Reviews

Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart

abbygrace1011's review against another edition

4.0

definitely an interesting read. I liked the way e. lockhart told the story backwards, but each chapter forwards. although it was confusing at first once i understood how lockhart was writing it i began to appreciate it more. worth a read, very interesting story line but lacked some details I was craving

leah08855's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic friendship, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide

gisellefranco's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.75

This book was okay, but honestly kind of boring and I think the author tried to make up for that by putting things out of order but it really didn’t make much sense or add to the shock value. 

jesselyn's review against another edition

4.0

As other reviews have noted, this book doesn't have the same impact as We Were Liars. That book stuck with me for days after I put it down and I still get chills thinking about it. At least part of the difference is that Genuine Fraud is not an original story. In the Author's Note, Lockhart acknowledges that she was inspired by Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley. That is an understatement. This novel reads like a gender swapped remake of Mr. Ripley told in reverse chronological order. If you have read or watched the movie version of Mr. Ripley, then the plot will not surprise you at all. The writing is solid and I didn't find the plotting of it distracting or confusing. Honestly, this chronology was the only possible way to tell this story without it being an almost scene for scene remake of Highsmith's.

Still, despite knowing pretty much exactly what was going to happen, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to someone looking for a fast-paced, easy to read thriller.

alicefromwonderland00's review against another edition

4.0

This book kept me interested, which is saying something, given the confusing and somewhat annoying format. Don't get me wrong, the reverse chronological chapters were a refreshing change. Learning the motivations and actions behind what happened in each chapter was certainly interesting, as was unraveling an extremely complicated story, but I only want to have to deal with them once in a great while and they were irritating occasionally. For example, I really wanted to know what happened after the first (most recent in the chronology) chapter, beyond a brief update at the end.

However, this book redeemed itself to the point of getting a four-star rating by the complex story. Parts of it were predictable, but for the most part I wanted to know what happened next (or previously, chronologically). None of the characters were perfect or one-dimensional , and you were constantly learning things about them. Jule also had some great feminist commentary, but once again, she was far from the perfect heroine.

I am aware that this book is almost the exact same story as

Spoiler

The Talented Mr. Ripley

, and therefore lacking somewhat in originality, but I have not read it, so the story was new to me. And after speaking to people who have read

Spoiler

The Talented Mr. Ripley

, it seems like there are enough differences

Spoiler

(the psychopath/sociopath differentiation, setting difference, age/gender difference in the main character, and others)

to make it interesting to someone who has read both.

Also, on a side note, I wouldn't recommend listening to the audio book of this work as I did. The production and voice actress, Rebecca Solar, are both amazing, but the format is confusing enough that I regretted not being able to look back at times, dates, etc.

marmoset737's review against another edition

3.0

As usual - a big fan of E. Lockhart's style - but this one was a bit thin on plot.

gkhurana's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

ismae1209's review against another edition

3.0

I wish I would’ve finished this book sooner than I did, because it actually turned out to be pretty damn amazing.

sewlikeafox's review against another edition

4.0

Enjoyed this one! Quick read with a unique storytelling set up. The story is told in reverse, with little bits of the plot revealing itself as the story is told backward. Since I listened to this one, it was a little challenging to keep up with the dates. However, the writing helped to make it more clear just how far we were rewinding each time. This was a fun one.

My rating system:
5 ⭐ = Great story, loved it, would definitely recommend
4 ⭐ = Good story, enjoyed it, worth the read
3 ⭐ = Okay story, some predictable parts, it was fine
2 ⭐ = Lame story, boring, kept losing interest
1 ⭐ = Terrible story, couldn't finish

annebennett1957's review against another edition

4.0

Brilliant use of backwards storytelling. We learn things as we go backwards in time. I still didn't like Jules, but I started to understand her.