I came up with a really profound saying, you guys. Like, it's really deep. You're going to want to write this down.
Grab a pen.
I'll wait.
Okay, here goes: Don't judge a book by its cover.
Right? I mean... that's some serious sh*t right there. I think it's gonna really catch on.
Alright, enough fooling around. But, that's the phrase that keeps going through my mind about book two in my Book a Week plan for 2017.
I vaguely remember buying this book in early December and I kind of remember why. I always buy books in pairs and I like if they contrast each other. When I bought this, I went to the bookstore to buy Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. It's considered the gold standard of true crime reporting and I felt like a sham of a journalist never having read it. But, Capote's work is heavy. I bought this one to lighten things up.
This book falls into the "suspenseful books with the word 'girl' in the title" genre. Gone Girl, Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Girl on the Train, The Good Girl (that's the best one, IMHO.) Some publisher decided we'd eat those up - and best-seller lists show, they were right.
That's probably what caught my eye. Between the title and the cover art, the book looks like an easy beach read. It looks like you should read it between trips to the swim-up bar, its pages saturated with pool water, margarita mix and suntan lotion. Maybe it's the pink - maybe it's the title. But, my expectations for a deep read were low at best.
As much as I hate to admit (ever), I was wrong. While the book starts out in a very cliche "chic NYC girl with a magazine job" kind of way, it certainly does not end that way. And even though the author not-so-subtly sets you up for the "this person is not what she seems" twist, I admit: I never expected the twist to turn as hard to the left as it did.
What you find, without giving away the suspense that keeps you interested, is that this woman has been putting a face for years. She's trying to be something she's not to hide a dark, terrifying past. Events in her life force her to face her past and it has damning consequences on her future.
Sounds like you've heard the story before, right? But, when the twist comes, it will overtake you - even if it's just for 20 pages or so. It makes the preceding set up worth it and kept me awake two hours past my bedtime.
If you've read my other posts, you'll know I'm a stickler for endings. While this book really picked up for me about 60 percent of the way through, the end went out with too much of a whimper for me. I found myself wanting one more big turn to the right and found myself meandering instead. I don't like the "neat little bow" endings, don't get me wrong; this one, though, felt like someone tried to squeeze 20 pages of ending in three pages to save in printing costs.
While the writing and pop culture/fashion references felt a little obvious, it's a quick, satisfying read. 352 pages flew by in two days. It had the speed of a beach read without the empty feeling that often comes afterwards.
The whole thing, I suppose, is proof that the book's main character is a Louboutin-wearing, Preseco-sipping metaphor that you can be two opposing things at once. And, that you can't always judge a book by its cover.
(See? That phrase is catching on already.)
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