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Girl at the Edge
Not a single resident of St. Augustine, Florida, can forget the day that Michael Joshua Hayes walked into a shopping mall and walked out the mass murderer of eleven people.
He's now spent over a decade on death row, and his daughter Evelyn - who doesn't remember a time when her father wasn't an infamous killer - is determined to unravel the mystery and understand what drove her father to shoot those innocent victims.
Evelyn's search brings her to a support group for children of incarcerated parents, where a fierce friendship develops with another young woman named Clarisse. Soon the girls are inseparable, and by the beginning of the summer, Evelyn is poised at the edge of her future and must make a life-defining choice. Whether to believe that a parent's legacy of violence is escapable or that history will simply keep repeating itself. Whether we choose it to or not.
He's now spent over a decade on death row, and his daughter Evelyn - who doesn't remember a time when her father wasn't an infamous killer - is determined to unravel the mystery and understand what drove her father to shoot those innocent victims.
Evelyn's search brings her to a support group for children of incarcerated parents, where a fierce friendship develops with another young woman named Clarisse. Soon the girls are inseparable, and by the beginning of the summer, Evelyn is poised at the edge of her future and must make a life-defining choice. Whether to believe that a parent's legacy of violence is escapable or that history will simply keep repeating itself. Whether we choose it to or not.
357 pages, Paperback
First published March 3, 2020
19 people are currently reading
4323 people want to read
About the author
Karen Dietrich
11 books78 followersKaren Dietrich is the author of GIRL AT THE EDGE, a psychological thriller from Grand Central Publishing. She is also the author of THE GIRL FACTORY: A MEMOIR and several poetry chapbooks. Karen plays drums in the indie rock band Essential Machine. She lives east of Pittsburgh, PA with her husband, son, and three cats.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 106 reviews
January 20, 2020
I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.
This book is DARK. The biggest question it asks is are we who we are due to nature, nurture, or both? It's a question the main character, Evelyn, is struggling with, because her father killed 11 people in a mass shooting and is on death row. She joins a support group, where she meets a girl with similar questions, and the story follows them as they try to find the answers. There are quite a few disturbing scenes, which one would expect due to the nature of the book. The set up is a bit slow, but once it picks up steam it doesn't really slow down. The writing style is really beautiful; not a ton of dialogue, but so many analogies and deep thoughts that it doesn't really matter. Great read!
This book is DARK. The biggest question it asks is are we who we are due to nature, nurture, or both? It's a question the main character, Evelyn, is struggling with, because her father killed 11 people in a mass shooting and is on death row. She joins a support group, where she meets a girl with similar questions, and the story follows them as they try to find the answers. There are quite a few disturbing scenes, which one would expect due to the nature of the book. The set up is a bit slow, but once it picks up steam it doesn't really slow down. The writing style is really beautiful; not a ton of dialogue, but so many analogies and deep thoughts that it doesn't really matter. Great read!
January 31, 2021
This book was a completely and utterly disappointing story about Evelyn who is trying to justify the actions of her father (a mass shooter) through her strange teenage angst.
Tagged as a suspense, thriller.. I had no such luck being thrilled, suspended or releasing any kind of emotion what so ever.
This book presented so many amazing possibilities for its four main characters and every single one was a underwhelming let down. I felt like the author would bring you so close to the edge of something truly amazing.. and then with much of a "nah forget about it" type attitude would change topics and walk away from the situations that could have made this book mind blowing.
The subject matter, the concept, the story.. all truly original and inspiring..
The execution however, left me on the edge... of wanting to pick up a different book!
Tagged as a suspense, thriller.. I had no such luck being thrilled, suspended or releasing any kind of emotion what so ever.
This book presented so many amazing possibilities for its four main characters and every single one was a underwhelming let down. I felt like the author would bring you so close to the edge of something truly amazing.. and then with much of a "nah forget about it" type attitude would change topics and walk away from the situations that could have made this book mind blowing.
The subject matter, the concept, the story.. all truly original and inspiring..
The execution however, left me on the edge... of wanting to pick up a different book!
