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A review by laurakh
Cross Her Heart by Sarah Pinborough
4.0
I read Cross Her Heart because I loved Behind Her Eyes. Cross Her Heart wasn't as good, but I still really enjoyed it.
Most of the complaints about this book are that it's far-fetched. I actually thought the opposite--as far as I can tell, Cross Her Heart (or at least Lisa's backstory) is based on a true story. It's not mentioned in the acknowledgments but there are so many identical details that I would be surprised if Pinbourough hadn't been intentionally adapting it.. I really enjoyed this book as a re-imagining of that story and thought it worked well.
There were definitely a few elements that bothered me, but for the most part Pinbourough creates great / unlikeable characters and an interesting plot. I read this in one day and it flew by.
Most of the complaints about this book are that it's far-fetched. I actually thought the opposite--as far as I can tell, Cross Her Heart (or at least Lisa's backstory) is based on a true story. It's not mentioned in the acknowledgments but there are so many identical details that I would be surprised if Pinbourough hadn't been intentionally adapting it.
Spoiler
Mary Bell is a girl who murdered two young boys in the sixties. If you look at her Wikipedia page there is a LOT (the 'child B', the prostitution, and getting discovered when she had a daughter of her own) that lines up with Charlotte's story. There are also a few parallels on Katie's side with Pauline Parker and Juliette Hulme.There were definitely a few elements that bothered me, but for the most part Pinbourough creates great / unlikeable characters and an interesting plot. I read this in one day and it flew by.