A review by jenniferle
Cold Calls, by Charles Benoit
2.0
I received an ARC copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway.
I was immediately interested in this book given the Pretty Little Liars reference. I am a huge fan of the show and was very excited to read a different take with the same premise. However, I was very let down. I did like that there was a male character that was being harassed and I felt all three of the protagonists had interesting stories. Particularly Shelly. Throughout the book I kept wondering why the three protagonists didn't try to talk to the police or some other authority figure. I get that they had nothing to show to prove their side but I felt as though they could have at least tried. The ending felt rushed and I didn't think the mystery caller had very good motive. The mystery caller could have been developed better. Also, with a mystery novel I like to try to figure it out before the protagonists. This was impossible for this story as there were never any leads. They didn't know then all of a sudden they did. Boring. And come on, the bullying that they were being subjected to was childish. I know this is a young adult book but when being compared to Pretty Little Liars there should be at least some type of real threat going on. I stayed interested enough in the book to finish it quickly and may even read the sequel just to see if the danger presented by the mystery caller improves at all.
I was immediately interested in this book given the Pretty Little Liars reference. I am a huge fan of the show and was very excited to read a different take with the same premise. However, I was very let down. I did like that there was a male character that was being harassed and I felt all three of the protagonists had interesting stories. Particularly Shelly. Throughout the book I kept wondering why the three protagonists didn't try to talk to the police or some other authority figure. I get that they had nothing to show to prove their side but I felt as though they could have at least tried. The ending felt rushed and I didn't think the mystery caller had very good motive. The mystery caller could have been developed better. Also, with a mystery novel I like to try to figure it out before the protagonists. This was impossible for this story as there were never any leads. They didn't know then all of a sudden they did. Boring. And come on, the bullying that they were being subjected to was childish. I know this is a young adult book but when being compared to Pretty Little Liars there should be at least some type of real threat going on. I stayed interested enough in the book to finish it quickly and may even read the sequel just to see if the danger presented by the mystery caller improves at all.