April 14, 2020
It's very rare that I get a book in MyBookBox that I don't like but this was definitely one I didn't like. It's absolutely psychological but not suspense. There wasn't much in terms of action moving the story forward. Instead we get a lot of floating, elaborate, and lyrical mental dialogue from a mentally unsound teen girl who imagines how everyone dies. I think my main problem with this story was why it was even necessary. Why would Evelyn's mother even acknowledge who Evelyn's father was. She was barely pregnant and no one would have known she was. She could have changed her name, moved away and Evelyn wouldn't have grown up with the stigma of her father's deeds. I hated the open ending. The only good things in this book were Evelyn's mothers. The book was not fast paced but it was easy to read.
March 6, 2020
This is a dark book, but make no mistake, it makes you think. The age old question....nature vs. nurture, and does it make a difference? Evelyn’s father is on death row for a horrific crime. Is Evelyn like her father? Can she kill someone?
March 3, 2020
Many thanks to NetGalley, Grand Central Publishing and Karen Dietrich for the opportunity to read and review this dark thriller. 4.5 stars!
A serial killer walked into a mall and killed 11 people in St Augustine, FL, and now sits on death row. His daughter, whom he has never met, is a teenager now obsessed with death and trying to understand why her father did what he did. Her mother encourages her to go to a support group for kids with incarcerated parents where she meets Clarisse, daughter of another murderer. They instantly have a connection and spent the summer together talking about testing each other to see if they could be like their fathers.
This is both a coming of age story as well as exploring the topic of nature vs nurture. The writing is spot on, even when it is dark enough to make you shiver.
A serial killer walked into a mall and killed 11 people in St Augustine, FL, and now sits on death row. His daughter, whom he has never met, is a teenager now obsessed with death and trying to understand why her father did what he did. Her mother encourages her to go to a support group for kids with incarcerated parents where she meets Clarisse, daughter of another murderer. They instantly have a connection and spent the summer together talking about testing each other to see if they could be like their fathers.
This is both a coming of age story as well as exploring the topic of nature vs nurture. The writing is spot on, even when it is dark enough to make you shiver.
May 14, 2020
For some reason, I just couldn’t buy the voice. The voice didn’t feel like the right age.
March 11, 2020
"My father is a murderer." So begins Girl at the Edge, a compelling and deeply disturbing consideration of the invisible victims of horrendous crime: the perpetrator's family. Evelyn's father had an extramarital relationship with her mother, Mira, and when his wife learned of the affair and left him, he took up residence with Mira. Six months before Evelyn's birth, he kidnapped his wife from the jewelry store at which she was employed, situated in the Ponce de Leon Mall in St. Augustine, Florida. He shot and killed eleven other people in the mall before forcing his wife into his car and shooting her. Evelyn has never met or corresponded with her father; has never visited him at the Florida prison where, condemned for his crimes, he will reside on death row until the sentence is carried out.
Evelyn's story is told through her insightful but chilling first-person narrative. She can't recall when she first became aware of her father's history -- she has no "sit-down-and-have-a-serious-talk-with-my-mother memory" in her mind. But she has memories of other children taunting her at school. "A kid who sat next to me in reading group in first grade who whispered in my ear, My dad says your dad killed people, . . ." When she was six years old, she and her mother moved to Pass-a-Grille, a small beach town two hundred miles from St. Augustine, and they continue residing there with her mother's partner, Shea. Evelyn has numerous new articles about her father bookmarked on her internet browser, but doesn't open the links. She describes how she can never escape the knowledge that her father's "actions are like a rock thrown in the water, creating a wake, circles of motion emanating from the center out, ripples in the surface. His actions ended ancestral blood lines, tore lovers apart, left children without mothers an fathers, made orphans and widows with each squeeze of the trigger. And now his actions overshadow him. He's reduced to a mug shot, a name on a list 00 of mass murderers, mall murderers, death row inmates."
And as his actions overshadow him, they hound and perplex Evelyn. She has moved from simply knowing what happened on that horrible day to needing to know why it happened." And contemplating whether, because he was capable of committing such monstrous acts, she is inevitably like him and, therefore, also capable of killing.
Dietrich's prose is eloquent -- rich and evocative, almost rhythmic which, given that she is a poet is not surprising. She describes Evelyn's feelings and inner struggle convincingly and empathetically. In Evelyn, Dietrich has drawn a complex, deeply trouble character. She has disturbing visions and has to remind herself that what she is seeing is not real. She maintains The Catalogue of Everything I've Done Wrong into which she enters details concerning acts about which she feels remorse or shame. Despite being raised by a loving mother, and living in a stable home with Mira and Shea, she wrest;es with self-doubt and tries to understand whether the dominant force in shaping her character has been nurturance or if, perhaps, she shares an inherently dark nature with her father. Dietrich says Evelyn is "grappling with her own identity and trying to figure out how to navigate the legacy her father has left through his violent act."
