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Tragedy Girl
Of course Anne would be drawn to Blake. He’s good looking, he’s friendly, and they both bring sob stories to the table: her parents died in a car wreck, his girlfriend, Cara, drowned. Of course Blake would understand what she’s gone through. And of course they can help each other work through the pain. It’s like it was meant to be.
But just as Anne starts to feel she’s finally found something good in all the tragedy, she can’t ignore signs that something’s off. Her friends rarely let her be alone with Blake. Even those closest to Blake seem uneasy around him. And then there are the rumors about the death of Cara, whose body was never recovered. Rumors that suggest Blake’s pain is hiding something darker than Anne can even begin to comprehend . . .
But just as Anne starts to feel she’s finally found something good in all the tragedy, she can’t ignore signs that something’s off. Her friends rarely let her be alone with Blake. Even those closest to Blake seem uneasy around him. And then there are the rumors about the death of Cara, whose body was never recovered. Rumors that suggest Blake’s pain is hiding something darker than Anne can even begin to comprehend . . .
240 pages, Paperback
First published April 8, 2016
7 people are currently reading
356 people want to read
About the author
Christine Hurley Deriso
14 books73 followers“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.”—William Wordsworth
One thing that strikes me about my writing is that the process has changed very little since I first started jotting down stories around age six. An idea fills my head and whines, cajoles, begs or bullies until I pay attention. Sometimes the ideas are so charming that I scoop them up in a hug. Other times, they’re so annoying that I snap, “What?” at their insistence. But either way, I can no more walk away from one than I could walk away from a child in need.
The ideas originate in my head, but they seem to have a mind, an essence, an existence of their own. I feel more like a vessel than an owner. Succumbing to these ideas’ insistence to flow through me is profoundly joyful, but also utterly involuntary. And that hasn’t changed since I was six.
What has changed, I hope, is my wisdom, my insight, my courage . . . my head’s ability to make enough sense of these ideas to shape them into something meaningful, even the ones that scare me. Especially the ones that scare me.
I’m guessing you’ll glean from my books that I love all words, any words.
Whether I’m writing for a young child, a tween, a young adult or a Ph.D., I try hard to move my reader . . . to make his world a little bigger or his heart a little fuller. Hopefully both.
So there you have it: I love words and I love ideas, and if I didn’t love them, they’d badger me anyhow.
Thanks for sharing the experience with me.
One thing that strikes me about my writing is that the process has changed very little since I first started jotting down stories around age six. An idea fills my head and whines, cajoles, begs or bullies until I pay attention. Sometimes the ideas are so charming that I scoop them up in a hug. Other times, they’re so annoying that I snap, “What?” at their insistence. But either way, I can no more walk away from one than I could walk away from a child in need.
The ideas originate in my head, but they seem to have a mind, an essence, an existence of their own. I feel more like a vessel than an owner. Succumbing to these ideas’ insistence to flow through me is profoundly joyful, but also utterly involuntary. And that hasn’t changed since I was six.
What has changed, I hope, is my wisdom, my insight, my courage . . . my head’s ability to make enough sense of these ideas to shape them into something meaningful, even the ones that scare me. Especially the ones that scare me.
I’m guessing you’ll glean from my books that I love all words, any words.
Whether I’m writing for a young child, a tween, a young adult or a Ph.D., I try hard to move my reader . . . to make his world a little bigger or his heart a little fuller. Hopefully both.
So there you have it: I love words and I love ideas, and if I didn’t love them, they’d badger me anyhow.
Thanks for sharing the experience with me.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
January 27, 2016
(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to Flux and NetGalley.)
This was an interesting mystery story, but the pace was a little slow.
Anne was an okay character, and she seemed to settle in well at school despite her recent bereavement, Blake was a little odd though, and a little suspicious.
The storyline in this was about the mystery of what had happened to Blake’s recently deceased girlfriend, and the fact that someone believed that her death was not an accident. The pace in this was very slow though, and the book did drag quite badly from the 25% mark until the end.
There was some romance, although again, Blake’s behaviour was a little off.
The ending to this was quite good, and I liked the little twists we got at the end.
6.5 out of 10
This was an interesting mystery story, but the pace was a little slow.
Anne was an okay character, and she seemed to settle in well at school despite her recent bereavement, Blake was a little odd though, and a little suspicious.
The storyline in this was about the mystery of what had happened to Blake’s recently deceased girlfriend, and the fact that someone believed that her death was not an accident. The pace in this was very slow though, and the book did drag quite badly from the 25% mark until the end.
There was some romance, although again, Blake’s behaviour was a little off.
The ending to this was quite good, and I liked the little twists we got at the end.
6.5 out of 10
December 2, 2015
I don't know how to review this because it wasn't bad per say but it wasn't good either
*I received an advanced copy of this book to read and review but all opinions are my own*
Okay ya'll better sit yourselves down and get some popcorn because today, I'm bringing you the mother of all rants.
First of all, let me say this. Tragedy Girl was the biggest tragedy I've come across in a long time. Did you see what I did there? *cue audience laugh track* No? Okay. Let's move on.
So Tragedy Girl is basically about this girl named Anne. Both her parents have just died and because of that, she's moved to the beach side to live with her aunt and uncle. While there, she meets this troubled boy named Blake. Blake's girlfriend, Cara, drowned over the summer and Blake feels responsible because he allowed her to go swimming and then took his eyes off of her (boyfriend or dad?? ). So Anne gets attracted to him and Melanie, Anne's new friend, falls for Jamie, who is Blake's best friend.
Only things aren't as they seem. For example, Blake, is extra super duper shady and Jamie is just plain weird. Oh and have I mentioned that Cara's body was never found and according to Anne, is very suspicious?
So okay. Despite all of Anne's inhibitions, she decides to go on a date with the guy. She's drawn to his grief because she's grieving too and basically she wants to be a hero and save him or whatever.
They date for one week and already Anne can sense that something is not so right. Blake is very quick-tempered and she feels like the relationship is going way faster then she is prepared for. At this point, she is being extra whiny already.
She's just like 'Oh I like him but I shouldn't but I like him but his girlfriend just died BUT I LIKE HIM."
UGH.
So irritating!
So okay fine. She carries on with the relationship. By week two, things are getting just plain creepy. There are anonymous notes being left in mailboxes, weird outbursts, lying and suspicious conversations.
So what does our dear Anne do? She decides to let Blake take her to the beach (aka the place where Blake's girlfriend died) all by their selves.
I mean if this was a normal relationship, then okay. I mean it's fine. But this is a weird and suspicious relationship. Has this idiot really no sense of self-preservation????
Seriously. Guys (and girls too) can be massively crazy. So if you have doubts, stay far away from them.There have been many stories of relationships ending in murder okay. This isn't a joke.
So yes. I won't spoil the ending but basically I thought this book sucked because Anne was such a weak-willed character. She had no backbone. Everything to her was 'oh I need a boyfriend even if he might be a psychotic girlfriend murderer. I mean what's the worst that could happen?"
ARG!
Also where were the police in all this? It's unrealistic that a teenage girl who is new to the neighbourhood can go ahead and solve a death that absolutely nobody but her finds mysterious. Do you get what I mean?
Aside from that though, I did enjoy the storyline. I thought the mystery was well done and I liked how the whole thing ended.
It was just Anne and her whiny self that ruined the book for me.
