The Challenge Factory discussion

Blurb:
stunning debut novel in which a single mother reconstructs her teenaged daughter's life, sifting through her emails, texts, and social media to piece together the shocking truth about the last days of her life.

Litigation lawyer and harried single mother Kate Baron is stunned when her daughter's exclusive private school in Park Slope, Brooklyn, calls with disturbing news: her intelligent, high-achieving fifteen-year-old daughter, Amelia, has been caught cheating.

Kate can't believe that Amelia, an ambitious, levelheaded girl who's never been in trouble would do something like that. But by the time she arrives at Grace Hall, Kate's faced with far more devastating news. Amelia is dead.

Seemingly unable to cope with what she'd done, a despondent Amelia has jumped from the school's roof in an act of "spontaneous" suicide. At least that's the story Grace Hall and the police tell Kate. And overwhelmed as she is by her own guilt and shattered by grief, it is the story that Kate believes until she gets the anonymous text:

She didn't jump.

Sifting through Amelia's emails, text messages, social media postings, and cell phone logs, Kate is determined to learn the heartbreaking truth about why Amelia was on Grace Hall's roof that day-and why she died.

Told in alternating voices, Reconstructing Amelia is a story of secrets and lies, of love and betrayal, of trusted friends and vicious bullies. It's about how well a parent ever really knows a child and how far one mother will go to vindicate the memory of a daughter whose life she could not save.

Checking in

Hey! I'm here too!

Looking forward to this one too :)

Want to try to get to this one next week?

ya I'm up for it

YAY!! I've heard this one is really good!

I'm thinking I will finish

today ~ and can start on

tomorrow....

How is Bird Box coming for you?

Super creeeeeeeeppppppyyyyyyy.....

sounds good!
Mega creepy lol

Did you finish it????? I just did....
What the heck?????

Had mixed emotions about that ending... Glad she was safe... but what (view spoiler)[ was causing the craziness and how were the birds involved??? Did I miss something there?? (hide spoiler)]


I just started Reconstructing Amelia. The very beginning reminded me of Gossip Girl.. LOL!

I haven't started it yet, will be this afternoon, haven't watched GG so I wouldn't know lol

The birds were (view spoiler)[ going mad because of the creatures so they all started killing each other, and I think trying to kill the creatures? but I still don't know why the craziness kicked in to begin with though! (hide spoiler)]

I kept thinking there was more (view spoiler)[ to the birds because of the title I suppose... So we never found out what the 'monster' was that made you go crazy when you looked at it..

Did Gary say something about seeing a lot of them walking around that house they were all staying at? It was such a creepy book!

Then that last place - where they ended up at after that horrific boat ride. They seemed almost too good to be true. Then she saw their "eyes" where they were purposefully blinding people - which totally freaked her out. But then it turned out that was something that was done "way back" at the beginning of the craziness to keep people safe & they no longer maime people.. soo... it sounded like it really was a good place for them to go to be safe, right??

I guess I need things more spelled out for me... LOL!

(hide spoiler)]

Yeah that's about right (view spoiler)[ Bird Box is because of the alarm system that they used, the birds went quiet when the creature was near (remember when the girl went out to feed them?)and then louder when they were alone.
Gary said that he had seen loads of them walking around and that's what I didn't understand, was it because he was already crazy that it didn't effect him?? weird! lol (hide spoiler)]

I bet you are right - it probably did have something to do with Gary (view spoiler)[ being a nut-case to begin with.

I was sooooo bummed about Tom! The birth was so scary. Had no idea she didn't have twins until that part...

Definitely a crazy read!
(hide spoiler)]

Yeah I know poor Tom! I though it was twins too lol

Don't most of us have a friend like Sylvia? LOL!

Oh shit !
Didn't read the blurb, didn't see that coming !!

okay just read it now, this sounds good lol

Ugh! 1-Hour 33-Minutes in...

(view spoiler)[ Great response to her cow of a mom! (hide spoiler)]

V Audio Nerd wrote: "Oh shit !
Didn't read the blurb, didn't see that coming !!"

Heartbreaking....

