Spoilers are here... enter at your own risk! What are your final thoughts and overall impression of this book?
Favorite twist and turns?
Least favorite events or characters?
Favorite twist and turns?
Least favorite events or characters?
Final Thoughts
- Thread starter Taake
- Start date
ifeveristoday
Townie
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2019
- Messages
- 28
My library had the ebook available so I downloaded it and read it in two days. 😳
Hopefully this project will find a network, because I really want to see it come to life.
so it was a bit slow going for me at the beginning, but once I got to the first diary entry, I was hooked. This novel definitely is twist-filled and I didn't catch all of them coming, but the author did a great job laying down clues/tells throughout, which became more obvious when I went back and re-read the second half of the book. Like, damn - I'd love to see her outline for this novel.
I can see why this novel attracted SMG's attention, there are some similarities with her show RINGER, it's a very claustrophobic look at sisterhood and the horrific things that can be done in the name of love. I knew Edward was bad news, the date rape confirmed it, and I knew it was him drugging her in the hospital.
The whole red herring with Paul/Claire surprised me, but then again, there have been other adapted thrillers where the husband didn't actually do it, so this novel fits in with the trend lately. Paul was fine, a wallpaper character, what really captivated me were all of the women characters in their varying degrees of complication and awfulness. Amber appears to be very unsympathetic, paranoid, even a little unlikeable at the beginning - and then I find out Claire's real backstory and it's clear that whatever lying Amber has done in her life is a defense mechanism against the destructive, obsessive nature of Claire's codependency on her. Claire is incredibly frightening, and her end(?) at Amber's hands is earned, but like a bad penny....
I think the biggest shocks to me were the fact that the diary entries were by Claire all along and that Amber was the Taylor mentioned. And that as terrible and neglectful as Claire's birth parents were, Amber's parents were just as emotionally abusive - Amber's mother suffering from post partum depression possibly? Or the simple resentment that she never wanted to have a baby and Amber was mature for her age and didn't fully appreciate her mother as much as she should have? ( From her mom's POV. Amber was a child with OCD that didn't get the emotional support she should have, her father might have been more soft toward her, but it seems like Mrs. Reynolds ran that relationship and house) with the way Claire worshipped the Taylor family, and not being a baby, the Taylors must have felt like heroes for taking in this poor orphan, and spoiled her for the rest of their lives.
Matilda was a nasty piece of work - seems like the whole Frost clan were awful people, yes? Nature vs. nurture won out - Claire was already irrevocably damaged by the time she was adopted by the Taylors.
JO BEING IMAGINARY. That definitely surprised me.
I enjoyed the novel and there's definitely a lot to work with - all the time differences and it really relies on having convincing child actors for the sisters, and another actress who looks similar to Sarah - two peas in a pod, after all.
I can see why this novel attracted SMG's attention, there are some similarities with her show RINGER, it's a very claustrophobic look at sisterhood and the horrific things that can be done in the name of love. I knew Edward was bad news, the date rape confirmed it, and I knew it was him drugging her in the hospital.
The whole red herring with Paul/Claire surprised me, but then again, there have been other adapted thrillers where the husband didn't actually do it, so this novel fits in with the trend lately. Paul was fine, a wallpaper character, what really captivated me were all of the women characters in their varying degrees of complication and awfulness. Amber appears to be very unsympathetic, paranoid, even a little unlikeable at the beginning - and then I find out Claire's real backstory and it's clear that whatever lying Amber has done in her life is a defense mechanism against the destructive, obsessive nature of Claire's codependency on her. Claire is incredibly frightening, and her end(?) at Amber's hands is earned, but like a bad penny....
I think the biggest shocks to me were the fact that the diary entries were by Claire all along and that Amber was the Taylor mentioned. And that as terrible and neglectful as Claire's birth parents were, Amber's parents were just as emotionally abusive - Amber's mother suffering from post partum depression possibly? Or the simple resentment that she never wanted to have a baby and Amber was mature for her age and didn't fully appreciate her mother as much as she should have? ( From her mom's POV. Amber was a child with OCD that didn't get the emotional support she should have, her father might have been more soft toward her, but it seems like Mrs. Reynolds ran that relationship and house) with the way Claire worshipped the Taylor family, and not being a baby, the Taylors must have felt like heroes for taking in this poor orphan, and spoiled her for the rest of their lives.
Matilda was a nasty piece of work - seems like the whole Frost clan were awful people, yes? Nature vs. nurture won out - Claire was already irrevocably damaged by the time she was adopted by the Taylors.
JO BEING IMAGINARY. That definitely surprised me.
I enjoyed the novel and there's definitely a lot to work with - all the time differences and it really relies on having convincing child actors for the sisters, and another actress who looks similar to Sarah - two peas in a pod, after all.
Hopefully this project will find a network, because I really want to see it come to life.
I think there were some great twists in this, Jo not being real, it being Claire's diary entries.
I think the book could be re read in date order and you could see the timeline easier, instead of jumping between times, and you could see the lies easier then.
I think the book could be re read in date order and you could see the timeline easier, instead of jumping between times, and you could see the lies easier then.
brinkster130
Riley's BFF
Overall I'd rate this a 7/10. It wasn't great, the reveal was a little slow, and the twists at the end got a little jumbled up; but it was a quick and fairly enjoyable read. Also, pretty much every cliche thriller twist was included, the characters sure did have A LOT happen to them in a short amount of time.
I didn't find any of the characters likable, so I didn't really have a favorite. My favorite part was the diary entries; some of them were chilling. It will be neat to see SMG bring this to life.
I didn't find any of the characters likable, so I didn't really have a favorite. My favorite part was the diary entries; some of them were chilling. It will be neat to see SMG bring this to life.