My Rating: 2/5 Stars
Publishing Date: 8 April 2016
*I received an advanced copy of this book to read and review but all opinions are my own*
Okay ya'll better sit yourselves down and get some popcorn because today, I'm bringing you the mother of all rants.
First of all, let me say this. Tragedy Girl was the biggest tragedy I've come across in a long time. Did you see what I did there? *cue audience laugh track* No? Okay. Let's move on.
So Tragedy Girl is basically about this girl named Anne. Both her parents have just died and because of that, she's moved to the beach side to live with her aunt and uncle. While there, she meets this troubled boy named Blake. Blake's girlfriend, Cara, drowned over the summer and Blake feels responsible because he allowed her to go swimming and then took his eyes off of her (boyfriend or dad?? ). So Anne gets attracted to him and Melanie, Anne's new friend, falls for Jamie, who is Blake's best friend.
Only things aren't as they seem. For example, Blake, is extra super duper shady and Jamie is just plain weird. Oh and have I mentioned that Cara's body was never found and according to Anne, is very suspicious?
So okay. Despite all of Anne's inhibitions, she decides to go on a date with the guy. She's drawn to his grief because she's grieving too and basically she wants to be a hero and save him or whatever.
They date for one week and already Anne can sense that something is not so right. Blake is very quick-tempered and she feels like the relationship is going way faster then she is prepared for. At this point, she is being extra whiny already.
She's just like 'Oh I like him but I shouldn't but I like him but his girlfriend just died BUT I LIKE HIM."
UGH.
So irritating!
So okay fine. She carries on with the relationship. By week two, things are getting just plain creepy. There are anonymous notes being left in mailboxes, weird outbursts, lying and suspicious conversations.
So what does our dear Anne do? She decides to let Blake take her to the beach (aka the place where Blake's girlfriend died) all by their selves.
I mean if this was a normal relationship, then okay. I mean it's fine. But this is a weird and suspicious relationship. Has this idiot really no sense of self-preservation????
Seriously. Guys (and girls too) can be massively crazy. So if you have doubts, stay far away from them.There have been many stories of relationships ending in murder okay. This isn't a joke.
So yes. I won't spoil the ending but basically I thought this book sucked because Anne was such a weak-willed character. She had no backbone. Everything to her was 'oh I need a boyfriend even if he might be a psychotic girlfriend murderer. I mean what's the worst that could happen?"
ARG!
Also where were the police in all this? It's unrealistic that a teenage girl who is new to the neighbourhood can go ahead and solve a death that absolutely nobody but her finds mysterious. Do you get what I mean?
Aside from that though, I did enjoy the storyline. I thought the mystery was well done and I liked how the whole thing ended.
It was just Anne and her whiny self that ruined the book for me.
-
My Rating: 2/5 Stars
Publishing Date: 8 April 2016
January 28, 2016
(I received a copy from Netgalley, In exchange for an honest review.)
Anne wasn't a character that I loved, but she was okay.
The pacing in this was a bit too slow for me, and parts of the story dragged because of it. There was a few times where I felt slightly bored because of the dragging, but the majority of it was alright.
Overall, An okay read.
Anne wasn't a character that I loved, but she was okay.
The pacing in this was a bit too slow for me, and parts of the story dragged because of it. There was a few times where I felt slightly bored because of the dragging, but the majority of it was alright.
Overall, An okay read.
February 6, 2016
Thank you to the Author/Publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
Tragedy Girl is a tragic story of a young girl Anne who loses both her parents in a horrific accident which results in her having to move in with her childless aunt & uncle. If that's not trauma enough she has to move to a new school for her senior year knowing no one and just hoping to get enough credits to get a scholarship for college, but as you will have guessed the year is not plain sailing for our Anne. She meets the hottest guy in school (yup good ole YA classic) which has been through a little trauma himself, first cancer then secondly his girlfriend drowned that summer, yikes bummer. Is she really dead... is she alive? Ohhh the secrets!
Anne seems to have it pretty together for just losing both her parents if that was me I don't think I would be doing so well so soon after. When she meets Blake (the hot guy) it seems that everything gets together really quickly, rushed straight into it shall we say. I felt she was really rude at times forgetting she was a newcomer in these friendships and the way she sometimes made everything to be about her was annoying, sometimes a little hint of selfishness.
Blake plays the game well but people are rarely that perfect, the guy becomes seriously unhinged but so does his friend, the whole I love you thing so soon would have scared me off straight away seriously ?! No no no no NO. They all come across as spoiled little children who think they are better than everyone else but hey... isn't that really what high school is like?
I felt the book could be a little flat at times, I never loved it but I didn't hate it either. Sometimes I felt myself willing for it to move on, I did finish the book in one sitting though as it did grab my attention at times.
If you like a little mystery and a bunch of psychotic teenagers this book is for you!
Tragedy Girl is a tragic story of a young girl Anne who loses both her parents in a horrific accident which results in her having to move in with her childless aunt & uncle. If that's not trauma enough she has to move to a new school for her senior year knowing no one and just hoping to get enough credits to get a scholarship for college, but as you will have guessed the year is not plain sailing for our Anne. She meets the hottest guy in school (yup good ole YA classic) which has been through a little trauma himself, first cancer then secondly his girlfriend drowned that summer, yikes bummer. Is she really dead... is she alive? Ohhh the secrets!
Anne seems to have it pretty together for just losing both her parents if that was me I don't think I would be doing so well so soon after. When she meets Blake (the hot guy) it seems that everything gets together really quickly, rushed straight into it shall we say. I felt she was really rude at times forgetting she was a newcomer in these friendships and the way she sometimes made everything to be about her was annoying, sometimes a little hint of selfishness.
Blake plays the game well but people are rarely that perfect, the guy becomes seriously unhinged but so does his friend, the whole I love you thing so soon would have scared me off straight away seriously ?! No no no no NO. They all come across as spoiled little children who think they are better than everyone else but hey... isn't that really what high school is like?
I felt the book could be a little flat at times, I never loved it but I didn't hate it either. Sometimes I felt myself willing for it to move on, I did finish the book in one sitting though as it did grab my attention at times.
If you like a little mystery and a bunch of psychotic teenagers this book is for you!
April 7, 2016
I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
I tried really hard to come up with something positive to say about this one. I guess the one good thing was that Anne’s new guardians (her aunt and uncle) were very caring and loving and protective and most importantly, they were THERE. Caring and loving guardians can be an anomaly in YA literature, so I can appreciate that. But that is where my appreciation ends.
Anne is grieving because both of her parents were killed in a car accident the year before. Blake is grieving because his girlfriend recently drowned and (insert creepy music here), they never find a body. Naturally, they are drawn together. Their respective tragedies are the only glue holding this thing together. For the life of me, I couldn’t see anything else that would draw these two people together. Anne is extremely whiny and wishy-washy. Blake is way too perfect for his own good and he has a very short fuse. Of course there was insta-love. After two weeks, he was declaring his love for her and saying how smart and amazing she is. Gag me please. One thing that irritated me beyond belief was the way Blake insisted on calling Anne “babe” or “baby” ALL THE TIME! Yeah, I guess that’s just a pet peeve of mine in books. I mean, she has a name, you know. USE IT!
