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A review by silenciadelumbrae
Follow Me Back by A.V. Geiger
2.0
All right. Okay. This book.
Short form: I've been more disappointed before, but not much. And it's not even the book's fault--it tried to warn me.
Okay, so. Just from reading the description, I was sure I knew exactly how this novel would end, and the only question was which side of the 50/50 shot it would land on. But I was so tempted to pick it up anyway, because I love books written in unusual formats--police reports, IMs, letters, photographs mixed in, I love them all. And that cover is so cool. But I didn't want to invest my limited free time in a thriller when I was sure I knew the ending.
Then I looked at all these reviews and saw over and over how much everyone loved the ending! How unexpected it was! How twisty! What a great finish! Totally shocked!
So I thought, okay, I have to be wrong about the ending. There's no way this many people could be surprised by it, if it's what I think it is. I mean, it's practically right there in the synopsis. So I must be wrong! I gotta know what the real ending is! What an awesome red herring, to do the synopsis that way!
Then I picked it up. And I read it. The insta-love left a dreadful taste in my mouth, but I persevered. The douchebaggery of the male MC infuriated me, but I kept on. Some of the ridiculously over-the-top behaviours exhibited by the characters drove me up the wall, like when but I kept going because I HAD TO KNOW what this different, surprising, twisty ending was! The longer I read, the more I thought that I had to have been wrong about the ending, because it would make no sense for the ending to be what I originally thought it was!
Spoiler alert: the ending is exactly what I thought it was. That makes it doubly disappointing: not only had I already figured out the "twist" I was promised from the blurb, but in the context of the story, it makes no sense. But I've read the book now, and I can't unread it, and that's three hours of my homework time I can never get back.
It's not necessarily a bad book; it's a fast, light read and I got through it pretty quickly. The idea is interesting, the writing is okay, and if you haven't read much YA and aren't a suspicious sort, you may very well enjoy it! Certainly a lot of other reviewers did! I just...hoped for a lot more.
Short form: I've been more disappointed before, but not much. And it's not even the book's fault--it tried to warn me.
Okay, so. Just from reading the description, I was sure I knew exactly how this novel would end, and the only question was which side of the 50/50 shot it would land on. But I was so tempted to pick it up anyway, because I love books written in unusual formats--police reports, IMs, letters, photographs mixed in, I love them all. And that cover is so cool. But I didn't want to invest my limited free time in a thriller when I was sure I knew the ending.
Then I looked at all these reviews and saw over and over how much everyone loved the ending! How unexpected it was! How twisty! What a great finish! Totally shocked!
So I thought, okay, I have to be wrong about the ending. There's no way this many people could be surprised by it, if it's what I think it is. I mean, it's practically right there in the synopsis. So I must be wrong! I gotta know what the real ending is! What an awesome red herring, to do the synopsis that way!
Then I picked it up. And I read it. The insta-love left a dreadful taste in my mouth, but I persevered. The douchebaggery of the male MC infuriated me, but I kept on. Some of the ridiculously over-the-top behaviours exhibited by the characters drove me up the wall, like when
Spoiler
Tessa loses her shit over "Taylor" being a boy and tweets "THANKS FOR RUINING MY LIFE" like a fucking two-year-old throwing a tantrumSpoiler alert: the ending is exactly what I thought it was. That makes it doubly disappointing: not only had I already figured out the "twist" I was promised from the blurb, but in the context of the story, it makes no sense. But I've read the book now, and I can't unread it, and that's three hours of my homework time I can never get back.
It's not necessarily a bad book; it's a fast, light read and I got through it pretty quickly. The idea is interesting, the writing is okay, and if you haven't read much YA and aren't a suspicious sort, you may very well enjoy it! Certainly a lot of other reviewers did! I just...hoped for a lot more.