By Eileen Cook
Genre YA Suspense
Rating ⭐⭐⭐
Synopsis
When Jill wakes up in a the hospital she's shocked to learn she was in an accident in Italy and that her best friend was killed. The media is in a frenzy, Jill is being blamed for her friend's death and the Italian government wants her extradited back to Italy. But Jill's biggest problem is she has absolutely no memory of the event. She doesn't even remember going to Italy.
First Sentence
I'm not a morning person.
I've been hearing great things about this book and it sounded pretty exciting so I bought it when it was released and decided I better read it sooner rather than later.
I inhaled this book in two sittings. I challenge you not to do the same. The story jumps from following Jill in the hospital after the accident to rehab to police interviews, emails, witness accounts and incident reports. It drags you in and won't let you go. That cliche "compulsively readable" comes to mind again.
That being said, and I did end up giving it 3 stars, I had quite a few problems with the book.
First off was I saw the mystery coming a mile away. I really hate when it's so obvious. Still, the book was hard to put down and I just wanted to know how it all turned out.
And that leads me to another problem with the book. I don't know what I think of these endings. I've read a few books now that are trying this twist ending and I'm not sure how I feel about them. I can't say much or I'd give it away so this review is turning out rather dull, I'm afraid. It's just that most of what I liked and disliked has so much to do with the plot that I'd ruin it if I said anything. Sigh! Oh well. Just know that I thought it was suspenseful and fun to read but I didn't think it was perfect.
Should you read it?
If you like suspense, I'd highly recommend it.
Hmmm. I wonder. I'm trying to decide what endings you're referring to, lol. I guess I should probably put this on my TBR since I was/sort of still am in a psychological thriller/mystery mood.
ReplyDeleteA lot of books I read lately are like that...fun and suspenseful, but not perfect. Which means I've been handing out a lot of 3 stars of Goodreads. Where are the 4- and 5-star books?! ;D
ReplyDeleteSorry about the above, I accidentally hit publish before finishing my comment!
ReplyDeleteOh it's always annoying when the mystery is really obvious! I've had that issue with a few books too and you just end up wondering why the characters can't see it. With twist endings, I'm always torn...sometimes, if they're really well-written and fit with the story, they can be great. But a lot of time I feel like they're just there for dramatic effect and it bothers me. I would be intrigued enough to read this, I think, but thanks for pointing out some of the problems, I think I'll be more prepared now going into this.
This sounds like an excellent reading slump buster! I could use a book that isn't too difficult to read and doesn't let you go, like you said. That is too bad that the mystery was rather predictable though. I think that's the whole point of a mystery: to be generally mysterious as to the resolution. Lovely review, Jenny!
ReplyDeleteLaura @BlueEyeBooks
I'm always up for a good page turner, although I'm with you on the twist endings. I like them if they make sense. If an author pulls some random suspect out of the hat at the last minute just for shock value ... that's not cool. I like plot twists to be unexpected but not when they come totally out of the blue.
ReplyDeleteI'll definitely be reading WITH MALICE. It sounds good, even if it wasn't totally satisfying.
I look forward to trying this one out. I love the cover, and I'm a huge fan of suspense when it's incorporated into non-thriller books!
ReplyDelete