A review by random_spider
You'd Look Better as a Ghost by Joanna Wallace

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I knew I should have not bought something with a Goodreads rating of below 4⭐.

------Stat Score------

Plot/Content: 4/10
Characters/POVs: 6/10
Prose/Style: 5/10
Themes/Messages: 5/10
Enjoyability/Impact: 6/10

OVERALL RATING: 5/10 (Mediocre)

"Is it possible that a person can present an image to the world that is so completely at odds with who they truly are?"


Synopsis and/or Premise:
What if it's a crime-mystery, but the main character is the grief-stricken, psychopathic killer?

Claire lost her dad recently. He's the only person who understands her 'unusual' demeanors. She's a killer in heart, and she saw her victims' ghost before committing the hobby. A little mistake on her email led her to kill Lucas, but it seemed like someone caught her. And the moment she probes into this assumption, she immediately started peeking into the lives of others.

The Good and The Bad:
I personally like books that dives into the thought processes 🧠 of its protagonist. Some examples are Yellowface and Convenience Store Woman. This, despite me rating it much lower, still belonged to those types of books; A novel which personalized its portrayal of the main character. In turn, it's easier for the readers to understand them on a deeper level. And I do understand Claire despite her not thinking like a normal person. She's a twisted manipulator with artistic affinity. Indeed, a great canvass to portray grief from someone who doesn't understand it. I enjoyed her moments of being too observant and internally commenting on every little petty dialogues. A worthy, unlikable main character. Unfortunately, I wished she had some character development.

Speaking of Claire's sardonic comments, this book had some jerking sense of humor. This type of comedy was effective due to how the author placed her in some mundane social settings. Knowing how meticulous and wry Claire's mind work, the flow of conversations shot up to being hilariously self-critical for readers. I also liked how some scenes produced conflicting mixed emotions (at least for me.) There were definitely times where I can't decide whether to laugh or be tensed...so I did both. No idea how's that possible 😅.

The book tried to include some substance within. There were topics such as abuse, grief, parenthood, authenticity, dementia, paranoia, camaraderie, and conscience. But notice that there's a 'tried', because in my opinion not many of them were handled well. The best, by a sliver, were those from the bereavement group. At least the members were peculiar enough to pique interest. The rest weren't the worst portrayals (that's why this book wasn't a complete waste of time 😌), but they could be better as they're either shoehorned or superficial.

Now, here were my main problems:

1. Obvious debut qualities 😶 - Of course, being a debut novel means it's far from the most finesse. However, it is still subjected to the same standards as of any novel in general. And yeah....the prose could be improved, the pacing could be finer, and the themes could have been explored deeper. The book could be better.

2. Unbelievable 🤔 - I'm not saying that the narrative should be realistic (since this is fiction), but what's in should 'feel' real. You get what I mean, right? Things should be presented as believable, and sadly some parts failed to do so. The mother of Claire was too cartoonish, and some murders were uncannily less inconsequential outside of Claire.

3. Not satisfying 🫤 - I don't know why the ending was a disappointment, especially for Claire's character. Being unlikeable doesn't mean you should not be compelling. When the mystery was answered, it was done in such abrupt, arbitrary, and in an 'info-dump' way. The middle of the book also suffered from a lack of interesting events. Yes, there were fun parts like Will's birthday and the elevator scene, but those got drowned by the overall monotony that its humor can't even save. It doesn't act like a thriller even though it's being marketed as.

Final Thoughts:
Despite being a debut novel, You'd Look Better as a Ghost by Joanna Wallace will not be exempted from criticisms. This is a subtly vicious, dark crime-mystery and contemporary tale within the viewpoint of a psychopathic serial murderer, who due to grief, reactively tangled herself in the lives of her most current victims. The flashback scenes, done in the opposite writing POV, were a delightful divergence from its format. Strangely, the book was almost some sort of a social study; enunciating how no one is invisible in life, and that most people subconsciously repeat themselves and pretend often. The climax/final act, unfortunately, was a tad convoluted for my taste (at least comparatively from the rest of the book.) It might just be me though, since I had little experience with its genres.

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Links to my ratings and reviews:
Goodreads reviews
The StoryGraph