The pacing was weird with this one. At first, it moved kind of slow but then it started moving way too fast. At first, everyone at school is in love with Blake and they all feel so sorry for him because of his loss, but then you see people (including the girl who pushed Anne onto Blake in the first place) become suspicious of him for really no reason. It didn’t make sense. Anne was so all over the place with her feelings about him. She likes him, but she doesn’t want to like him because he just lost someone, but she likes him, but she is suspicious, but she likes him. ARGHHHHH! Just make up your mind already. I understand this was supposed to be a mystery and all, but the reasons why people blamed Blake were kind of ridiculous. People were upset because he “let” her go swimming at night during the summer. Umm, okay. Was he supposed to be her keeper or something? In the meantime, I would be suspicious of Blake too because he flew off the handle SO MUCH. Anne would ask him a question and he would yell at her. Whatever did or didn’t happen to his girlfriend, that was a red flag for sure. Then there were these anonymous notes about his friend Jamie not being a good guy (he helped Blake look for his girlfriend when she didn’t come back from swimming) and there was some stupid note or rumor that the girl was still alive. Sure, yeah, because this is obviously an episode of Young and the Restless. The ending was super predictable and anti climactic. I really thought the author was going to throw some surprise twist or something, but not really. Oh, and there was a freaking epilogue. Argh, I really hate those sometimes. This one was the worst. There was no purpose to it other than to spend five pages summarizing everything that had happened after the last chapter ended. That was it. It was completely unnecessary.
I tried really hard to come up with something positive to say about this one. I guess the one good thing was that Anne’s new guardians (her aunt and uncle) were very caring and loving and protective and most importantly, they were THERE. Caring and loving guardians can be an anomaly in YA literature, so I can appreciate that. But that is where my appreciation ends.
Anne is grieving because both of her parents were killed in a car accident the year before. Blake is grieving because his girlfriend recently drowned and (insert creepy music here), they never find a body. Naturally, they are drawn together. Their respective tragedies are the only glue holding this thing together. For the life of me, I couldn’t see anything else that would draw these two people together. Anne is extremely whiny and wishy-washy. Blake is way too perfect for his own good and he has a very short fuse. Of course there was insta-love. After two weeks, he was declaring his love for her and saying how smart and amazing she is. Gag me please. One thing that irritated me beyond belief was the way Blake insisted on calling Anne “babe” or “baby” ALL THE TIME! Yeah, I guess that’s just a pet peeve of mine in books. I mean, she has a name, you know. USE IT!
The pacing was weird with this one. At first, it moved kind of slow but then it started moving way too fast. At first, everyone at school is in love with Blake and they all feel so sorry for him because of his loss, but then you see people (including the girl who pushed Anne onto Blake in the first place) become suspicious of him for really no reason. It didn’t make sense. Anne was so all over the place with her feelings about him. She likes him, but she doesn’t want to like him because he just lost someone, but she likes him, but she is suspicious, but she likes him. ARGHHHHH! Just make up your mind already. I understand this was supposed to be a mystery and all, but the reasons why people blamed Blake were kind of ridiculous. People were upset because he “let” her go swimming at night during the summer. Umm, okay. Was he supposed to be her keeper or something? In the meantime, I would be suspicious of Blake too because he flew off the handle SO MUCH. Anne would ask him a question and he would yell at her. Whatever did or didn’t happen to his girlfriend, that was a red flag for sure. Then there were these anonymous notes about his friend Jamie not being a good guy (he helped Blake look for his girlfriend when she didn’t come back from swimming) and there was some stupid note or rumor that the girl was still alive. Sure, yeah, because this is obviously an episode of Young and the Restless. The ending was super predictable and anti climactic. I really thought the author was going to throw some surprise twist or something, but not really. Oh, and there was a freaking epilogue. Argh, I really hate those sometimes. This one was the worst. There was no purpose to it other than to spend five pages summarizing everything that had happened after the last chapter ended. That was it. It was completely unnecessary.
May 22, 2017
Goodreads Synopsis:
Of course Anne would be drawn to Blake. He’s good looking, he’s friendly, and they both bring sob stories to the table: her parents died in a car wreck, his girlfriend, Cara, drowned. Of course Blake would understand what she’s gone through. And of course they can help each other work through the pain. It’s like it was meant to be.
But just as Anne starts to feel she’s finally found something good in all the tragedy, she can’t ignore signs that something’s off. Her friends rarely let her be alone with Blake. Even those closest to Blake seem uneasy around him. And then there are the rumors about the death of Cara, whose body was never recovered. Rumors that suggest Blake’s pain is hiding something darker than Anne can even begin to comprehend . . .
My Review:
I loved this book. I received a copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review, and although it took me a while to get around to reading it, I'm really glad I did. Although it starts off slow, and I suspected it would be a relaxing easy read, this was a really exciting story once you get far enough into it. I expected it to be kind of slow and boring but was pleasantly surprised when there was mystery and action involved.
Anne with an 'e' or E, as her friend calls her, has been through a terrible tragedy. Her parents were killed prior to the story, and she recently moved to a new place, in with her aunt and uncle who have no kids of their own. She then has to attend a new school, make new friends, and deal with her grief all at once. She meets a boy she likes and the story goes on. I did not expect the ending at all, and about half way through the book I realized, I can't put this down now! I need to finish it!
All in all I read the full story in about 5 hours. It's a really good read, and I recommend you check it out. The cover is intriguing and I just love the characters, they really seem like they could be real people, and they act their age. I put off reading it for so long because it didn't seem like anything new at the beginning, but once you get into it you realize how good it really is.
Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more on my blog.
(radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com)
Of course Anne would be drawn to Blake. He’s good looking, he’s friendly, and they both bring sob stories to the table: her parents died in a car wreck, his girlfriend, Cara, drowned. Of course Blake would understand what she’s gone through. And of course they can help each other work through the pain. It’s like it was meant to be.
But just as Anne starts to feel she’s finally found something good in all the tragedy, she can’t ignore signs that something’s off. Her friends rarely let her be alone with Blake. Even those closest to Blake seem uneasy around him. And then there are the rumors about the death of Cara, whose body was never recovered. Rumors that suggest Blake’s pain is hiding something darker than Anne can even begin to comprehend . . .
My Review:
I loved this book. I received a copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review, and although it took me a while to get around to reading it, I'm really glad I did. Although it starts off slow, and I suspected it would be a relaxing easy read, this was a really exciting story once you get far enough into it. I expected it to be kind of slow and boring but was pleasantly surprised when there was mystery and action involved.
Anne with an 'e' or E, as her friend calls her, has been through a terrible tragedy. Her parents were killed prior to the story, and she recently moved to a new place, in with her aunt and uncle who have no kids of their own. She then has to attend a new school, make new friends, and deal with her grief all at once. She meets a boy she likes and the story goes on. I did not expect the ending at all, and about half way through the book I realized, I can't put this down now! I need to finish it!
All in all I read the full story in about 5 hours. It's a really good read, and I recommend you check it out. The cover is intriguing and I just love the characters, they really seem like they could be real people, and they act their age. I put off reading it for so long because it didn't seem like anything new at the beginning, but once you get into it you realize how good it really is.
Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more on my blog.
(radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com)
April 3, 2022
Actual rating = 3.5/5
Tragedy Girl is a fast-paced, suspenseful mystery that I'm so glad I had the chance to read. It's a nice quick read that only takes a few hours.
