Book: Genuine Fraud
Author: E. Lockhart
Pages: 288
Read: Friend's Hardcover edition
Read in: 2.5 hours
Plot Summary: Imogen is a runaway heiress, an orphan, a cook, and a cheat.
Jule is a fighter, a social chameleon, and an athlete.
An intense friendship.
A disappearance.
A murder, or maybe two.
A bad romance, or maybe three.
Blunt objects, disguises, blood, and chocolate.
A bad romance, or maybe three.
Blunt objects, disguises, blood, and chocolate.
The American dream, superheroes, spies, and villains.
A girl who refuses to give people what they want from her.
A girl who refuses to be the person she once was.
A girl who refuses to give people what they want from her.
A girl who refuses to be the person she once was.
General Thoughts: I read and reviewed E. Lockhart's When We Were Liars in June 2014 and was thoroughly disappointed with the book. I have no idea why that book was so hyped up because it was bad! So, obviously, I wasn't going to go buy another book by this author! Like DUH! Fool me once! But, since a friend, who was visiting had the hardcopy and it was under 300 pages, I borrowed and read it quickly during a drive around the city.
Things I Liked:
- The build-up of this book is quite interesting. We get to see "Imogen" in a plus resort in Mexico trying to get away from a cop and we wonder why she is doing what she is doing. We also learn, pretty much immediately, that "Imogen's" real name is Jule and that she has taken on Imogen's identity and is running from something. So, yeah, this book gets off to an interesting start.
- I also liked the structure of the book. It starts in Mexico and goes back in time tracing Jule's and Imogen's steps until we get to Martha's Vineyard where the two girls first meet. Quite an interesting way to tell a story- in reverse.
Things I Didn't Like:
- This is a book about unpleasant, annoying, entitled people. No, not just because Imogen and her clique are rich kids, but even Jule is entitled and annoying in the way that "poor" people often are- they think the world owes them! So, yeah, don't go looking to find a relatable character or lens in this book. They're all annoying and the big failing of this book is that you don't care what becomes of any of them! In a murder mystery, you, as a reader, should, ideally, care about the victim or the killer. Here, you care about neither and that, for me is a sign of bad writing and of poor character development.
- On a similar theme, there is hardly any character development at all. Jule keeps inventing "backstories" for herself pretending like she is a superhero of some kind, but till the end of the book, we only get to know the bare bones about her and nothing about why she is the way she is. Nothing much at all on what drove her to become an identity and money stealing teenager!
- Some of the events in this book are too far-fetched. Some of the events are also of the kind that Jule would not be able to get away with. Don't want to spoil anything for those of you who want to read this book, but the reason why the cops are chasing Jule is ridiculous! It is a basic rookie mistake that an agency like the FBI + Scotland Yard would NEVER make! It just does not add up!
Rating: 1/5
This is a terrible book! Avoid it!
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