OMG her mother did NOT just say that!!!
New found freedom?!?!? is she for fucking real?????

I know it!!! Couldn't have thought of a better come back myself... She is heartless!

I know she said come back to her, and I puched the air lol

or even punched haha!

HaHa!

Then after her mom, she has to deal with the PTA mom....

Not there yet, just up to her going back to work and getting the 2nd text to her phone, how awful!

Amelia is now meeting "The Magpies" under the tree in the park, something tells me that they are not going to be nice girls!!

Being a 15 year old girl is just hard!

My daughter is young for her grade, so she's having to navigate 15 year old girls while she's 14. Sometimes it just makes me go all grrrrrr!

urgh teenage girls are awful!

I had to take a break for a bit so I'm at the part where Kate is talking with Sylvia...

This is confusing!

So I think Ben (view spoiler)[ may not be Ben if that makes sense?
She hasn't met him so who's to say that it isn't one of those girls pretending to be him!
(hide spoiler)]

I'm 4hrs 47 min in

Who the hell is sending these texts ??

I know... I've had to back up and re-listen to bits and pieces of this. There is so much information, you really have to pay close attention.

I've gotten confused on what the mom knows and what she doesn't know from Amelia's texts and stuff. Sometimes I can tell it's Amelia's POV but sometimes it's her mom (Kate) reading Amelia's stuff. So when Kate's conclusions are not quite accurate, I end up backing up to listen to it again.

I have roughly 3 hours left. I know what you are saying about Ben too and I'm curious to find out there will be some sort of reveal with "nerd Ben" too. He's been kind of left in the background during the last part of the book.

Let me know when you get to where Amelia's father is revealed by Kate... I have a question.. (view spoiler)[ as you roll your eyes and say "but OF COURSE you do..." LOL! See, I can see you way across the pond!! (hide spoiler)]

ooh okay I'm not up to that bit yet so I won't read that lol.

I'm up to the kiss!

This is getting interesting now, Zadie (sp) seems the jealous type !

So its not been revealed yet but I think that Seth (view spoiler)[ may be Amelia's father, I know he's gay but they did have a thing once?!?! (hide spoiler)]

V Audio Nerd wrote: "ooh okay I'm not up to that bit yet so I won't read that lol.

I'm up to the kiss!

This is getting interesting now, Zadie (sp) seems the jealous type !"

It was actually a spoiler you CAN read! HAHA!

Nooo reveal!!!!!

Haha just read it lol

I don't understand why Kate is allowed to go with the detective to ask questions, is that normal?

I know right?? I'm guessing if he needs her insights maybe??? I wondered about that too... Maybe her being a lawyer helps give her street cred with the cop. Lol!

lol yes that's true!

So hit me with the question haha

Did you get to the daddy reveal?

Yes it's (view spoiler)[ Daniel (hide spoiler)] right?

OK - that's what I remembered. Later there's a gray discussion but has to do with someone else, so then I thought I had remembered it incorrectly.

I've got about 3.5 hours left... Kate & the cop just left Ms. Pearl...

(view spoiler)[ shit's starting to get real... And I guess that visit was a prime example of why it wasn't a good idea to bring Kate with him today for the interviews..

I felt bad for Ian... He may be a bit of a douche, but in the whole realm of kids with issues, he's at the bottom of my list of people I'd want to smack around... (hide spoiler)]

I don't know if I'm up to that part yet I'm confused now lol.

She has had the meeting with Liv and (view spoiler)[ basically been told that she's on the right track and to keep asking those questions.
She also told Sylvia that she's gay and Kate has found out that Dylan is not a boy.
Did you mean Ian taking the pictures of her? (hide spoiler)]

I think you must be ahead of me

OMG Zadie is a bitch!

And so is Dylan too, I didn't see that coming !!

Isn't Zadie awful????? Dylan is spineless... I'm not sure what is up with her but was so disappointed in her.

I'm ahead of you but I don't think by too much.

Yes, that's what I mean about Ian - it relates back to dumb pics.

I'm 30 minutes into part 6...

(view spoiler)[

I so did NOT see that coming...

I'm trying to connect dots... (hide spoiler)]