Tragedy Girl is set in a seaside town that has been rocked by the recent drowning of a teenage girl. Giving this premise, the setting not only makes sense but is the obvious choice. It relates very well to the characters.
The story is told from the first-person perspective of Anne, a teenage girl who has recently lost her parents, as she attempts to settle into her new life. Anne is a good character, but there was just something about her that I couldn't quite connect with. I did feel sorry for her. I have no clue what it must be like to lose your parents at such a young age. The pain must be unbearable. However, I did feel that giving her circumstances, she settled into her new school a bit too easily for someone who has been through so much recent emotional turmoil.
I originally thought I would feel quite sorry for Blake. The poor boy has been through so much and he's struggling. But, in reality, I was creeped out by him. There's something really weird about him and he's really not someone you would trust in real life. But this does, of course, add to the whole mysteriousness of the story.
The secondary characters were all very well done too. There's Jamie, Blake's supposed best friend, who acts strangely from the start. Natalie the girl who has had a crush on Blake for years. Garrett, Blake's brother, who doesn't trust Blake at all. And Melanie and Lauren, two girls who are caught up in all the drama and want answers.
The behaviour of all the characters results in Tragedy Girl being pretty unpredictable. There was just no way I could predict what actually happened to Cara. A number of people could have been behind her death. And this all results in quite the dramatic ending with most plot lines tied up fairly nicely.
The one part of the story that I didn't really see the need for were Anne's dreams about her parents. It gives out a supernatural feeling that they are trying to tell her something, but it doesn't really add much to the main story,
Tragedy Girl is a nice, quick and suspenseful read that you can't help but fly through. I would definitely recommend this book to those looking for a short YA mystery.
I received a copy of Tragedy Girl via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This review and many more can be found at My Expanding Bookshelf
Tragedy Girl is a fast-paced, suspenseful mystery that I'm so glad I had the chance to read. It's a nice quick read that only takes a few hours.
Tragedy Girl is set in a seaside town that has been rocked by the recent drowning of a teenage girl. Giving this premise, the setting not only makes sense but is the obvious choice. It relates very well to the characters.
The story is told from the first-person perspective of Anne, a teenage girl who has recently lost her parents, as she attempts to settle into her new life. Anne is a good character, but there was just something about her that I couldn't quite connect with. I did feel sorry for her. I have no clue what it must be like to lose your parents at such a young age. The pain must be unbearable. However, I did feel that giving her circumstances, she settled into her new school a bit too easily for someone who has been through so much recent emotional turmoil.
I originally thought I would feel quite sorry for Blake. The poor boy has been through so much and he's struggling. But, in reality, I was creeped out by him. There's something really weird about him and he's really not someone you would trust in real life. But this does, of course, add to the whole mysteriousness of the story.
The secondary characters were all very well done too. There's Jamie, Blake's supposed best friend, who acts strangely from the start. Natalie the girl who has had a crush on Blake for years. Garrett, Blake's brother, who doesn't trust Blake at all. And Melanie and Lauren, two girls who are caught up in all the drama and want answers.
The behaviour of all the characters results in Tragedy Girl being pretty unpredictable. There was just no way I could predict what actually happened to Cara. A number of people could have been behind her death. And this all results in quite the dramatic ending with most plot lines tied up fairly nicely.
The one part of the story that I didn't really see the need for were Anne's dreams about her parents. It gives out a supernatural feeling that they are trying to tell her something, but it doesn't really add much to the main story,
Tragedy Girl is a nice, quick and suspenseful read that you can't help but fly through. I would definitely recommend this book to those looking for a short YA mystery.
I received a copy of Tragedy Girl via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This review and many more can be found at My Expanding Bookshelf
December 9, 2016
2.5 stars
*I recieved this book as an e-arc on NetGalley from Flux in exchange for an honest review*
This book was full of tropes that were not done even remotely well. The main character, Anne was conveniently "an 11 on a 10 point scale" in terms of looks. The relationships she had with other characters were boring due to the characters all being one dimensional, and for the most part they didn't make sense based on the timeline of the story. The whole book took place over less than a month yet the love interest is already "in love" with her. The dialogue and writing were weird and awkward. I kept reading to see what happened, but the plot-twist was very predictable.
Full Video Review: https://youtu.be/8wnKX8qPj6E
*I recieved this book as an e-arc on NetGalley from Flux in exchange for an honest review*
This book was full of tropes that were not done even remotely well. The main character, Anne was conveniently "an 11 on a 10 point scale" in terms of looks. The relationships she had with other characters were boring due to the characters all being one dimensional, and for the most part they didn't make sense based on the timeline of the story. The whole book took place over less than a month yet the love interest is already "in love" with her. The dialogue and writing were weird and awkward. I kept reading to see what happened, but the plot-twist was very predictable.
Full Video Review: https://youtu.be/8wnKX8qPj6E
June 30, 2025
Bleh. Wasn’t horrible but very predictable. I pretty much guessed how the book would end by chapter 5. Not really enough plot twists to consider it super interesting.
December 28, 2022
Personally, I really like how this book was written. Of course, Anne would be interested in the popular guy who seems to understand the pain she is dealing with. Anne is also smart-witted, in the sense that she caught on quickly that something is not right with Blake. However, I did think that Anne did come a little strong to the friends she made. They have known Blake, Jamie, and others in the community longer than her and had some good points to make throughout the novel. I have tried very hard to find some good mystery-romance novel and this one defiantly cut the cake for me.
January 10, 2016
When life throws you the biggest curve ball you can imagine, you realize you’re stronger than you thought you were. You realize you’re a survivor.
When I read the book’s description/synopsis, it got me. I’m a huge fan of books that has something to do with death. Gladly, the book did not disappoint me when it came to deaths. It talked about Blake and Anne’s tragedy – his girlfriend’s death and her parent’s accident.
While I was enjoying the pages where people talked about Cara’s death, I’ve lost count on how many times I’ve rolled my eyes while reading. I kind of did not like the insta-love that happened between Blake and Anne. It seemed really common and very fast, considering the fact that they barely knew each other. In fact, I did not feel the chemistry between the two. Firstly, Blake is still mourning over his girlfriend’s death. Next, Anne is the new girl who barely even knew stuff about Blake. Lastly, I hate how Blake calls Anne “Babe”. It’s too cheesy and corny for my taste.
Things were happening really fast in the book. While reading, everytime I checked which page I am, I am a bit shocked. Tragedy Girl is an easy read, although there were some mysteries going on, it did not bother me because proceeding to the next page seemed as easy as 123. Although it was an easy read, it was quite predictable. Tragedy Girl, to me, seemed like any other Young Adult novel.
The book got confusing in the middle part as I try to connect things and Anne, the narrator, barely knew anything and was trying too hard. I did not like how everybody else just believed what Blake told them, even the cops, because if that happened to our country, there might be a possibility that both Blake and Jamie would be primary suspects! And come on, Cara’s best friend had an idea of what was happening and kept it for two months? Oh come on!
Overall, Tragedy Girl was a quick and easy read but predictable and kind of annoyed me. I was also dissatisfied with how it ended. Like, that’s it???? Good thing was that I got to smile/laugh at some lines of the book and! I learned few new words. It just kept repeating on my head, so that might be a good sign. I don’t know but it made me happy.