The story moves at a steady pace, as Evelyn joins the support group and her friendship with the risk-taking Clarisse deepens. The two girls have much in common and embark upon a course of action fraught with danger. Dietrich's examination of Evelyn's includes staggering developments that are shocking, as well as heartbreaking. Evelyn and Clarisse are not typical American teenage girls. They are part of a distinct group who are involuntarily saddled with shame, notoreity, revulsion, and a desire for normalcy that perpetually eludes them because of the heinous actions of a family member. Dietrich deftly encourages readers to consider their plight and draw their own conclusions, even though she notes that she believes "we're all at the mercy of both nature and nurture."
Girl at the Edge is a fascinating study of one young woman's circumstances that is not easy to walk away from after reading the last page. Readers will find Evelyn's inner turmoil and actions haunting, and will likely never view a news story about yet another mass shooting the same way again.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
Evelyn's story is told through her insightful but chilling first-person narrative. She can't recall when she first became aware of her father's history -- she has no "sit-down-and-have-a-serious-talk-with-my-mother memory" in her mind. But she has memories of other children taunting her at school. "A kid who sat next to me in reading group in first grade who whispered in my ear, My dad says your dad killed people, . . ." When she was six years old, she and her mother moved to Pass-a-Grille, a small beach town two hundred miles from St. Augustine, and they continue residing there with her mother's partner, Shea. Evelyn has numerous new articles about her father bookmarked on her internet browser, but doesn't open the links. She describes how she can never escape the knowledge that her father's "actions are like a rock thrown in the water, creating a wake, circles of motion emanating from the center out, ripples in the surface. His actions ended ancestral blood lines, tore lovers apart, left children without mothers an fathers, made orphans and widows with each squeeze of the trigger. And now his actions overshadow him. He's reduced to a mug shot, a name on a list 00 of mass murderers, mall murderers, death row inmates."
And as his actions overshadow him, they hound and perplex Evelyn. She has moved from simply knowing what happened on that horrible day to needing to know why it happened." And contemplating whether, because he was capable of committing such monstrous acts, she is inevitably like him and, therefore, also capable of killing.
Dietrich's prose is eloquent -- rich and evocative, almost rhythmic which, given that she is a poet is not surprising. She describes Evelyn's feelings and inner struggle convincingly and empathetically. In Evelyn, Dietrich has drawn a complex, deeply trouble character. She has disturbing visions and has to remind herself that what she is seeing is not real. She maintains The Catalogue of Everything I've Done Wrong into which she enters details concerning acts about which she feels remorse or shame. Despite being raised by a loving mother, and living in a stable home with Mira and Shea, she wrest;es with self-doubt and tries to understand whether the dominant force in shaping her character has been nurturance or if, perhaps, she shares an inherently dark nature with her father. Dietrich says Evelyn is "grappling with her own identity and trying to figure out how to navigate the legacy her father has left through his violent act."
The story moves at a steady pace, as Evelyn joins the support group and her friendship with the risk-taking Clarisse deepens. The two girls have much in common and embark upon a course of action fraught with danger. Dietrich's examination of Evelyn's includes staggering developments that are shocking, as well as heartbreaking. Evelyn and Clarisse are not typical American teenage girls. They are part of a distinct group who are involuntarily saddled with shame, notoreity, revulsion, and a desire for normalcy that perpetually eludes them because of the heinous actions of a family member. Dietrich deftly encourages readers to consider their plight and draw their own conclusions, even though she notes that she believes "we're all at the mercy of both nature and nurture."
Girl at the Edge is a fascinating study of one young woman's circumstances that is not easy to walk away from after reading the last page. Readers will find Evelyn's inner turmoil and actions haunting, and will likely never view a news story about yet another mass shooting the same way again.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
March 25, 2020
Girl at the Edge Review
I was lucky enough to get a copy of this one from my bestie. I don’t normally read YA but this one sounded so interesting and dark I decided to give it a go.
