Take a photo of a barcode or cover
2.88 AVERAGE
2.88 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed this book. It was creepy, funny, slightly romantic and sad too. Loved that it ended with a cliffhanger...spooky. I will definitely recommend this book to ANYONE! Can't wait to read more of Anna Davies's work. ((:
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I don't tend to read much horror being a huge wimp but I liked that the premise for this book mentioned sisters, a soft spot for me. I also liked that the one sister was an overachiever bent on an ambitious goal for college, something I always admire. So I decided to give it a shot.
Honestly I did not find this book that thrilling. There was the brittle Hayley who has forsaken everything in pursuit of her academic goal (including sport, boys, and friends) and maintains her discipline behind a humorless disposition. Until pictures of her on social networking sites partying start popping up and it becomes clear to Hayley that someone is trying to ruin her life. Further research reveals that it is her previously unknown twin sister and she wants to take over Hayley's life no matter the cost.
Man, I thought I could connect with a girl who is into academia but I just could not get behind Hayley. Her rigidity drove me crazy. I mean, I loved school and studying but it cannot be all that one does. Another reason I may not have liked her is that there's this cute boy who obviously likes her but who she ignores as competition while fawning over a guy with whom she has very little in common. Her mother's presence is limited despite ostensibly being an important part in bringing the twin girls into the world and I found the logic behind their separation...odd and difficult to swallow.
What I did like was the chilling premise around one's online presence. Although I tend to think of it more in terms of what you're doing being captured online and potentially haunting your future rather than someone maliciously attacking you, I know that's also a possibility. It really made me think about I do online (I try to keep my blog somewhat low-key and not too detailed about my personal life but if someone wanted to go after me, I don't know how I could stop it.)
Overall: I was not impressed-the story wasn't very strong nor was it thrilling. This might be better for fans of 80s teen horror novels but I was never much of a fan.
Cover: Suitably creepy with red eyes that aren't really relevant to the book.
I don't tend to read much horror being a huge wimp but I liked that the premise for this book mentioned sisters, a soft spot for me. I also liked that the one sister was an overachiever bent on an ambitious goal for college, something I always admire. So I decided to give it a shot.
Honestly I did not find this book that thrilling. There was the brittle Hayley who has forsaken everything in pursuit of her academic goal (including sport, boys, and friends) and maintains her discipline behind a humorless disposition. Until pictures of her on social networking sites partying start popping up and it becomes clear to Hayley that someone is trying to ruin her life. Further research reveals that it is her previously unknown twin sister and she wants to take over Hayley's life no matter the cost.
Man, I thought I could connect with a girl who is into academia but I just could not get behind Hayley. Her rigidity drove me crazy. I mean, I loved school and studying but it cannot be all that one does. Another reason I may not have liked her is that there's this cute boy who obviously likes her but who she ignores as competition while fawning over a guy with whom she has very little in common. Her mother's presence is limited despite ostensibly being an important part in bringing the twin girls into the world and I found the logic behind their separation...odd and difficult to swallow.
What I did like was the chilling premise around one's online presence. Although I tend to think of it more in terms of what you're doing being captured online and potentially haunting your future rather than someone maliciously attacking you, I know that's also a possibility. It really made me think about I do online (I try to keep my blog somewhat low-key and not too detailed about my personal life but if someone wanted to go after me, I don't know how I could stop it.)
Overall: I was not impressed-the story wasn't very strong nor was it thrilling. This might be better for fans of 80s teen horror novels but I was never much of a fan.
Cover: Suitably creepy with red eyes that aren't really relevant to the book.
The ending was really good and left me wanting more! I thought it was pretty slow at first but it wasn't at all. It was actually really... suspenseful and I'm kind of wondering what will happen in the future due to the ending but it isn't a series... but we'll see.
Quick YA read. The author's voice annoyed me throughout the story, and I thought the suspenseful ending was a little drawn out. Onto my 7th grade classroom bookshelf it goes...
Originally posted on Drunk On Pop
This was the worst book I’ver read this year. In fact, if it wasn’t for my Rated YA-MA reading challenge, I would have marked this as DNF around 25% through. Just absolutely horrendous for so many reasons, which we’ll get into. But first: I took a sentence out of the summary to make note of. The summary on Goodreads added this sentence, “The embarrassing photos of “Hayley” in her bathing suit reveal a birthmark on her back–a birth mark Hayley has never shown in public. . . .” This is something that did not even happen in the book. The summary also talks about a secret that Haley’s mom reveals – except she didn’t. The summary involves plot points that don’t even happen, so there’s just one tell that the contents of the book sucked.
This had a lot of potential. I was intrigued by the social media aspect of it and the fact it was part of a series of sorts with other social media related stories. Identity Theft/Catfishing/etc is something that is happening a lot on social media right now and had this been done well it could have been really enjoyable. For one, all of the characters sucked. The main character, Haley, (so unmemorable I had to look back to find her name) is supposed to be one of the smartest girls in school and yet throughout the entire story she acts like the dumbest person I have ever read about. Her, and all of the other characters, we all equally dumb and one-dimensional. Hayley kept blinding blaming people for things with no reason. Then re-made friends with people that have hated her for years. She just let things happen to her and apparently had never heard of the fucking screenshot button. Some characters and “plot points” were introduced with absolute no meaning. We could have gotten to the ending without going through some of these loops at all.