Note: I received a copy via Netgalley but this did not affect my views/opinions/review about the book. Thank you Flux Publishing!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 4, 2015
A fast-paced teen thriller that felt like a cross between the Daphne duMaurier novel, Rebecca, and the Natalee Holloway tragedy from a few years ago.
A couple of months after her parents die in a car accident, Anne comes to live on a small island with her aunt and uncle. She quickly attracts the attention of Blake, a very handsome and smooth-talking guy whose girlfriend drowned but whose body was never recovered. She falls for him as they have tragic deaths in common but it turns sour just as soon, when she starts hearing him say he's falling in love with her, calling her baby, and so on, after knowing her for only a few weeks.
The lies he tells begin to pile up, along with some anonymous notes to her friend Melanie who is dating Blake's best friend Jamie (who with Blake apparently attempted to save the drowning girlfriend but was unsuccessful). At first Anne doesn't want to hear anyone say a bad word about Blake but when Blake displays some very unkind behavior and a quick temper, she begins to doubt her trust in him.
I think readers will enjoy the quick pace, the twists and turns, and the chase of the mystery. Thanks to Netgalley for the arc to review.
A couple of months after her parents die in a car accident, Anne comes to live on a small island with her aunt and uncle. She quickly attracts the attention of Blake, a very handsome and smooth-talking guy whose girlfriend drowned but whose body was never recovered. She falls for him as they have tragic deaths in common but it turns sour just as soon, when she starts hearing him say he's falling in love with her, calling her baby, and so on, after knowing her for only a few weeks.
The lies he tells begin to pile up, along with some anonymous notes to her friend Melanie who is dating Blake's best friend Jamie (who with Blake apparently attempted to save the drowning girlfriend but was unsuccessful). At first Anne doesn't want to hear anyone say a bad word about Blake but when Blake displays some very unkind behavior and a quick temper, she begins to doubt her trust in him.
I think readers will enjoy the quick pace, the twists and turns, and the chase of the mystery. Thanks to Netgalley for the arc to review.
April 4, 2016
I received a free copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This books was just a bit all over the place for me. The general gist is very simple: girl has lost her parents, meets boy who has lost his girlfriend, everything is set for a perfect romance, but boy has dark secret. To be honest, I was sometimes a bit lost because the plot and writing were all over the place and very superficial at the same time for me. I didn't enjoy this book much because of it. For the dark subjects it tackles, the tone was too light and fluffy for me and therefore didn't convey the emotions this book was trying to make me feel. I personally would give this a miss.
This books was just a bit all over the place for me. The general gist is very simple: girl has lost her parents, meets boy who has lost his girlfriend, everything is set for a perfect romance, but boy has dark secret. To be honest, I was sometimes a bit lost because the plot and writing were all over the place and very superficial at the same time for me. I didn't enjoy this book much because of it. For the dark subjects it tackles, the tone was too light and fluffy for me and therefore didn't convey the emotions this book was trying to make me feel. I personally would give this a miss.
January 31, 2016
A copy of this book was sent to me via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was meh. Not great, not rubbish- just in the middle. Full review to come soon!!!
This was meh. Not great, not rubbish- just in the middle. Full review to come soon!!!
May 1, 2016
Wish it was a bit more thrilling. The pace is pretty slow for a mystery book.
June 30, 2016
*Review copy received from publisher*
I found Tragedy Girl slow and one dimensional. The story line followed a linear line without allowing incidents and characters to expand and fully develop.
I found Tragedy Girl slow and one dimensional. The story line followed a linear line without allowing incidents and characters to expand and fully develop.
June 25, 2019
It takes 2 days for Anne to realize who her love is, even in this new, unfamiliar town. After all she and Blake both have something in common. Her parents, his girlfriend, both dead. But as Anne falls for this tragic new boy, she sees a side the rest of the town doesn't about their "hero". So, whats the right answer to the question that doesn't exist?
Although, a decent book, I felt it was lacking on a couple levels. The author denied portraying Blake as anything less than suspicious so as a reader, I couldn't see him as anything but suspicious and odd. He didn't seem like a good character at all, so I spent some time wondering what Anne saw in him. I liked Garrett, but he acted incredibly protective over Anne, and that was odd. Anne seemed naive for a senior, especially considering what happened to her. Overall, character developments should've been considered at a much higher standards. The author also lacked on tying up the loose ends appropriately. It felt like any questions I had were answered, but in two sentences during the last chapter. The ending felt almost rushed, and I feel had she taken away some minor details to extend the ending and finish character development, this would be a much better book.
I would much prefer an April Henry.
Overall Rating: 3.75 stars; a decent book, with below decent details
Although, a decent book, I felt it was lacking on a couple levels. The author denied portraying Blake as anything less than suspicious so as a reader, I couldn't see him as anything but suspicious and odd. He didn't seem like a good character at all, so I spent some time wondering what Anne saw in him. I liked Garrett, but he acted incredibly protective over Anne, and that was odd. Anne seemed naive for a senior, especially considering what happened to her. Overall, character developments should've been considered at a much higher standards. The author also lacked on tying up the loose ends appropriately. It felt like any questions I had were answered, but in two sentences during the last chapter. The ending felt almost rushed, and I feel had she taken away some minor details to extend the ending and finish character development, this would be a much better book.
I would much prefer an April Henry.
Overall Rating: 3.75 stars; a decent book, with below decent details
October 16, 2017
I really appreciated this book. It was told from the perspective of Ann-with-an-E, the so-called Tragedy Girl. She has moved with her aunt and uncle to a beach community after the tragic death of her parents for her senior year of high school. She is drawn to Blake, a fellow senior, who is Tragedy Guy after the drowing death of his girl friend. There is a definite secret about his girlfriend's death -- is it guilt because he could not save her or is it something more?
What really amazed me about this book was the clear discussion about listening to those hints you get in a relationship, about setting limits in relationships, and about the need to respect who you are. All is done very subtly, but very well.
What really amazed me about this book was the clear discussion about listening to those hints you get in a relationship, about setting limits in relationships, and about the need to respect who you are. All is done very subtly, but very well.
November 8, 2016
To call this book a mixture of love,trust,loyalty,and the unexpected ways that your loved ones can deceive you is correct.When Anne finds the courage and strength to finally tell her uncle and aunt that she has a relationship with Blake the cancer survivor,this shows that despite all Anne has gone through she can trust once again.This book can connect and heighten a lot of readers inner emotions.For example it can trigger love,betrayal,and even suspense.This book makes the readers rethink who the good guy and who the bad guy is.It's full of twisted turns,drama,and emotions.This book can support the quote"Keep your friends close but your enemies closer".
March 24, 2019
A girl shattered by tragedy is trying to start a new life - a new school, new friends, new...future? And a new boy.
But is everything truly that what it seems to be?
Great start, interesting characters, great work with psychology (at least in the first half of the book).
I like that Anne is able to feel compassion and that she has the right instincts to recognize the right and the wrong.
But unfortunately all the mystery went into being just unbelievable in the final parts.
But having said that - the psychology of teenagers is this authoress´s strength. Fingers crossed for the next book!
But is everything truly that what it seems to be?
Great start, interesting characters, great work with psychology (at least in the first half of the book).
I like that Anne is able to feel compassion and that she has the right instincts to recognize the right and the wrong.
But unfortunately all the mystery went into being just unbelievable in the final parts.
But having said that - the psychology of teenagers is this authoress´s strength. Fingers crossed for the next book!