I really enjoyed Evelyn as the main character in this book. I thought it was really interesting the way she developed into what she became. I like the idea of her exploring the concept of genetics and if homicidal tendencies are something that is passes on or something completely different. It was a fun read with some really intense parts.
SYNOPSIS:
Not a single resident of St. Augustine, Florida, can forget the day that Michael Joshua Hayes walked into a shopping mall and walked out the mass murderer of eleven people.
He's now spent over a decade on death row, and his daughter Evelyn - who doesn't remember a time when her father wasn't an infamous killer - is determined to unravel the mystery and understand what drove her father to shoot those innocent victims.
Evelyn's search brings her to a support group for children of incarcerated parents, where a fierce friendship develops with another young woman named Clarisse. Soon the girls are inseparable, and by the beginning of the summer, Evelyn is poised at the edge of her future and must make a life-defining choice. Whether to believe that a parent's legacy of violence is escapable or that history will simply keep repeating itself. Whether we choose it to or not.
I was lucky enough to get a copy of this one from my bestie. I don’t normally read YA but this one sounded so interesting and dark I decided to give it a go.
I really enjoyed Evelyn as the main character in this book. I thought it was really interesting the way she developed into what she became. I like the idea of her exploring the concept of genetics and if homicidal tendencies are something that is passes on or something completely different. It was a fun read with some really intense parts.
SYNOPSIS:
Not a single resident of St. Augustine, Florida, can forget the day that Michael Joshua Hayes walked into a shopping mall and walked out the mass murderer of eleven people.
He's now spent over a decade on death row, and his daughter Evelyn - who doesn't remember a time when her father wasn't an infamous killer - is determined to unravel the mystery and understand what drove her father to shoot those innocent victims.
Evelyn's search brings her to a support group for children of incarcerated parents, where a fierce friendship develops with another young woman named Clarisse. Soon the girls are inseparable, and by the beginning of the summer, Evelyn is poised at the edge of her future and must make a life-defining choice. Whether to believe that a parent's legacy of violence is escapable or that history will simply keep repeating itself. Whether we choose it to or not.
did-not-finish
March 13, 2020GIRL AT THE EDGE is more of a character study of a teenager whose father is on death row, rather than the thriller I was expecting. Evelyn's father is a mass murderer, which is an incredible burden to bear as his daughter. Is evil in her DNA, and is ending up like him unavoidable? The writing is good, however the story just isn't for me. Stopping at 40%. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.
March 15, 2020
I received an ARC of this title from Grand Central Publishing via Net Galley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you!
In a nutshell, this is a story about nature vs nurture. Our hero, Evelyn, is the teenage daughter of a mass killer awaiting execution, grappling with the enormity of her father's crimes, the notoriety that has made her another of his victims, and the horrifying question of whether his capacity for evil is genetic.
Let's get what I didn't really care for out of the way, with my disclaimer. The writing style is what I've come to think of as "MFA style," where every thought is uber described with lots of poetic analogies. That's just not my favorite--I'm more of an Elmore Leonard girl. I do acknowledge that my failure to appreciate this style is far more likely a failing on my part, rather than the writer's.
What I did like - virtually everything, even with a writing style that isn't my favorite. Everything came together for a story I thoroughly enjoyed. The premise sucked me in and I liked Evelyn right off the bat. I was reading happily when things started to get darker and deeper, which made me even happier. The pacing was great with no dragging; I could feel the Florida humidity and smell the flowers and salt breeze; Evelyn's voice was clear and true; the supporting cast was spot-on; and I appreciated the nod to LGBT acceptance. Although the narrator's youth gave the story a YA feel--which I don't mind at all, even as an old lady myself--some of the subject matter (substance use, somewhat explicit sex) makes me think this is for older teens and up. I stayed up too late on a school night so I could finish it, and I'm not sorry.
I see this is Karen Dietrich's first novel and I'm hoping she writes more. If she writes them, I'll read them.
In a nutshell, this is a story about nature vs nurture. Our hero, Evelyn, is the teenage daughter of a mass killer awaiting execution, grappling with the enormity of her father's crimes, the notoriety that has made her another of his victims, and the horrifying question of whether his capacity for evil is genetic.
Let's get what I didn't really care for out of the way, with my disclaimer. The writing style is what I've come to think of as "MFA style," where every thought is uber described with lots of poetic analogies. That's just not my favorite--I'm more of an Elmore Leonard girl. I do acknowledge that my failure to appreciate this style is far more likely a failing on my part, rather than the writer's.
