Helpful Score: 1
I was hoping, when I picked this book up, that it would defy my expectations. With a synopsis that sounded like it had been lifted directly from a rejected Pretty Little Liars installment, Ill admit that my expectations werent high. And while I did finish the book (which says something, I suppose, considering how Im not afraid to DNF a book that I dont have a chance of loving), I kind of wish that, well, I hadnt.
Throughout the whole book, I kept on shaking my head and saying to myself, Whats wrong with this, Steph? The writing is decentit fulfills the basic requirements of a YA blockbusterand yet, despite the fact that I am reading it, I have an utter lack of investment in the characters and their fates. What, exactly, did TRUTH OR DARE lack that kept it only mediocre?
And then I realized: it was lacking a heart. There is no non-superficial reason for caring about the characters. Superficiality in fiction differs from superficiality in real life. In real life, superficiality refers to physical, tangible things like appearances or dress or money. In fiction, it refers to the lack of spark that makes the characters never read like anything more than a couple of puppets. And it doesnt matter how many oh-so-sad tragedies you want to pile on a characterTenleys father, Sydneys past, Caitlins kidnapping, Caitlins panic attacks, Caitlins everythingthe fact is that the author did not succeed in making her characters come alive with personality quirks and turns of phrase and all those things that make a person unique. It doesnt take a really jaded reader to notice this.
(Side note: TRUTH OR DARE is a product of Paper Lantern Lit, a company that essentially develops elaborate plots and then hires new authors to write the stories. I didnt learn this until after I had already finished the book. The correlation between PLL-style books andin my opiniontheir general lack of heart has yet to be scientifically examined.)
Despite the lack of heart and my lack of investment in the characters, I still kept on reading, drawn by the idea that all would be revealed, and several hours worth of my time would be justified. That was before I got to the thoroughly unrewarding ending, which, compared to the tight plotting of the rest of the book, was sloppy, a slap-dash anti-climax put together as a weak payoff before the mystery continues painfully on to a Book Two. What the hell?! Is it too much to ask for some sort of payoff, some sort of conclusion, after trudging through 400 pages of drivel tailor-made for the nonthinking YA reader? There is no clearer sign that this was a concept created for purely financial reasons than such a cop-out ending that basically demands that if you wanted to be invested in the story, you had better be in it for the long haul. Too bad that wasnt made clear earlier in the story for the rest of us who have no interest in making that sort of an investment in a forgettable teen mystery series.
Oh, I have no doubt that this book will find its audience. Its just the sort of mediocre copycat drivel that drives the market nowadays.
Throughout the whole book, I kept on shaking my head and saying to myself, Whats wrong with this, Steph? The writing is decentit fulfills the basic requirements of a YA blockbusterand yet, despite the fact that I am reading it, I have an utter lack of investment in the characters and their fates. What, exactly, did TRUTH OR DARE lack that kept it only mediocre?
And then I realized: it was lacking a heart. There is no non-superficial reason for caring about the characters. Superficiality in fiction differs from superficiality in real life. In real life, superficiality refers to physical, tangible things like appearances or dress or money. In fiction, it refers to the lack of spark that makes the characters never read like anything more than a couple of puppets. And it doesnt matter how many oh-so-sad tragedies you want to pile on a characterTenleys father, Sydneys past, Caitlins kidnapping, Caitlins panic attacks, Caitlins everythingthe fact is that the author did not succeed in making her characters come alive with personality quirks and turns of phrase and all those things that make a person unique. It doesnt take a really jaded reader to notice this.
(Side note: TRUTH OR DARE is a product of Paper Lantern Lit, a company that essentially develops elaborate plots and then hires new authors to write the stories. I didnt learn this until after I had already finished the book. The correlation between PLL-style books andin my opiniontheir general lack of heart has yet to be scientifically examined.)
Despite the lack of heart and my lack of investment in the characters, I still kept on reading, drawn by the idea that all would be revealed, and several hours worth of my time would be justified. That was before I got to the thoroughly unrewarding ending, which, compared to the tight plotting of the rest of the book, was sloppy, a slap-dash anti-climax put together as a weak payoff before the mystery continues painfully on to a Book Two. What the hell?! Is it too much to ask for some sort of payoff, some sort of conclusion, after trudging through 400 pages of drivel tailor-made for the nonthinking YA reader? There is no clearer sign that this was a concept created for purely financial reasons than such a cop-out ending that basically demands that if you wanted to be invested in the story, you had better be in it for the long haul. Too bad that wasnt made clear earlier in the story for the rest of us who have no interest in making that sort of an investment in a forgettable teen mystery series.
Oh, I have no doubt that this book will find its audience. Its just the sort of mediocre copycat drivel that drives the market nowadays.