October 30, 2017
Tragedy Girl was a very mysterious book. The writing was descriptive. However, it did take quite a long time to fully gather what was actually going on in the story. I didn’t see the end of the book coming. I feel that the book can actually happen. Teen pregnancy and peer-pressure is common especially in teenagers nowadays. This book over all is good and i recommend reading it if you are into mysteries, murder and high school drama.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 7, 2020
Anne is tragedy girl because she lost her parents to a drunk crashing into their car and killing them.
Blake is tragedy boy because he is a cancer survivor and his girlfriend is presumed dead from drowning.
Tragedy for the reader is trying to keep reading to find out what really happened the night she drowned.
Thankfully the book was on the shorter side and the ending saved the book from being a complete dud
Blake is tragedy boy because he is a cancer survivor and his girlfriend is presumed dead from drowning.
Tragedy for the reader is trying to keep reading to find out what really happened the night she drowned.
Thankfully the book was on the shorter side and the ending saved the book from being a complete dud
August 4, 2021
Way too predictable
April 22, 2023
100% would not recommend
rather predictable, pacing was awful, and if it was supposed to be suspenseful, it failed
rather predictable, pacing was awful, and if it was supposed to be suspenseful, it failed
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May 5, 2016Original Review: http://www.nerdprobs.com/books/book-r...
**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
"Tragedy Girl" by Christine Hurley Deriso delivered such a breath of fresh air to me with it's compelling characters, gripping story line, and ease of reading. While I wouldn't call this book light-hearted, I would definitely consider it an easy read. Meaning I was so into the story that I didn't have to force myself to read it. I wanted to read. I finished this book in just over a day, and with an incredibly busy schedule, that is impressive lately.
This novel follows Anne, an incredibly smart senior who has just moved to a new beach side town to live with her aunt and uncle after the tragic passing of her parents. She makes some new friends and meets Blake, a super nice guy that seems to understand her feelings because he also is going through his own tragedy. But it seems he hides secrets far deeper than anyone originally imagined.
Anne's character reminds me of myself in high school. I had friends, but I hated the drama. She finds herself wrapped up in it, but keeps wondering why she is allowing it because that is definitely not her. She hates to talk about her feelings but when she does she finds it to be cathartic and actually very, very helpful at times to help understand her own feelings. I also love how each of the friends she makes ends up filling a specific role in her life. One is very cheerful and positive. Always wanting to go and do things, discuss things, look into mysterious things. The other, not really sure we'd even call her a friend (Lauren), is more the reality check. Keeps Anne grounded I think. I don't even think we realize this much throughout the book but after reading, that is my take on her. Every character fills a role that helps Anne figure out who and what she is going to do with her life post tragedy and in her current state.
I was a little stumped by the naivety of Anne, though, when it came to how much she trusted some characters. Now I get teenage love and friendships can put blinders on you, but this was a bit extreme. I had red flags flying on behavior from the get go. I'd have been back peddling had this been me, but these kids got themselves in WAY too deep, WAY to fast. So I wish that part was a bit more... believable. But I will say it added a bit of anxiety and suspense to the story because I felt myself wanting to scream at the book and tell the characters what they should be doing and not what they were doing.
Deriso's writing style is good. I like the simplicity of it, but secretly love how there were, what I would like to call, S.A.T. words thrown in. I also really liked how the characters maturity levels and intelligence levels were portrayed through the use of the words they spoke with. I'm not sure if that was the purpose, but I felt certain characters always spoke a little more mature than others. Maybe it's just my inner nerd coming out. Either way I loved it. A great read for a day at the beach (maybe not!!!) or a rainy day. Deriso definitely kept me hooked from the first chapter to the very end with twists and turns, highs and lows, love and tragedy. Definitely recommended. Four stars!
**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
"Tragedy Girl" by Christine Hurley Deriso delivered such a breath of fresh air to me with it's compelling characters, gripping story line, and ease of reading. While I wouldn't call this book light-hearted, I would definitely consider it an easy read. Meaning I was so into the story that I didn't have to force myself to read it. I wanted to read. I finished this book in just over a day, and with an incredibly busy schedule, that is impressive lately.
This novel follows Anne, an incredibly smart senior who has just moved to a new beach side town to live with her aunt and uncle after the tragic passing of her parents. She makes some new friends and meets Blake, a super nice guy that seems to understand her feelings because he also is going through his own tragedy. But it seems he hides secrets far deeper than anyone originally imagined.
Anne's character reminds me of myself in high school. I had friends, but I hated the drama. She finds herself wrapped up in it, but keeps wondering why she is allowing it because that is definitely not her. She hates to talk about her feelings but when she does she finds it to be cathartic and actually very, very helpful at times to help understand her own feelings. I also love how each of the friends she makes ends up filling a specific role in her life. One is very cheerful and positive. Always wanting to go and do things, discuss things, look into mysterious things. The other, not really sure we'd even call her a friend (Lauren), is more the reality check. Keeps Anne grounded I think. I don't even think we realize this much throughout the book but after reading, that is my take on her. Every character fills a role that helps Anne figure out who and what she is going to do with her life post tragedy and in her current state.
I was a little stumped by the naivety of Anne, though, when it came to how much she trusted some characters. Now I get teenage love and friendships can put blinders on you, but this was a bit extreme. I had red flags flying on behavior from the get go. I'd have been back peddling had this been me, but these kids got themselves in WAY too deep, WAY to fast. So I wish that part was a bit more... believable. But I will say it added a bit of anxiety and suspense to the story because I felt myself wanting to scream at the book and tell the characters what they should be doing and not what they were doing.
Deriso's writing style is good. I like the simplicity of it, but secretly love how there were, what I would like to call, S.A.T. words thrown in. I also really liked how the characters maturity levels and intelligence levels were portrayed through the use of the words they spoke with. I'm not sure if that was the purpose, but I felt certain characters always spoke a little more mature than others. Maybe it's just my inner nerd coming out. Either way I loved it. A great read for a day at the beach (maybe not!!!) or a rainy day. Deriso definitely kept me hooked from the first chapter to the very end with twists and turns, highs and lows, love and tragedy. Definitely recommended. Four stars!
March 2, 2016
I was given a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
The summary of this book made me excited to read it. The tragedy of Anne losing her parents in a car accident, connecting her to Blake, what with his tragedy of his girlfriend drowning earlier that summer...this is a real thing. People bond through similar experiences, both positive and negative, and I felt it was a great set-up for the plot, which is even thickened by odd behavior of Blake's friends and brother.
However, I was disappointed.
Tragedy Girl failed to deliver.
The world building is almost entirely left to the reader's imagination. All we know is Anne moved to Hollis Island to live with her aunt and uncle, and there's a beach nearby where Blake's old girlfriend drowned. The high school is mentioned, and the characters' respective houses, but very little goes into the actual description of the settings.
The characters are flat and uninteresting. Anne is the most well-developed, but she became annoying after a while. Her concerned best friend from back home has one defining characteristic: he's gay. Then there's Natalie, the school bitch, who alternates between spitting venom and abject crying. Anne's two new friends at school were so boring, I kept mixing the two up.
Then there's Blake, the All-American boy who lost his girlfriend and is trying to move on with Anne. I don't even remember if there is a physical description of him.