What I did like - virtually everything, even with a writing style that isn't my favorite. Everything came together for a story I thoroughly enjoyed. The premise sucked me in and I liked Evelyn right off the bat. I was reading happily when things started to get darker and deeper, which made me even happier. The pacing was great with no dragging; I could feel the Florida humidity and smell the flowers and salt breeze; Evelyn's voice was clear and true; the supporting cast was spot-on; and I appreciated the nod to LGBT acceptance. Although the narrator's youth gave the story a YA feel--which I don't mind at all, even as an old lady myself--some of the subject matter (substance use, somewhat explicit sex) makes me think this is for older teens and up. I stayed up too late on a school night so I could finish it, and I'm not sorry.
I see this is Karen Dietrich's first novel and I'm hoping she writes more. If she writes them, I'll read them.
February 19, 2020
I received an advanced copy. It is a story of Evelyn, a young teen whose father is imprisoned for a murdering spree, killing several people. It is a dark story of nature vs nurture theory of Evelyn and a friend she met in a support group for those whose family member has/is in prison. The girls decide to test whether they have 'it' within them to kill someone...
April 5, 2020
The concept was clever and at times the writing was exceptional, but the book left me unengaged, uninspired, and unimpressed. I always wish for more closure.
April 2, 2020
I found this book to be extremely sick and twisted. The main character is absolutely insane. This book leaves you hanging at the end with nothing at all resolved. It doesn't quite fit in the thriller genre but is more of a disturbing fictional psychological case study.
April 1, 2020
Wow this book was DARK! I really loved the writing style since it was rich and flowed well. Girl at the Edge utilizes an unreliable and complex narrator combined with a disjointed plot, making it hard to tell what was actually happening sometimes and what was imagined. Evelyn’s story and inner struggle is chilling yet fascinating, thoroughly exploring the concept of nature versus nurture. The pace was relatively slow but consistent throughout the novel and I was captivated by the unique premise. The author did an amazing job regarding character development and putting the reader directly in Evelyn’s shoes (and mind), no matter how uncomfortable that may make you at times! I would not consider this a thriller, as it is sometimes advertised, but more of a psychological and character-driven insight/breakdown of a young teenager struggling to cope with her father being a murderer. Thank you so much to @hooked.by.books for my giveaway win!
July 25, 2022
If you like horny books about high schoolers who also have an affinity for serial killers, this book is for you. Unfortunately, I am not one of those people, and I found the author’s voice unbelievable and the protagonist dry and uninteresting.
Author should also have done their research because they said lethal injections were of sodium chloride (salt) 🧐🧐
Author should also have done their research because they said lethal injections were of sodium chloride (salt) 🧐🧐
May 11, 2020
Girl At The Edge reminds me of Defending Jacob and the Murder Gene. Only so much worse.
Or better. Dietrich didn't set out to write a book that would leave you feeling all happily-ever-after. She wrote a book that will make you examine your soul. She gives a poetic elegance to words that flow from one page to the next that leaves the reader afraid to blink for fear she will miss something.
Kudos to Ms. Dietrich, can't wait to see what you do next.
Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for an early peak at this book.
Or better. Dietrich didn't set out to write a book that would leave you feeling all happily-ever-after. She wrote a book that will make you examine your soul. She gives a poetic elegance to words that flow from one page to the next that leaves the reader afraid to blink for fear she will miss something.
Kudos to Ms. Dietrich, can't wait to see what you do next.
Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for an early peak at this book.
April 30, 2020
i finished this whole book all in about 3 sittings one night because i just could not bring myself to put it down! I actually really liked it. i expected this to be a huge thriller book but i found it more psychological. i think the author did an excellent job helping describe both Evelyn and her father. i found this book to be very very DARK and disturbing! it sucks you right in and makes you want to continue turning the page without stopping. The book really makes you think. i don’t think the book is for everyone due to how disturbing some patten could be, but others will find it absolutely thrilling. i give this 4.5 stars and look for more books by this author. thank you netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
March 26, 2020
For all you Murderinos out there - myself included - this is an interesting take on a young woman whose father is in prison for murder. Not only that, but you see this woman slowly go downhill and you start to wonder about her emotional wellbeing. I think the best part of this book was that the girl never really seems to understand who she is. And if that's not most of us...
