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A review by kristinareadsbooks
Love Lies Beneath by Ellen Hopkins
3.0
Ellen Hopkins is easily my favorite young adult author. I decided to try out her adult fiction, but I found it more than disappointing compared to her young adult books written in prose. I absolutely hated the first 100 or so pages of this book. The writing style was very pretentious and overly exaggerated, along with the main character, Tara. I found myself lost in the writing trying to figure out what was even happening. However, once the main story line picked up with Cavin, then I found myself not wanting to put the book down.
Cavin was a very interesting man who was very unlike Tara. I really liked Cavin's character and profile since he seemed like a genuine guy who had more than just money to boast about. I liked him with Tara and felt they were a good fit. The writing style also calmed down a bit by this point in the book so it was easier to follow. I also really enjoyed learning about Eli's son.
I liked the contrast between Tara and her sister Melody. I did not like how Tara had "mommy issues" and felt like she was very over reactive to her mother. Perhaps there should have been more focus on her history with her mom, but I felt like Melody's reaction towards her mother was more appropriate than Tara's. I also liked Melody's relationships with Graham and her daughters. There was a sense of realism to their story that is relatable for a lot of people.
I absolutely hated how many loose ends there were and story lines that never developed. Tara's contribution to Kayla's college fund, Tara's offer for Kayla to work as an assistant, the threatening text messages never went anywhere, Eli's manipulative personality, etc. didn't add enough to the overall plot. We didn't even find out about Tara's role in Raul's death until the last pages of the book. The biggest part that bothered me were the threatening messages. We find out in the last pages of the book that it was just Jordan and nothing to worry about. I wish there was a plot twist, such as Eli was sending them or Sophia was sending them. It was a huge disappointment because I wanted something big to happen.
Overall, this book was disappointing for me to read. I enjoyed aspects of it while despising other aspects entirely. If I know Ellen Hopkins as a writer, I have faith that she will pick up the story as a young adult book from the perspectives of the teenagers in the story. Or at least, I hope she will since there were a lot of undeveloped plot lines. 3 stars is all I could give this book unfortunately.
Spoiler
Cavin was a very interesting man who was very unlike Tara. I really liked Cavin's character and profile since he seemed like a genuine guy who had more than just money to boast about. I liked him with Tara and felt they were a good fit. The writing style also calmed down a bit by this point in the book so it was easier to follow. I also really enjoyed learning about Eli's son.
I liked the contrast between Tara and her sister Melody. I did not like how Tara had "mommy issues" and felt like she was very over reactive to her mother. Perhaps there should have been more focus on her history with her mom, but I felt like Melody's reaction towards her mother was more appropriate than Tara's. I also liked Melody's relationships with Graham and her daughters. There was a sense of realism to their story that is relatable for a lot of people.
I absolutely hated how many loose ends there were and story lines that never developed. Tara's contribution to Kayla's college fund, Tara's offer for Kayla to work as an assistant, the threatening text messages never went anywhere, Eli's manipulative personality, etc. didn't add enough to the overall plot. We didn't even find out about Tara's role in Raul's death until the last pages of the book. The biggest part that bothered me were the threatening messages. We find out in the last pages of the book that it was just Jordan and nothing to worry about. I wish there was a plot twist, such as Eli was sending them or Sophia was sending them. It was a huge disappointment because I wanted something big to happen.
Overall, this book was disappointing for me to read. I enjoyed aspects of it while despising other aspects entirely. If I know Ellen Hopkins as a writer, I have faith that she will pick up the story as a young adult book from the perspectives of the teenagers in the story. Or at least, I hope she will since there were a lot of undeveloped plot lines. 3 stars is all I could give this book unfortunately.