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A review by melissadelongcox
Beware That Girl by Teresa Toten
2.0
When I added this book on my To Read list and saw one of my favorite reviewers give it a less-than-stellar review (2 stars, in fact!), I had a moment of hesitation. I generally prefer to read things and make my own decisions about them, but seeing someone who's reviews I've more often than not agreed with give it such a low rating gave me pause. That said, the blurb was so intriguing that I really felt like this book would be worth the read.
First of all: fuck abuse - of ANY kind - as a plot device. Not only does it make me physically uncomfortable, but I also feel like it's so often used as a way to give characters some depth that otherwise wouldn't have any, and I don't like that. Make the characters important enough that they don't need abuse to be important. That really irked me.
Second: beginning this book, I was so intrigued! Between the blurb and the initial pages, I felt like this was going to be a twisty, thrilling read and that my favorite reviewer was off-base. Wrong. While mysterious Olivia, manipulative Kate, and the world they live in was interesting, I really found that adding Mark's character (and his love of abuse) just fucked it up. Instead of being interested in the story, I found myself cringing and wanting to put it down.
I finished the book wondering what I missed. When it ended, it just ... ended. They kill Mark, which didn't feel that surprising given everything leading to that scene, and then... they try to get rid of him? Their roles seem to reverse? I finished it like wait, that's the end of the book? Really? It was a disappointment, especially since in the beginning of the book, I really felt like it could be interesting.
In summary: I would not recommend this book. I gave it 2 stars because the blurb and beginning of the book really intrigued me, but couldn't rate it above that as the remainder of the story was a major let down.
Spoiler
And now, some spoilers.First of all: fuck abuse - of ANY kind - as a plot device. Not only does it make me physically uncomfortable, but I also feel like it's so often used as a way to give characters some depth that otherwise wouldn't have any, and I don't like that. Make the characters important enough that they don't need abuse to be important. That really irked me.
Second: beginning this book, I was so intrigued! Between the blurb and the initial pages, I felt like this was going to be a twisty, thrilling read and that my favorite reviewer was off-base. Wrong. While mysterious Olivia, manipulative Kate, and the world they live in was interesting, I really found that adding Mark's character (and his love of abuse) just fucked it up. Instead of being interested in the story, I found myself cringing and wanting to put it down.
I finished the book wondering what I missed. When it ended, it just ... ended. They kill Mark, which didn't feel that surprising given everything leading to that scene, and then... they try to get rid of him? Their roles seem to reverse? I finished it like wait, that's the end of the book? Really? It was a disappointment, especially since in the beginning of the book, I really felt like it could be interesting.
In summary: I would not recommend this book. I gave it 2 stars because the blurb and beginning of the book really intrigued me, but couldn't rate it above that as the remainder of the story was a major let down.