Girl at the Edge is a book that you might want to keep reading. Maybe because you want to make sure you stay more sane than the main character. Watching her fall is like candy for us Murderinos. And of course, you want to read all the way to that last page.
4/5 Stars
Girl at the Edge is a book that you might want to keep reading. Maybe because you want to make sure you stay more sane than the main character. Watching her fall is like candy for us Murderinos. And of course, you want to read all the way to that last page.
4/5 Stars
May 11, 2020
I give this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. A story about Evelyn, who grew up surrounded by news that her father is a murderer and is on a death row. Determined to find out the reasons behind her father’s actions, she went out to investigate and do a lot of research and unravel more than she intended.
I can’t imagine Evelyn’s dilemma and rough times growing up haunted by news and knowledge that her father killed a lot of people. Can’t you just brush that off? This book is dark, chilling, and riveting. All the characters are intriguing, and the sequences are splendid. It is a battle of whether you conquer your fear or you become what you're afraid of. It is a fascinating read.
I can’t imagine Evelyn’s dilemma and rough times growing up haunted by news and knowledge that her father killed a lot of people. Can’t you just brush that off? This book is dark, chilling, and riveting. All the characters are intriguing, and the sequences are splendid. It is a battle of whether you conquer your fear or you become what you're afraid of. It is a fascinating read.
June 13, 2020
This book reads like a character study narrated by our main character, Evelyn, and her internal dialogue which uses multiple metaphors, as she examines her life and her connection to her Father. A suspenseful book with quite the ending.
September 17, 2024
Started off really strong then it kind of just fizzled out. It was beautifully written, however, just not the psychological drama I was expecting. Overall a good read
September 29, 2020
Haiku review:
Nature or nurture
That is the answer she seeks
Chilling and haunting
Nature or nurture
That is the answer she seeks
Chilling and haunting
November 1, 2020
3.5 stars. Good but very open ended, which I hate. Would be interested in a sequel!
March 21, 2020
I like the concept of Nature vs. Nurture but thought this plot could’ve been stronger. It jumped around too much for me and didn’t have a strong ending to tie it together.
February 28, 2020
Evelyn has always felt she had something dark growing inside her.....something possibly passed down from her father, who is on death row for a mass murder at a shopping mall. Her mom suggests she go to a support group for children of incarcerated parents. She agrees, and it is there that she meets Clarisse. They become instant best friends. Clarisse is dealing with the same demons that Evelyn is. Then Evelyn proposes that they play a game to prove that they are not like their fathers. They will each try to kill someone. If they can't go through with it then they are nothing like them.
I have mixed feelings about this book. It started out really slow and I almost quit reading it but I am glad I didn't. I liked the book overall. However, Evelyn had no redeeming features and I felt that her character was a little flat and didn't feel real. The storyline was unique and fresh, and I wanted to keep reading to see how it all ended.
I have mixed feelings about this book. It started out really slow and I almost quit reading it but I am glad I didn't. I liked the book overall. However, Evelyn had no redeeming features and I felt that her character was a little flat and didn't feel real. The storyline was unique and fresh, and I wanted to keep reading to see how it all ended.
July 21, 2020
I have a lot of mixed feelings on this book. I kinda like it and hate it all at once. There were some parts I found intriguing and other parts were aggravating or boring. Also, a few scenes were dark and disturbing. I understand what the author was trying to do, but I just didn't enjoy the execution. This book is very descriptive, more than anything else. There are so many metaphors in this book that it probably takes up one third of the novel. I love metaphors, but this book basically explained every single one. There was just a lot of unnecessary detail given in some areas of the writing. I didn't enjoy that and I didn't like the overall writing style either.
I found the first chapter of the book the most annoying and the hardest to get through. I actually considered not reading the book because I was so uninterested. I didn't particularly like the characters or their back stories. I was just indifferent.
I also thought it was a little weird that the main character was able to go out of town, overnight with a boy at the end of the book, yet her mother is a complete worrywart throughout the book otherwise. I don't understand how that was overlooked. She is still a teenager so what changed?
In the end, there was quite a few open ended questions and branches of the story line left undone. It feels like a cop out on the author's part. I think that is to encourage more deep thinking and discussion, but I'd rather have had more depth in the story.
