I'm going to straight up say that I'm not going to mention the plot in this review, because I can't without inevitably spoiling something in this twisting, turning, great suspense of a novel. All I will say is that I felt like I was watching a proper thriller movie while I was reading it; I feel like I might see this advertised as a film on the side of a bus any time soon, and if that happens, then it will have an excellent female lead that kicks some serious backside.
| Genuine Fraud by E Lockhart | |
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| Category: Teens | |
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Reviewer: Rachael Spencer
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| Summary: A rollercoaster of a mystery novel by the author who brought you We Were Liars. If you like your novels full of intrigue, suspense, and completely unpredictable plot twists then this book is definitely for you. | |
| Buy? Maybe | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 288 | Date: September 2017 |
| Publisher: Hot Key Books | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9781471406621 | |
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What I'll give away is what's on the cover blurb, so I'm not giving you a blind review without any context at all:
Imogen is a runaway heiress, an orphan, a cook, and a cheat. Jul is a fighter, a social chameleon, and an athlete.
An intense friendship. A disappearance. A murder, or maybe two. A bad romance, or maybe three.
It goes on, but I think this gives you a good enough gist to be going with.
E.Lockhart really has got an excellent writing style. Within the first couple of pages I was marvelling at just how good the description in this novel was, so much detail and each word perfectly placed. Initially I loved it, and then as it went on I felt like the amount of description was distancing me from the story itself a little. However, as it turned out, I feel like that was probably the intention. There's something cold and distanced about the main character, and something in the style of writing in this particular book reflects that cold and distanced feeling. She is hard, you wouldn't want to cross her, and that is, I think, how it felt when reading the book.
I love the narrative structure used, the way that as a reader you're never entirely sure when you are, or who you're following. Jule is a character that I found myself expecting to be someone other than who she was, and I think it's a really clever piece of writing that can keep its audience on their toes in this way.
I felt almost a little too disconnected to really care a great deal about what had happened or was going to happen sometimes however. I read it with intrigue, but never really emotion, which I thought was a bit of a shame as I'm always looking for someone to connect to in a book, as well as just good writing and an interesting concept. I liked it, but I couldn't love it, because I felt like the book wasn't giving me any love in return.
That being said, I love that this feels different to so much young adult literature that's around. I've never read anything like it in the teenage genre, and I think that's great. To be honest, if I hadn't picked it from the teenage section, I would happily have just read this as an adult novel and never questioned it, which is great. I enjoyed it a lot, and thought all the peripheral characters felt well rounded and with depth no matter how brief their appearance, which is something I really appreciate, especially in a teenage novel where often side characters can feel like stereotype cartoons of the people they could be.
I particularly liked the opening couple of chapters of this book, before I really settled into it, because I felt a bit like I was stepping off the edge of a cliff and anything could happen on the next page. I'm guessing this is what Lockhart was going for, and it was definitely achieved. I've not read any other books by this author, but the writing style was so strong and vivid that I'll definitely be checking out some of the previous books, because I feel like I'll never get the same book twice, which is always an exciting feeling with an author.
Overall, not necessarily the heart I always look for in a book, but a really strong and intriguing plot which keeps you on your toes throughout and makes sure you're never bored.
I feel like I was really lucky to get the chance to read the next book by such a good author pre-release, so thank you very much for this proof copy to review.
If you want to check out some more of E. Lockhart's books, then you could try How to Be Bad by E Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski and Lauren Myracle, or if you're really into this suspense thing, then how about giving One of Us Is Lying by Karen M McManus a shot?
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You can read more book reviews or buy Genuine Fraud by E Lockhart at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Genuine Fraud by E Lockhart at Amazon.com.
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