Genre: Young Adult/Suspense
Page Length: 272 pages
Format: ARC (received from Penguin/First In Line, from my B-Fest trivia win last summer)
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: September 5, 2017
About Genuine Fraud (via Goodreads):
The story of a young woman whose diabolical smarts are her ticket into a charmed life. But how many times can someone reinvent themselves? You be the judge.
Imogen is a runaway heiress, an orphan, a cook, and a cheat.
Jule is a fighter, a social chameleon, and an athlete.
An intense friendship. A disappearance. A murder, or maybe two.
A bad romance, or maybe three.
Blunt objects, disguises, blood, and chocolate. The American dream, superheroes, spies, and villains.
A girl who refuses to give people what they want from her.
A girl who refuses to be the person she once was.
To get straight to the point, I was not a big fan of this book. The overall concept of the novel was definitely intriguing and entertaining (and had great potential), but it fell short for me. While the reverse chronological storytelling was an interesting addition to the novel, the plot and characters did not meet my expectations.
The plot was very character-driven, yet I could not connect to any of the characters at all. While I understand the need for mystery regarding the characters, the lack of details made them seem flat instead of appearing intriguing or mysterious.
While it was fascinating to see how the hero origin story concept was incorporated and completely twisted by the main character, it wasn't enough. It was merely scattered throughout the novel and never fully acknowledged or fleshed out. The characters lacked personality, and the main character's motivation was never clear. Good heroes and antiheroes need strong origin stories, yet this one lacked substance and a solid foundation.
I don't want to go into the details of the plot (although I thought the synopsis made the chain of events a bit too obvious), but it was definitely an interesting story. I will say that it felt like it would have worked better for the screen than a novel though. I wouldn't discourage people from reading it since it was still a decent read, but it didn't completely work for me.
While it was fascinating to see how the hero origin story concept was incorporated and completely twisted by the main character, it wasn't enough. It was merely scattered throughout the novel and never fully acknowledged or fleshed out. The characters lacked personality, and the main character's motivation was never clear. Good heroes and antiheroes need strong origin stories, yet this one lacked substance and a solid foundation.
I don't want to go into the details of the plot (although I thought the synopsis made the chain of events a bit too obvious), but it was definitely an interesting story. I will say that it felt like it would have worked better for the screen than a novel though. I wouldn't discourage people from reading it since it was still a decent read, but it didn't completely work for me.
My rating: 2.5 stars
I'm glad you were meh on this too. I was hoping it was going to be really good but I thought it was a bit predictable and I just couldn't get into any of the characters heads which was annoying. Great review!
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