I do know there was one for Blake's best friend Jamie. He was touted as a "River Phoenix" lookalike. I am really surprised the author would utilize the name of a Hollywood star who's been dead for almost 25 years. I teach students that would read this book, and when I asked the girls in my class if they knew who River Phoenix was, I got blank stares in return. This is not surprising; there are high schoolers who don't know who 'NSYNC was 12 years ago.
Also, the usage of Occam's razor was an out-of-left-field reference. Anne didn't strike me as that knowledgeable.
The transitions and segues between scenes were choppy. One scene would end on a one-word sentence, and then new dialogue begins the next scene, but there's no clear-cut reason why. Again, poor world-building.
The dialogue was good between characters; I did believe the interactions between Anne and her aunt. But not the uncle, or Blake's father. Upon meeting your new boyfriend's parents for the first time, would you feel comfortable to ask his dad if he had liked the last girlfriend? Anne's uncle and Blake's father gave me the vague-creeps in how they talked and touched Anne.
Blake becoming more Mr. Hyde than Dr. Jekyll as the relationship progressed was well-played and creeped me out, all the while making me want to smack Anne for being such a spineless girl for putting up with his hot 'n' cold behavior.
The "big finale" left me yawning.
It was an OK read, enough to pass the time. However, I wouldn't recommend it to my readers.
The summary of this book made me excited to read it. The tragedy of Anne losing her parents in a car accident, connecting her to Blake, what with his tragedy of his girlfriend drowning earlier that summer...this is a real thing. People bond through similar experiences, both positive and negative, and I felt it was a great set-up for the plot, which is even thickened by odd behavior of Blake's friends and brother.
However, I was disappointed.
Tragedy Girl failed to deliver.
The world building is almost entirely left to the reader's imagination. All we know is Anne moved to Hollis Island to live with her aunt and uncle, and there's a beach nearby where Blake's old girlfriend drowned. The high school is mentioned, and the characters' respective houses, but very little goes into the actual description of the settings.
The characters are flat and uninteresting. Anne is the most well-developed, but she became annoying after a while. Her concerned best friend from back home has one defining characteristic: he's gay. Then there's Natalie, the school bitch, who alternates between spitting venom and abject crying. Anne's two new friends at school were so boring, I kept mixing the two up.
Then there's Blake, the All-American boy who lost his girlfriend and is trying to move on with Anne. I don't even remember if there is a physical description of him.
I do know there was one for Blake's best friend Jamie. He was touted as a "River Phoenix" lookalike. I am really surprised the author would utilize the name of a Hollywood star who's been dead for almost 25 years. I teach students that would read this book, and when I asked the girls in my class if they knew who River Phoenix was, I got blank stares in return. This is not surprising; there are high schoolers who don't know who 'NSYNC was 12 years ago.
Also, the usage of Occam's razor was an out-of-left-field reference. Anne didn't strike me as that knowledgeable.
The transitions and segues between scenes were choppy. One scene would end on a one-word sentence, and then new dialogue begins the next scene, but there's no clear-cut reason why. Again, poor world-building.
The dialogue was good between characters; I did believe the interactions between Anne and her aunt. But not the uncle, or Blake's father. Upon meeting your new boyfriend's parents for the first time, would you feel comfortable to ask his dad if he had liked the last girlfriend? Anne's uncle and Blake's father gave me the vague-creeps in how they talked and touched Anne.
Blake becoming more Mr. Hyde than Dr. Jekyll as the relationship progressed was well-played and creeped me out, all the while making me want to smack Anne for being such a spineless girl for putting up with his hot 'n' cold behavior.
The "big finale" left me yawning.
It was an OK read, enough to pass the time. However, I wouldn't recommend it to my readers.
February 27, 2017
"Tragedy Girl" was a story full of suspense and fright. Anne, whose parents have died in a car accident, moves in with her aunt and uncle. At her new school she meets Blake, whose girlfriend Cara supposedly drowned one night at a beach party. Blake seems like the perfect guy, but Anne starts to notice some things about him that seem a little off, such as his "bipolarness" and his flawed facts about Cara's death. This leads Anne and her friends to discover that Blake was actually responsible for his girlfriend's death, and that she didn't drown.
I loved (and hated) the suspense in this book, because it kept the book interesting. This story was very well-written, because it explored issues of family, self-identity, friendship, and ethics in a unique way.
I loved (and hated) the suspense in this book, because it kept the book interesting. This story was very well-written, because it explored issues of family, self-identity, friendship, and ethics in a unique way.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 20, 2025
This book was fun to read, even though it did suck. You can tell this author is not at all used to writing thrillers. Tana French, she is not. I could guess exactly what happened by the third chapter. Nothing held my attention, not even the parts with the letters that I guess were supposed to throw us off the scent, so to speak, but they were so obviously filler. You can tell that Deriso thought that thrillers were just contemporary novels with the obligatory elements thrown in to make it a mystery, which probably explained why those elements were so cliche, like anonymous letters and “the body never being found”. A third grader could have read this book and realized that the boyfriend did it. She made it way too obvious from the get go, with him layering on the charm and then all of a sudden blowing his top. I recently finished In the Woods, by the aforementioned Tana French, and while I did kind of suspect who did it, the killer was still a fantastic subtle portrayal of a sociopath. The boyfriend was not. If this was a real life case, and I was watching it with my mom on the ID channel, we probably would have turned it off by the midway point. Hell, the ID channel probably wouldn’t have even bothered to make a show about it, since it has nothing that could be worth making a show about it, except maybe the whole letter thing (a missing body isn’t really that suspicious, especially in a seaside town. The ocean tends to keep its dead). Anne’s a dull main character by the way, and I’m impressed that someone as “brilliant” as she claimed to be needed a therapist and a best friend (with one personality trait- gay. Oh, the inclusiveness!) halfway across the country to spell out the weirdness about Blake. And they never even met him! I don’t get how trained police officers (and probably detectives as well) were so quick to write him off as a suspect. Lt Joe Kenda could probably just glance at Blake and tell the police to arrest him. But no, we need Anne to come in and save the day. There was a mean girl and some obligatory references to how hot the new girl (Anne) is from her adoring interchangeable friends, but they don’t really matter at all, do they? I liked the aunt and uncle though, and thought they were stand-up guardians for Anne, with all her whining selfishness. The writing was also bad- very simplistic for the most part, but with some big words and out of left field references to things like Occam’s Razor, that just made the whole thing feel confused and jumbled together. It was actually hard to believe that this book wasn’t a self-published novel, but it actually went through an editor. This book is good brain fluff and fun to hate read, but if you are looking for an actually good mystery-thriller, step far away from Tragedy Girl.
Read more like this review on my blog, http://www.bookwormbasics.blogspot.com
Read more like this review on my blog, http://www.bookwormbasics.blogspot.com
April 5, 2016
Read this review and more on my blog, The Reality of Books: https://therealityofbooks.wordpress.com/
Tragedy Girl by Christine Hurley Deriso tells the tale of a teenage girl, Anne, and her path through the high school landscape after the death of her parents in a car accident. Anne meets Blake, and it seems like a match handed to her directly from her parents—he too has suffered a great loss; his girlfriend Cara drowned in a freak accident before the beginning of the school year. But the more Anne gets to know Blake, the less she wants to be alone with him. She begins to think that perhaps Cara’s death was not really an accident at all, and wonders what part Blake had in her death.