I saw in one of the reviews that this is for young adult, but at the same time, I wonder if it really is? All I can say is, I would hesitate to give it to my teenager.
Overall, this is a decent, but very odd book. I mean I can't even figure out what it is that I actually liked about this book?!?
My favourite word to describe this book is perplexing. That is still how I feel.
It was not a satisfying read for me.
I can't say I'm interested in pursuing this author's work any further.
I found the first chapter of the book the most annoying and the hardest to get through. I actually considered not reading the book because I was so uninterested. I didn't particularly like the characters or their back stories. I was just indifferent.
I also thought it was a little weird that the main character was able to go out of town, overnight with a boy at the end of the book, yet her mother is a complete worrywart throughout the book otherwise. I don't understand how that was overlooked. She is still a teenager so what changed?
In the end, there was quite a few open ended questions and branches of the story line left undone. It feels like a cop out on the author's part. I think that is to encourage more deep thinking and discussion, but I'd rather have had more depth in the story.
I saw in one of the reviews that this is for young adult, but at the same time, I wonder if it really is? All I can say is, I would hesitate to give it to my teenager.
Overall, this is a decent, but very odd book. I mean I can't even figure out what it is that I actually liked about this book?!?
My favourite word to describe this book is perplexing. That is still how I feel.
It was not a satisfying read for me.
I can't say I'm interested in pursuing this author's work any further.
August 22, 2020
GIRL AT THE EDGE (published March 3, 2020) is a dark, psychological novel with some suspense, but I wouldn’t classify it as being a thriller. I typically like my books to be fast-paced and have something significant happen in the beginning or throughout the book, but this one was more of a slow-burn read, but I didn’t mind it.
Even though it’s not, it read like a young adult and maybe that’s because it was told by the perspective of a teenager, Evelyn. It was exciting to get into Evelyn’s mind and see what she was thinking about possibly possessing killer tendencies like her father, whom she’s never even met and has been incarcerated since she was a baby. We’re brought into her world where she’s simply observing boys playing basketball and the next second one of them is slamming the other boy’s head into the concrete, or when she sees an older man sitting drinking coffee then unexpectedly falls off his chair while clutching his chest, but we don’t know if it’s real or just her imagination.
This book was very well written, and I enjoyed getting to know Evelyn’s character and her way of thinking, but I wanted more out of the book, especially the ending. Without giving much away, I wanted to know what happens to Evelyn, where does she go from here…? Lots of unanswered questions. Overall, a great read with a unique plot and would recommend this to anyone interested in wanting to explore the mental and emotional aspects of someone on the brink of exploring whether or not she’s a killer.
Even though it’s not, it read like a young adult and maybe that’s because it was told by the perspective of a teenager, Evelyn. It was exciting to get into Evelyn’s mind and see what she was thinking about possibly possessing killer tendencies like her father, whom she’s never even met and has been incarcerated since she was a baby. We’re brought into her world where she’s simply observing boys playing basketball and the next second one of them is slamming the other boy’s head into the concrete, or when she sees an older man sitting drinking coffee then unexpectedly falls off his chair while clutching his chest, but we don’t know if it’s real or just her imagination.
This book was very well written, and I enjoyed getting to know Evelyn’s character and her way of thinking, but I wanted more out of the book, especially the ending. Without giving much away, I wanted to know what happens to Evelyn, where does she go from here…? Lots of unanswered questions. Overall, a great read with a unique plot and would recommend this to anyone interested in wanting to explore the mental and emotional aspects of someone on the brink of exploring whether or not she’s a killer.
October 18, 2022
Holy crap Pretty Things by Janelle Brown was a good one. I love a thriller and this one was just so good with plenty of twists and turns throughout the story. It starts off a little slow, and for most of the book, you are waiting for something to happen. Even with that, you still get really into the story and just keep reading. While the length of this one can be a bit daunting, the last 150 pages or so are totally worth it.
May 30, 2021
The only good thing about this book is that I’m from the Tampa Bay Area, and all of the locations mentioned were very familiar to me. The overuse of metaphors and similes was annoying. The main character was completely unlikable. This book would have received 1 star from me, if not for the setting.
August 4, 2022
Evelyn is a teenager who has never met her father who was incarcerated for murdering 11 people. Her life is poised on the edge - is violence in her future inevitable? This story questions the nature/nurture debate. But I found the story line difficult to follow.
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