you’re the reason that your life is messed up.
If you haven’t read this book yet, this is a spoiler: Are we going to ignore the fact that it was GEO’s IDEA to cut up Angela’s body? And that she was pushing Calvin in the woods to do stuff even though technically he’s SUPPOSED to be the unlikable one since he’s an actual serial killer? Are we going to ignore the fact that Geo tells Calvin she does love him, then she kills him and she immediately ends up with Kaiser, happily with child? I mean. You have serious issues. You should be going to therapy for loving a sick, twisted person. You don’t deserve to have your story tied neatly and perfectly with a bow by the end of the book when you have a secret twisted side that made you decide to cut your best friend into pieces after she was raped by your boyfriend. If you didn’t read the book yet and you wanted to, i’m saving you. DON’T FALL FOR THE HYPE. IT AIN’T WORTH IT.
So good but then you get to the end and nothing. That was very anticlimactic. It felt rushed to end the book ..I was wanting just a bit more +
Completely gripping... one of the best thrillers I've read (listened to) in a while. The audio was great!
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy