Going into this, I was expecting an emotional, dark contemporary about a girl grieving the loss of her friend and out for revenge. In the case of revenge, yes, we get that. But the deep dark emotions, not so much. I didn't feel bad for Angie, in fact, I didn't really like her much. It's not to say this wasn't a good book, it just wasn't quite what I was expecting. Also, completely predictable. Which in some cases I don't mind since it's common for me to figure things out, but the journey to the end wasn't interesting enough to counteract that I knew where it was going.Angie was very self centered. Everything was always about her. Even Lizzie's death. Then she is supposedly feeling so guilty about it that she needs to get revenge, and starts to interview people to the point where I thought it was verging on bullying. She was pushy and not thinking about anyone else or how they might feel. Then, it's been like a few weeks since her friend died and she's all wrapped up in this new guy. She's just kind of a nut job. Like, really. I get that her dedication to her now dead friend is supposed to be all inspiring and all, but her character just was not likeable. Also, she's not thinking about the fact that the revenge she wants to get on people and the things she is doing or planning to do could push some other people over the edge the way that it did with Lizzie.Of course there is romance. What's a YA novel with tragic circumstances without it right? Unfortunately, I really could have done without. It's not that I didn't like Jesse, but I just felt that the romance was distasteful considering she's just lost her friend, and it just seemed a bit forced to me. Actually, Jesse was one of the characters I enjoyed in this book. He seemed to be the only one capable of logical thinking, and that's including the parents too. He was nice, caring, and wanted to do the right things, and not betray or hurt anyone.So this sounds like a really negative review, but it wasn't a bad book. It was just very predictable to me, and it didn't really seem like Angie was out to avenge Lizzie's death for most of it. It was more like she needed to make herself feel better about it. To get rid of her guilt, but she didn't come across as someone who was upset over someone she's known her whole entire life dying. I know that they weren't friends at the time, but they had been best friends their whole life. It's not to say she wasn't upset, but it seemed she was more mad about not knowing who did the horrible things to make Lizzie kill herself, and the guilt over feeling like they did it all because of her, than actually being sad that she was gone. I don't know, maybe it just came across that way to me, but I just didn't feel it. There was also a whole bunch of other issues from every direction in this too. Almost to the point of too much in one book. I liked it enough, but it wasn't fabulous for me.
Book Loving Mom
I love to read and interact with other people who love books as much as I do. I drink way too much coffee and eat too many snacks. I also love doing yoga and try to eat healthy despite my love for junk food.
Going into this, I was expecting an emotional, dark contemporary about a girl grieving the loss of her friend and out for revenge. In the case of revenge, yes, we get that. But the deep dark emotions, not so much. I didn't feel bad for Angie, in fact, I didn't really like her much. It's not to say this wasn't a good book, it just wasn't quite what I was expecting. Also, completely predictable. Which in some cases I don't mind since it's common for me to figure things out, but the journey to the end wasn't interesting enough to counteract that I knew where it was going.Angie was very self centered. Everything was always about her. Even Lizzie's death. Then she is supposedly feeling so guilty about it that she needs to get revenge, and starts to interview people to the point where I thought it was verging on bullying. She was pushy and not thinking about anyone else or how they might feel. Then, it's been like a few weeks since her friend died and she's all wrapped up in this new guy. She's just kind of a nut job. Like, really. I get that her dedication to her now dead friend is supposed to be all inspiring and all, but her character just was not likeable. Also, she's not thinking about the fact that the revenge she wants to get on people and the things she is doing or planning to do could push some other people over the edge the way that it did with Lizzie.Of course there is romance. What's a YA novel with tragic circumstances without it right? Unfortunately, I really could have done without. It's not that I didn't like Jesse, but I just felt that the romance was distasteful considering she's just lost her friend, and it just seemed a bit forced to me. Actually, Jesse was one of the characters I enjoyed in this book. He seemed to be the only one capable of logical thinking, and that's including the parents too. He was nice, caring, and wanted to do the right things, and not betray or hurt anyone.So this sounds like a really negative review, but it wasn't a bad book. It was just very predictable to me, and it didn't really seem like Angie was out to avenge Lizzie's death for most of it. It was more like she needed to make herself feel better about it. To get rid of her guilt, but she didn't come across as someone who was upset over someone she's known her whole entire life dying. I know that they weren't friends at the time, but they had been best friends their whole life. It's not to say she wasn't upset, but it seemed she was more mad about not knowing who did the horrible things to make Lizzie kill herself, and the guilt over feeling like they did it all because of her, than actually being sad that she was gone. I don't know, maybe it just came across that way to me, but I just didn't feel it. There was also a whole bunch of other issues from every direction in this too. Almost to the point of too much in one book. I liked it enough, but it wasn't fabulous for me.
