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A review by elena_gilbert
Beware That Girl by Teresa Toten
2.0
This is in no way, shape, or form anything like Gone Girl. It is much closer to Gossip Girl, as many other reviewers have said. Not what I was expecting, not how it was marketed, not what I would recommend.
Everything in this book was underdeveloped. The plot felt like an afterthought, taking forever to get to the point and then dropping threads all over the place, while character development consisted of trips to Starbucks, fashion designer name drops and weird bath rituals ("After a while, she stopped replugging the tub and just let the water flow and drain at the same time. It was a metaphor, she thought, but didn't know exactly for what." SAME.) World building consisted of shallow interior decorating descriptions; Mark's apartment sounds like a late 80s/early 90s cliche that only Todd and Margo from the movie Christmas Vacation could love.
The housekeeper is originally from "Middle Europe" and she talks like zis, dahlink, when she is to be cleaning ze house or going walking of ze dog. *headdesk*
The character I thought was supposed to be a shady, unreliable narrator, turns out to be a normal person who isn't nefarious at all, and then suddenly there are all these "plot twists" that make little sense and aren't wrapped up in the end. I have little sympathy for these people's problems and dark secrets because they just aren't explained that well.
The portrayal of mental illness in this book is also kind of gross. I'll just leave it at that because spoilers.
If this had been intended as a light hearted beachy chick lit story that was never meant to make it past the final editing stages of NaNoWriMo, I would give it an extra star, but it is a published book that was intended as a YA thriller, and sadly, it isn't.
Everything in this book was underdeveloped. The plot felt like an afterthought, taking forever to get to the point and then dropping threads all over the place, while character development consisted of trips to Starbucks, fashion designer name drops and weird bath rituals ("After a while, she stopped replugging the tub and just let the water flow and drain at the same time. It was a metaphor, she thought, but didn't know exactly for what." SAME.) World building consisted of shallow interior decorating descriptions; Mark's apartment sounds like a late 80s/early 90s cliche that only Todd and Margo from the movie Christmas Vacation could love.
The housekeeper is originally from "Middle Europe" and she talks like zis, dahlink, when she is to be cleaning ze house or going walking of ze dog. *headdesk*
The character I thought was supposed to be a shady, unreliable narrator, turns out to be a normal person who isn't nefarious at all, and then suddenly there are all these "plot twists" that make little sense and aren't wrapped up in the end. I have little sympathy for these people's problems and dark secrets because they just aren't explained that well.
The portrayal of mental illness in this book is also kind of gross. I'll just leave it at that because spoilers.
If this had been intended as a light hearted beachy chick lit story that was never meant to make it past the final editing stages of NaNoWriMo, I would give it an extra star, but it is a published book that was intended as a YA thriller, and sadly, it isn't.