Author: Emerald Barnes
Released: April 25th, 2012
Print Length: ?
File Size: 403 KB
Goodreads info here and visit the book's website
Disclaimer: I did win a free advanced copy of this book from the author during an event. This however did not influence my review in any way.
Here's the official trailer for the book:
Now for the review:
In her newest book Read Me Dead, Barnes gets the reader to ask themselves a tough question. If you knew a deadly secret, would you keep it, even if it meant a killer might go free? Alex has kept a secret from everyone, including her twin brother for 7 years, but soon the truth will have to come out. She was there the night her parents were murdered and has been haunted by the memories of that night. She’s been afraid the man who shot them would come back for her as he promised if she ever breaks her silence. In an attempt to keep him safe, Alex breaks up with her boyfriend even though she is still in love with him, and as an extra twist she soon becomes attracted to one of their best friends. The question is who will she pick and will they ever be safe?
I thoroughly enjoyed the plot of the book and once the action started I couldn’t wait to see what was going to come next. I wanted to know who the killer was and if Alex and her friends/family would all make it out without harm. Unfortunately I didn’t quite feel a connection with Alex as a character as much as I hoped I would. I’m not sure if it was the character or if it was the style the book was written in, but even though I wanted to know what happened to them, I wasn’t emotionally invested. The main character was a bit on the weak side throughout the majority of the book (granted I might have been too if I thought I was going to die at any moment) but for some reason I just couldn’t feel sympathetic towards her (or her incessant crying). I often felt that she went a bit overboard with the waterworks and that was a big turn off for me, though I’m sure there are many who don’t mind it.
The writing style was a tad over descriptive for me as well. It was almost like reading a script where it details step by step each action taking by each character. I know there are many who enjoy the large amounts of descriptions but I often found myself either getting lost in them or wanting to skip over them entirely. Again, it’s just not my cup of tea style wise. I still give it four stars however because the plot is there, and once things really got going about midway through the book I was hooked and couldn’t wait to read the ending (which was a complete surprise by the way). I’m glad I read it and was definitely worth taking the time to read it. I really did enjoy it, it just wasn’t a “new fav” novel for me.
Great review, Kayleigh! I love your last paragraph. I know what you mean about detail. I don't like too much detail with action either. I'm one of those skim readers. If a book has too much narrative or description, I'll skip it completely.
ReplyDeleteAgain, thanks for this! ;)