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A review by burstnwithbooks
Beautiful Lies by Jessica Warman
2.0
Maybe closer to 2.5 stars? Does it really matter?
Okay, let me preface this by saying- I understand what this book was TRYING to do. It was basically trying to be Identical by Ellen Hopkins (which is really graphic but other than that highly recommend), but without the unique writing style and with the random (unnecessary) confusion at the beginning and end. I appreciate an unreliable narrator, but even though she was unreliable, she wasn’t consistently unreliable. I saw most of the ending coming (although not the very last part, which makes NO SENSE), but there was just a lot more that I wanted from this book. I wanted the characters to be more fleshed out. I wanted to see more of the previous bond between the twins (don’t tell me they’re close, just show me). I wanted the random little plot lines to ACTUALLY be solved (what’s with the accident guy? Why did we need to know about the ex boyfriend?). I don’t mind red herrings, but there were a solid amount of plot lines that went absolutely nowhere for no reason, and I was hoping that they would tie in by the end, because it would have improved the story quite a bit. All in all, this is definitely not the worst unreliable narrator/twin story. It just needs more meat and more intrigue. I’ve seen it before and I was unimpressed.
I also just discovered that I own another book by this author! I had no idea, but I’ll give her another shot and see if she’s improved since this book.
Okay, let me preface this by saying- I understand what this book was TRYING to do. It was basically trying to be Identical by Ellen Hopkins (which is really graphic but other than that highly recommend), but without the unique writing style and with the random (unnecessary) confusion at the beginning and end. I appreciate an unreliable narrator, but even though she was unreliable, she wasn’t consistently unreliable. I saw most of the ending coming (although not the very last part, which makes NO SENSE), but there was just a lot more that I wanted from this book. I wanted the characters to be more fleshed out. I wanted to see more of the previous bond between the twins (don’t tell me they’re close, just show me). I wanted the random little plot lines to ACTUALLY be solved (what’s with the accident guy? Why did we need to know about the ex boyfriend?). I don’t mind red herrings, but there were a solid amount of plot lines that went absolutely nowhere for no reason, and I was hoping that they would tie in by the end, because it would have improved the story quite a bit. All in all, this is definitely not the worst unreliable narrator/twin story. It just needs more meat and more intrigue. I’ve seen it before and I was unimpressed.
I also just discovered that I own another book by this author! I had no idea, but I’ll give her another shot and see if she’s improved since this book.