This is not a love story.
Well, okay. It’s supposed to be a love story. Anne meets Blake. Everyone says “there’s something off about him,” “you should stay away from him,” etc etc, but Anne decides to go on a date with him anyway. They are mirrors for each other’s grief, or so she thinks. But Blake shows a darker side quickly, and Anne realizes that something isn’t quite right with him. However, SHE KEEPS MOVING FORWARD WITH HIM ANYWAY.
Note from the book author: “Attention readers. When a significant other is verbally abusive to you, it’s all cool. Go ahead and stay with them even if you suspect they’ve done deeper darker things.”
Anne learns that Cara’s body was never found, and in trying to do some investigation, encourages Blake to take her to the beach where Cara died. Blake, of course, flips out at the beach. (Predictable, but okay. I guess I’ll go with the mystery here). I just can’t buy that Anne would stay with Blake through all of his outbursts and ups and downs combined with the mysterious notes warning her away from him and his best friend Jamie.
Note from moi: “If you have relationship doubts, it’s okay to leave that relationship. Don’t stay just because you think you’ll make the person sad.”
Long story short, the borderline (and at times flat out) abusive nature of the Anne/Blake relationship ruined this book for me. I get the idea that in our grief, we can be drawn to things that aren’t good for us. However, there are too many red flags and too many icky messages that aren’t carefully delivered to the reader to make it really stick.
I would, however, like to say that Deriso does a pretty good job writing wise. Characters aside, her set/world building is great, the dialogue is lovely, and she has some great prose happening. The characters just simply aren’t there for me, and really, it’s the characters that make or break you. As this is a message close to my heart, I was looking for something stronger.
2 stars.
**I received Tragedy Girl, by Christine Hurley Deriso, as an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Tragedy Girl is expected for publication April 8th, 2016, by Flux.
Tragedy Girl by Christine Hurley Deriso tells the tale of a teenage girl, Anne, and her path through the high school landscape after the death of her parents in a car accident. Anne meets Blake, and it seems like a match handed to her directly from her parents—he too has suffered a great loss; his girlfriend Cara drowned in a freak accident before the beginning of the school year. But the more Anne gets to know Blake, the less she wants to be alone with him. She begins to think that perhaps Cara’s death was not really an accident at all, and wonders what part Blake had in her death.
This is not a love story.
Well, okay. It’s supposed to be a love story. Anne meets Blake. Everyone says “there’s something off about him,” “you should stay away from him,” etc etc, but Anne decides to go on a date with him anyway. They are mirrors for each other’s grief, or so she thinks. But Blake shows a darker side quickly, and Anne realizes that something isn’t quite right with him. However, SHE KEEPS MOVING FORWARD WITH HIM ANYWAY.
Note from the book author: “Attention readers. When a significant other is verbally abusive to you, it’s all cool. Go ahead and stay with them even if you suspect they’ve done deeper darker things.”
Anne learns that Cara’s body was never found, and in trying to do some investigation, encourages Blake to take her to the beach where Cara died. Blake, of course, flips out at the beach. (Predictable, but okay. I guess I’ll go with the mystery here). I just can’t buy that Anne would stay with Blake through all of his outbursts and ups and downs combined with the mysterious notes warning her away from him and his best friend Jamie.
Note from moi: “If you have relationship doubts, it’s okay to leave that relationship. Don’t stay just because you think you’ll make the person sad.”
Long story short, the borderline (and at times flat out) abusive nature of the Anne/Blake relationship ruined this book for me. I get the idea that in our grief, we can be drawn to things that aren’t good for us. However, there are too many red flags and too many icky messages that aren’t carefully delivered to the reader to make it really stick.
I would, however, like to say that Deriso does a pretty good job writing wise. Characters aside, her set/world building is great, the dialogue is lovely, and she has some great prose happening. The characters just simply aren’t there for me, and really, it’s the characters that make or break you. As this is a message close to my heart, I was looking for something stronger.
2 stars.
**I received Tragedy Girl, by Christine Hurley Deriso, as an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Tragedy Girl is expected for publication April 8th, 2016, by Flux.
March 2, 2016
I wanted to read Tragedy Girl because I am drawn to the books with hard issues. Both are bringing hard things to the table, and to top it off Anne may be in danger from Blake, either abuse or possibly involved in death of his previous girlfriend based on the ominous end to the synopsis.
The writing was good and it immediately drew me in. Anne is a good main character and I liked her. she was going through a lot, she is dealing with her parents passing away the last springs and she started over at a new school for her senior year so there's fighting the stigma being the new girl on top of that she has her own tragedy from her past to deal with.
It seems pretty natural that her and Blake would connect they both have things that they wish that they can move on from .... not forget but not have everyone look at them with pity and treat them differently. They have lockers right beside one another and this allows them to have more conversations and put them in a position to have interaction with one another.
It was the groups of girls that kind of had me thrown off at first. they seem nice but then there was also a girl who apparently has been crushing on Blake for a long time and she is not very nice to Anne at all and causes some pretty big scenes. I was wondering if she was really being protective over him or that was a whole other issue. the other two seem to include anne.in their plans and their group of friendship and I like them.
There are few things that were off about blake. one day and thought she saw fear in his little brothers eyes when they were together and then the way that Blakes so called best friend was acting just seemed really off to her.
I enjoyed the sense of family in this one. Annes aunt and uncle invited her to come live with him after her parents passed away. they really go out of their way to see how she's doing and make her feel at home and include her in their plans. I like them both a lot and even though there's times where you know they almost seem overbearing and things can seem a little awkward I really appreciate how hard they were trying to care for her and be there for her after everything that happened
Source: Flux via netgalley
Disclaimer: I received this book as an ARC (advanced review copy). I am not paid for this review, and my opinions in this review are mine, and are not effected by the book being free.
Bottom Line: Good sense of family and writing that drew me in.
The writing was good and it immediately drew me in. Anne is a good main character and I liked her. she was going through a lot, she is dealing with her parents passing away the last springs and she started over at a new school for her senior year so there's fighting the stigma being the new girl on top of that she has her own tragedy from her past to deal with.
It seems pretty natural that her and Blake would connect they both have things that they wish that they can move on from .... not forget but not have everyone look at them with pity and treat them differently. They have lockers right beside one another and this allows them to have more conversations and put them in a position to have interaction with one another.
It was the groups of girls that kind of had me thrown off at first. they seem nice but then there was also a girl who apparently has been crushing on Blake for a long time and she is not very nice to Anne at all and causes some pretty big scenes. I was wondering if she was really being protective over him or that was a whole other issue. the other two seem to include anne.in their plans and their group of friendship and I like them.
There are few things that were off about blake. one day and thought she saw fear in his little brothers eyes when they were together and then the way that Blakes so called best friend was acting just seemed really off to her.
I enjoyed the sense of family in this one. Annes aunt and uncle invited her to come live with him after her parents passed away. they really go out of their way to see how she's doing and make her feel at home and include her in their plans. I like them both a lot and even though there's times where you know they almost seem overbearing and things can seem a little awkward I really appreciate how hard they were trying to care for her and be there for her after everything that happened
Source: Flux via netgalley
Disclaimer: I received this book as an ARC (advanced review copy). I am not paid for this review, and my opinions in this review are mine, and are not effected by the book being free.
Bottom Line: Good sense of family and writing that drew me in.
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