Karen and Mike Finch are upset and appalled when their seventeen-year-old daughter, Sophie, is brought home by the police. She was found drunk and wandering lost and confused around town. But Karen is also concerned and feels as if something is off: Sophie has no memories of most of the evening, and one of her friends, Amy, still hasn't returned home by morning. An agoraphobic thanks to an attack two years ago, the events with Sophie trigger Karen's intense anxiety. And soon, the Finch family will find themselves embroiled in a dark series of events that may threaten their own safety and sanity.
This was a strange novel. It definitely sets up with a well-done twist that hooks you. However, it then sort of slows down a bit, and it is burdened by some very strange and unbelievable storylines. For me, I found that I really didn't like or have a lot of sympathy for anyone in the Finch family, even with all they had been through. Sophie was a rather hateful teenager, who treated her parents with complete disdain, and she showed very little rationale in her decision-making. Karen's endless musings went on too much, and she was even worse in the decision area. And Mike was just hateful and rude. Sophie and her friends just seemed clueless and really hateful in their actions (without giving away too much).
Overall, the book was definitely engaging, and it certainly kept my attention; it was a fast read. Still, I found myself appalled by the characters' actions; people made some of the dumbest decisions and had some of the worst motivations in this novel, from the "bad guy" to the Finches to Sophie's friends. This made some of the story difficult to believe and buy. There's nothing really bad about it, I just found myself annoyed with the characters and frustrated by the story. More at http://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/
This was a strange novel. It definitely sets up with a well-done twist that hooks you. However, it then sort of slows down a bit, and it is burdened by some very strange and unbelievable storylines. For me, I found that I really didn't like or have a lot of sympathy for anyone in the Finch family, even with all they had been through. Sophie was a rather hateful teenager, who treated her parents with complete disdain, and she showed very little rationale in her decision-making. Karen's endless musings went on too much, and she was even worse in the decision area. And Mike was just hateful and rude. Sophie and her friends just seemed clueless and really hateful in their actions (without giving away too much).
Overall, the book was definitely engaging, and it certainly kept my attention; it was a fast read. Still, I found myself appalled by the characters' actions; people made some of the dumbest decisions and had some of the worst motivations in this novel, from the "bad guy" to the Finches to Sophie's friends. This made some of the story difficult to believe and buy. There's nothing really bad about it, I just found myself annoyed with the characters and frustrated by the story. More at http://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/
