drkottke 's review for:

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll

4.0

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Some years ago, a New York Times reviewer (probably Frank Rich) noted a dearth of contemporary novels dealing with the Great American Novel theme of ambition, particularly among characters with whom readers are to sympathize. Well, here's a corrective to that, I guess, in the guise of the next entry in the Unreliable Narrator Suspense sub-genre, which I quite like. This one has a coming of age element that resonates more than the present-day observations on the New York bourgeoisie of marrying age. There's a motif of PTSD running throughout that is quite good. It's unfair to compare every novel with an unreliable female narrator and a relationship issue to Gone Girl, particularly in this case, where 100% of the action is pre-matrimonial. Nevertheless, if that hooks you into a good read, so be it :)