Which speaking about the ending, had the first 3/4 of the book been better the ending almost could have gotten this book a 1.5 or even 2 star rating. The twin that was introduced ended up being clever and sneaky but then all of a sudden the ending happened that made everything else a complete cop out. I am attempting to stay spoiler free here, but it really was one of the most wasted endings in a book. I don’t think I can come up with a more wasteful ending, I really can’t. Then major plot points, things that mattered so much to the main character were never addressed again. What could have been completely creepy and interesting was dumbed down to the point that it was irrelevant. Totally disappointing.
With all of that said, the entire premise of Identity Theft was completely ripped off of other books, specifically Pretty Little Liars. The way the main character was – totally Spencer Hastings. The twin angle is something that occurred in the PLL books, and even the whole stalking and putting people in danger. The way people acted, the way they talked, even things that the characters did – total and complete ripoffs. I would go so far as to say that this book HAS to be some sort of plagiarism. There’s nothing original about it at all. It’s one thing to borrow aspects of other books, but this was extreme and it wasn’t even good. I am very wary of reading the other Point Horror book that I received as an ARC. Blah.
For more reviews like this, visit Drunk On Pop!
This was the worst book I’ver read this year. In fact, if it wasn’t for my Rated YA-MA reading challenge, I would have marked this as DNF around 25% through. Just absolutely horrendous for so many reasons, which we’ll get into. But first: I took a sentence out of the summary to make note of. The summary on Goodreads added this sentence, “The embarrassing photos of “Hayley” in her bathing suit reveal a birthmark on her back–a birth mark Hayley has never shown in public. . . .” This is something that did not even happen in the book. The summary also talks about a secret that Haley’s mom reveals – except she didn’t. The summary involves plot points that don’t even happen, so there’s just one tell that the contents of the book sucked.
This had a lot of potential. I was intrigued by the social media aspect of it and the fact it was part of a series of sorts with other social media related stories. Identity Theft/Catfishing/etc is something that is happening a lot on social media right now and had this been done well it could have been really enjoyable. For one, all of the characters sucked. The main character, Haley, (so unmemorable I had to look back to find her name) is supposed to be one of the smartest girls in school and yet throughout the entire story she acts like the dumbest person I have ever read about. Her, and all of the other characters, we all equally dumb and one-dimensional. Hayley kept blinding blaming people for things with no reason. Then re-made friends with people that have hated her for years. She just let things happen to her and apparently had never heard of the fucking screenshot button. Some characters and “plot points” were introduced with absolute no meaning. We could have gotten to the ending without going through some of these loops at all.
Which speaking about the ending, had the first 3/4 of the book been better the ending almost could have gotten this book a 1.5 or even 2 star rating. The twin that was introduced ended up being clever and sneaky but then all of a sudden the ending happened that made everything else a complete cop out. I am attempting to stay spoiler free here, but it really was one of the most wasted endings in a book. I don’t think I can come up with a more wasteful ending, I really can’t. Then major plot points, things that mattered so much to the main character were never addressed again. What could have been completely creepy and interesting was dumbed down to the point that it was irrelevant. Totally disappointing.
With all of that said, the entire premise of Identity Theft was completely ripped off of other books, specifically Pretty Little Liars. The way the main character was – totally Spencer Hastings. The twin angle is something that occurred in the PLL books, and even the whole stalking and putting people in danger. The way people acted, the way they talked, even things that the characters did – total and complete ripoffs. I would go so far as to say that this book HAS to be some sort of plagiarism. There’s nothing original about it at all. It’s one thing to borrow aspects of other books, but this was extreme and it wasn’t even good. I am very wary of reading the other Point Horror book that I received as an ARC. Blah.
For more reviews like this, visit Drunk On Pop!
wow, spooky and creepy. It's the perfect late night read.
Imagine having your internet life stolen. You don't have a facebook page, you don't have a twitter account - and yet everyone is talking about your status updates! When you go to look, there are photos OF YOU doing things you've never done, hanging out with people you don't know.
This story is a total page turner. Hayley is driven and hard working and, frankly, kind of mean. She isn't terribly nice to anyone and has few friends. She's driven to succeed and win, no matter the cost to anyone else. And so far, she's done okay.
But what will she do when she's no longer the one in control? I loved this one!
Imagine having your internet life stolen. You don't have a facebook page, you don't have a twitter account - and yet everyone is talking about your status updates! When you go to look, there are photos OF YOU doing things you've never done, hanging out with people you don't know.
This story is a total page turner. Hayley is driven and hard working and, frankly, kind of mean. She isn't terribly nice to anyone and has few friends. She's driven to succeed and win, no matter the cost to anyone else. And so far, she's done okay.
But what will she do when she's no longer the one in control? I loved this one!
mysterious
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:
Complicated