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A review by kaidalea
Like, Follow, Kill by Carissa Ann Lynch
4.0
Well, this wasn’t what I was expecting. First of all— when I read about the MC having an obsession that was consuming her, for some reason I truly believed it had to be a romantic interest. Then, as I read the first few pages about her ex, I assumed it had to be a guy. And I was wrong.
The transparency of the author straight away is respectable and unreserved, which I appreciated. I think the best story puts most things right up front. If I know everything about Camilla, for the most part, and I can follow along as the story progresses and still be surprised by her behavior. In this regard, the author did an excellent job. She also did an excellent job distinguishing characters and background. A+
I can empathize with Camilla’s acknowledgment of keeping the panicked girl inside of her at bay, the pushing away of the good things that bring back trauma, the flashbacks, the triggers, and the obsessive way that distraction can be such a huge ally in the battle to keep your sanity. This made her character relatable or understandable to any reader, which I thought was awesome by the author! The more real your characters are (especially your MC) the better your story is. The problem with Camilla’s behavior, obviously, is her lack of motivation to do more and to get help. I’m not blaming her— believe me. When I hit rock bottom I had to be scared stupid to finally claw my way back into a therapists chair, and recovery is an every-day job.
Moving on, let’s talk about why she’s crazy and why this is not standard behavior of anyone in general *or* anyone suffering from this type of mental illness. It’s easy to see why it would push it along... but it’s not the reason. Jealously and rage are not generally born from trauma, in my experience. Obsessive hate-worship is a personal problem, and it happens to be Camilla’s. Also, there’s her alcoholism and pill addiction, which is obviously a (huge) problem. Another point to Lynch for her consistency of character building.
Camilla is completely obsessed with her former classmate, Valerie. Valerie is a stunning, care-free, successful instagram goddess, and she is someone that Camilla spent her time in school with wishing she could be friends with. Valerie is the girl we all wished we could’ve been— effortlessly beautiful, making shitty distressed clothes look cool and gorgeous, an easy smile and an awesome personality to match all of the former. Camilla was invisible to her in school, and it’s clear that isn’t forgotten, even fifteen years after their initial meeting. She’s more than obsessed— she’s pissed. Her recent loss of her husband is no help— she thinks of herself as a murderer, because she was driving, and she survived with very dramatic scarring that makes her look like a monster (to her).
At long last, Camilla is given an odd opportunity to fulfill her desire for purpose and need— I will not spoil this, because even though we learn it pretty quickly, I think the build-up and lead-in is important to understand it (or more importantly, her) best.
While there were some irritating plot holes, this was an addicting story I read in less than a day. The writing wasn’t perfect but it was perfectly appropriate for this book, and the story was unbelievable, but that’s kind of what made it so fun to read. Definitely a good beach read, of like in my case, hotel read! :)
The transparency of the author straight away is respectable and unreserved, which I appreciated. I think the best story puts most things right up front. If I know everything about Camilla, for the most part, and I can follow along as the story progresses and still be surprised by her behavior. In this regard, the author did an excellent job. She also did an excellent job distinguishing characters and background. A+
I can empathize with Camilla’s acknowledgment of keeping the panicked girl inside of her at bay, the pushing away of the good things that bring back trauma, the flashbacks, the triggers, and the obsessive way that distraction can be such a huge ally in the battle to keep your sanity. This made her character relatable or understandable to any reader, which I thought was awesome by the author! The more real your characters are (especially your MC) the better your story is. The problem with Camilla’s behavior, obviously, is her lack of motivation to do more and to get help. I’m not blaming her— believe me. When I hit rock bottom I had to be scared stupid to finally claw my way back into a therapists chair, and recovery is an every-day job.
Moving on, let’s talk about why she’s crazy and why this is not standard behavior of anyone in general *or* anyone suffering from this type of mental illness. It’s easy to see why it would push it along... but it’s not the reason. Jealously and rage are not generally born from trauma, in my experience. Obsessive hate-worship is a personal problem, and it happens to be Camilla’s. Also, there’s her alcoholism and pill addiction, which is obviously a (huge) problem. Another point to Lynch for her consistency of character building.
Camilla is completely obsessed with her former classmate, Valerie. Valerie is a stunning, care-free, successful instagram goddess, and she is someone that Camilla spent her time in school with wishing she could be friends with. Valerie is the girl we all wished we could’ve been— effortlessly beautiful, making shitty distressed clothes look cool and gorgeous, an easy smile and an awesome personality to match all of the former. Camilla was invisible to her in school, and it’s clear that isn’t forgotten, even fifteen years after their initial meeting. She’s more than obsessed— she’s pissed. Her recent loss of her husband is no help— she thinks of herself as a murderer, because she was driving, and she survived with very dramatic scarring that makes her look like a monster (to her).
At long last, Camilla is given an odd opportunity to fulfill her desire for purpose and need— I will not spoil this, because even though we learn it pretty quickly, I think the build-up and lead-in is important to understand it (or more importantly, her) best.
While there were some irritating plot holes, this was an addicting story I read in less than a day. The writing wasn’t perfect but it was perfectly appropriate for this book, and the story was unbelievable, but that’s kind of what made it so fun to read. Definitely a good beach read, of like in my case, hotel read! :)