A review by kategci
The Girl With No Past by Kathryn Croft

1.0

This will be the worst book I read in 2017, because I will DNF anything else that comes close. It is a book club selection and I cannot wait to see what other people think. This is a psychological thriller, but it is poorly written and the main character is so immature that I was yelling at the book as I was reading. Leah lives like a hermit and lies about her past to her coworkers. Clearly, something awful happened in her youth and you are expected to keep turning the pages to find out. I did not care. The sections written from her perspective at ages 15-19, reveal an immature, sheltered girl who is unable to stand up to her peer group as well as the trope of having a charismatic, sociopathic boyfriend. The catalytic event is so awful and over the top, I was unable to believe that three teenagers could keep it a secret. Leah's solution was also over the top. In the current sections, 2 men come into her life, just as she is being stalked by someone intent on revealing her past. The most uncomfortable parts of the book were current day Leah revisiting relatives of her teenage friends; they were truly cringe worthy. Overall, the book was poorly written and the writer really seems intent on shocking the reader, without providing any literary value.