Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart | Spoiler-Free ARC Review

Title: Genuine Fraud
Author: E. Lockhart
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: September 5, 2017
Genre(s): Young Adult, Mystery, Contemporary
Source: NetGalley
Pages: 264
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Synopsis

The story of a young woman whose diabolical smarts are her ticket into a charmed life. But how many times can someone reinvent themselves? You be the judge.

Imogen is a runaway heiress, an orphan, a cook, and a cheat.
Jule is a fighter, a social chameleon, and an athlete.
An intense friendship. A disappearance. A murder, or maybe two.
A bad romance, or maybe three.
Blunt objects, disguises, blood, and chocolate. The American dream, superheroes, spies, and villains.
A girl who refuses to give people what they want from her.
A girl who refuses to be the person she once was.

Review

This was an odd book. I honestly don’t know if I would go as far as to say that I liked it, but I didn’t hate it. There were parts that I absolutely loved and parts that I thought were boring and dragged on. I guess the one lingering thought I had now that I’ve finished it is
“huh, okay.” Now, that’s not necessarily bad. There are plenty of good books that are confusing, but this one just didn’t wow me.

This is a thriller and it took a bit too long to realize that the narrative was being told backwards, not in flashbacks. Though there were some parts of the book that kind of happened with no consequence to the rest of the story. I was confused on what role those scenes played, but that could have just been me.

I’ve never read an E. Lockhart book before and I honestly don’t know if I want to pick up another one. Again, not because this book was bad, but because I’m not sure if I actually like the writing style or not. There was nothing I overtly hated, but I just wasn’t drawn to the narrative.

Final Thoughts

Okay, I was starting to get repetitive, so I’m cutting this review a bit short. All in all, the book was just lack luster for me. There were some compelling things that happened, but nothing that made this book great or a stand out favorite. There were several moments where I was just confused or trying to figure out how what I was reading played into the larger narrative. I guess the thing I was the most upset about was that there was no satisfying conclusion. I was expecting for some big reveal or something from the backwards narrative to lead to an “ah ha” moment, but I didn’t feel like we got one.

This book had some super creative ideas, just not the best execution.

Rating

⭐️⭐️⭐️ – 3/5 Stars