As far as debut novels go, I could see this one doing pretty well on the rankings and lists. However, I could also see it being a difficult one to place on a list. There were aspects of it that were very thriller-esque, aspects that would land it square in literary fiction, and others that are hard to define.
There were parts of this book that I LOVED!! For a good majority of it, I felt as though I were living in an incredibly vivid true crime documentary. The world was built so well, and I was DYING to know what happened.
The biggest aspect of this book that I did not thoroughly love were mainly the ending, and the feeling, at times, that there were some story lines that were either forgotten about or just dropped. I suppose I can understand why the author chose the ending that she did - but it's still not very satisfying to me, as the reader. Also, there were additional things hinted at about Claire's relationship with her parents (as well as some aspects of Allison's relationship with her parents) that felt unexplored.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. I was engaged, and enjoyed joining Claire on her journey. I will be interested to read the author's next book - see what she comes up with next. If fictionalized true crime is your thing, then you would probably enjoy most of this book as well...
There were parts of this book that I LOVED!! For a good majority of it, I felt as though I were living in an incredibly vivid true crime documentary. The world was built so well, and I was DYING to know what happened.
The biggest aspect of this book that I did not thoroughly love were mainly the ending, and the feeling, at times, that there were some story lines that were either forgotten about or just dropped. I suppose I can understand why the author chose the ending that she did - but it's still not very satisfying to me, as the reader. Also, there were additional things hinted at about Claire's relationship with her parents (as well as some aspects of Allison's relationship with her parents) that felt unexplored.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. I was engaged, and enjoyed joining Claire on her journey. I will be interested to read the author's next book - see what she comes up with next. If fictionalized true crime is your thing, then you would probably enjoy most of this book as well...