Reviews

(All ratings are out of 5, with 1 being the lowest and 5 the highest)

Genre Levels (not in any particular order):
1. Mystery/Crime – 1.5
2. Slice of life – 2
3. Romance – .5

Main Character Enjoyment Level: 1.5
Plot Rating: 2
Likes: great superficial synopsis and plot
Dislikes: Nothing, really, other than that it could’ve been better
Memorable Scene:

Spoiler

I read this a while back as a kid, so I'm not sure if this scene happened in the way I believed had happened: the mother sleeps with the detective. I remembered feeling so betrayed and hurt for the husband, who was trying his best to find his daughter's murderer.)

Memorable Quote: n/a
Overall Rating: 2

tl;dr: Captivating title, interesting concept, poor execution.

Spoiler

Most of the reviews I came across for this book mention Alice's (poor) writing, but I honestly don't have a bone to pick with it (pun unintended) because I'm fairly neutral regarding writing styles unless it dramatically hinders my reading, which Alice's writing didn't. Instead, my bone with this book is its execution.

I remember hesitating to read the book because of its title--it sounded scary, and I can't do horror/thriller--but the written synopsis at the back was very fascinating and original. My fault is that I had assumed this would be a story about a girl watching the unraveling of her death and her attempts to help the people she left on Earth gather clues. Or that her bones would be found and the story would heavily rely on it.

I was somewhat wrong.

Instead, we get superficial details of the plot, watch her family fall apart, get sidetracked as she falls in love, get a sneak peek at her rapist/killer neighbor, and bam!--an ending. A very flat ending. The only two good things in this story are showing how a family could fall apart and what one might think/regret when passed on. Those two aspects and the hope I held on, thinking that it'd get better, were what kept me reading and helped me finish the book.