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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
Armentrout's attempt at a creepy thriller was mediocre for me. First, I should say I'm not a fan of that cover- what is that? What's up with the font? Anyway, moving on...
I was a little leery of the plot summary. Teen amnesiac attempts to pick back up her life? Some weird Mean Girls similarities? Sounded a lot like [b:The Lying Game|8428069|The Lying Game (The Lying Game, #1)|Sara Shepard|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316916749s/8428069.jpg|13291270] to me, other than the amnesiac part. Still, I was intrigued enough to start.
I know that Armentrout was trying to generate false leads and obtain a creepy atmosphere, but I found that some of her "red herrings", if you will, weren't as successful as I would have liked. I think she could have sold a couple of the plot points further to enhance the creepiness (see: the notes). Ultimately, while I wasn't as quick as others to guess the "big twist", I definitely saw it coming before the reveal. No comments on my thoughts about it, because I think it will cause spoilers. But I guess I'm torn.
The romance was a love-triangle near miss. The whole situation felt overdone and predictable, although I'll admit I was a total Carson fan.
Ultimately, I think it was a miss for Armentrout on her thriller, but I was still entertained.
I was a little leery of the plot summary. Teen amnesiac attempts to pick back up her life? Some weird Mean Girls similarities? Sounded a lot like [b:The Lying Game|8428069|The Lying Game (The Lying Game, #1)|Sara Shepard|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316916749s/8428069.jpg|13291270] to me, other than the amnesiac part. Still, I was intrigued enough to start.
I know that Armentrout was trying to generate false leads and obtain a creepy atmosphere, but I found that some of her "red herrings", if you will, weren't as successful as I would have liked. I think she could have sold a couple of the plot points further to enhance the creepiness (see: the notes). Ultimately, while I wasn't as quick as others to guess the "big twist", I definitely saw it coming before the reveal. No comments on my thoughts about it, because I think it will cause spoilers. But I guess I'm torn.
The romance was a love-triangle near miss. The whole situation felt overdone and predictable, although I'll admit I was a total Carson fan.
Ultimately, I think it was a miss for Armentrout on her thriller, but I was still entertained.
3/5 stars
Entertaining enough, but unfortunately I predicted the identity of the villain.
Entertaining enough, but unfortunately I predicted the identity of the villain.
I read another book by Jennifer Armentrout that I didn't love, so I wasn't really excited about reading this book. But she is my friend's favorite author, and since I met the author, I figured I better give her another chance. I'm glad I did. I really enjoyed this book. It is a very good mystery, that kept me guessing the entire book, as to who the culprit was. You end up being able to believe that any one person in the book could be responsible for who it was. I didn't guess who it was at the beginning, but I wasn't shocked either. Overall, I really liked the book, and would consider reading some of her other works. The characters were believeable. Sam went from being the perfect mean girl (who we never get to meet only hear about) to someone real with feelings and depth. And Casron! Swoon! The other characters were well-written, and the plot really did keep you reading so you could solve the mystery. There are a lot of plot twists, and I really like the way the book came together. Normally I can guess the mystery pretty quickly, but that was not the case in this book.
See the rest of my review on my blog at www.vivacioushobo.com on June 15th
See the rest of my review on my blog at www.vivacioushobo.com on June 15th
This is the kind of YA mystery I like, where the teens don't screw up a police investigations, but are more focused on themselves.
Samantha doesn't remember anything - who she is, what happened to her, or why she is bloody and has been gone for four days, or where her best friend Cassie might be. As she tries to piece together who she is, she discovers that the person she was is not the person she wants to be. She struggles to remember her life before and what happened the night she and Cassie disappeared.
This book was really great up until the end. Most of the characters were well-rounded, with the exception of Samantha's "friends." Samantha was painted so well that I kept trying to figure out why she became what she became. Carson was perhaps a little too forgiving, but other than that, the supporting characters were characters in their own right, not just in how they supported Samantha. I liked the pace of the book, and I liked that that the mystery was more focused on who Samantha was, rather than just who killed Cassie. The amnesia played out pretty well, and wasn't just a trope. Not a huge fan of the ending, honestly. It seemed very rushed, and out of nowhere (which can be good, but I need a little bit of unpacking when that happens).
I am definitely talking about this with my kids, though. It does have some drinking and mentions of sex (plus a steamier scene towards the end), but I think my more mature kids will really like it.
Samantha doesn't remember anything - who she is, what happened to her, or why she is bloody and has been gone for four days, or where her best friend Cassie might be. As she tries to piece together who she is, she discovers that the person she was is not the person she wants to be. She struggles to remember her life before and what happened the night she and Cassie disappeared.
This book was really great up until the end. Most of the characters were well-rounded, with the exception of Samantha's "friends." Samantha was painted so well that I kept trying to figure out why she became what she became. Carson was perhaps a little too forgiving, but other than that, the supporting characters were characters in their own right, not just in how they supported Samantha. I liked the pace of the book, and I liked that that the mystery was more focused on who Samantha was, rather than just who killed Cassie. The amnesia played out pretty well, and wasn't just a trope. Not a huge fan of the ending, honestly. It seemed very rushed, and out of nowhere (which can be good, but I need a little bit of unpacking when that happens).
I am definitely talking about this with my kids, though. It does have some drinking and mentions of sex (plus a steamier scene towards the end), but I think my more mature kids will really like it.
I got exactly what I wanted from this book. Mystery, thrills, suspense, romance. It wasn't abundantly deep and that was fine. It wasn't meant to be. It was pure fun. Sometimes I can get swept up in the meaning of books or the messages and symbolism that occurs in them. It was refreshing to sit back and just enjoy myself without any sort of hunt for something greater. Perfect for the Halloween season!
It wasn't an awful story but I just felt it lacked something truly special. I didn't really connect with the characters or fall deep into the mystery as I have with other stories I've loved. The last 8 chapters is when it started getting interesting & held my attention better. In the end I was surprised by what actually happened to Cassie though so points for that!