Take a photo of a barcode or cover
meghan111 's review for:
Genuine Fraud
by E. Lockhart
I'm so mad at this book, which steals so much from Patricia Highsmith's [b: The Talented Mr. Ripley|2247142|The Talented Mr. Ripley (Ripley, #1)|Patricia Highsmith|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1435426615s/2247142.jpg|1817520] without the author adequately acknowledging the huge debt it owes to that novel. When the author says her book feels like 'layer upon layer' of influences like noir and superhero and Victorian novels, that ignores the very very specific elements that come from one work.
Plus, the ending has some problems - it doesn't end in a final enough way, it feels so incomplete, like what about Imogen's leaving her money to Jule? And the implausibility: what about the fact that a trained private investigator, who thinks Jule is dead, and has presumably seen pictures of both women, mistakes her for Imogen? And is easily overpowered?
I feel like this book is exploiting an audience that is unfamiliar with Ripley and who might find this book original and shocking. The additional backwards in time narrative trick doesn't add much but felt obfuscating to me, to cover up weakness with the story.
I have read other recent homages to famous works, like [b: Great|4671|The Great Gatsby|F. Scott Fitzgerald|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490528560s/4671.jpg|245494] by Sara Benincasa, a YA retelling of The Great Gatsby, and [b: Wilde Lake|26198780|Wilde Lake|Laura Lippman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1454170384s/26198780.jpg|46174550] by Laura Lippman, a riff on To Kill a Mockingbird, and I found them both enjoyable if not in any way comparable to the originals. This was also enjoyable, but I felt ripped off or misled as a reader.
Spoiler
Killing someone on a boat with an oar. Being sent to find that person by their parents, finding them lazy and aimless on the beach. Inhabiting their identity in order to feed a great desire to be wealthy and to fit in with wealthy people.Plus, the ending has some problems - it doesn't end in a final enough way, it feels so incomplete, like what about Imogen's leaving her money to Jule? And the implausibility: what about the fact that a trained private investigator, who thinks Jule is dead, and has presumably seen pictures of both women, mistakes her for Imogen? And is easily overpowered?
I feel like this book is exploiting an audience that is unfamiliar with Ripley and who might find this book original and shocking. The additional backwards in time narrative trick doesn't add much but felt obfuscating to me, to cover up weakness with the story.
I have read other recent homages to famous works, like [b: Great|4671|The Great Gatsby|F. Scott Fitzgerald|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490528560s/4671.jpg|245494] by Sara Benincasa, a YA retelling of The Great Gatsby, and [b: Wilde Lake|26198780|Wilde Lake|Laura Lippman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1454170384s/26198780.jpg|46174550] by Laura Lippman, a riff on To Kill a Mockingbird, and I found them both enjoyable if not in any way comparable to the originals. This was also enjoyable, but I felt ripped off or misled as a reader.