I have to say that this was an odd read for me. I felt like it wanted to be a psych thriller but also a thriller…but also a family drama. It definitely kept me hooked, but I’m not sure it was for the right reasons.
To begin with, I really didn’t like any of the characters, except for Lexi (more on her in a minute). After finishing the book, I totally understand why the author wrote them all the way she did (especially Jake) but in the midst of reading, they all pretty much came across as unlikeable.
I suppose that could be chalked up to the overall theme that “money corrupts.” It certainly seemed as if Emily and Jake got more carried away than Logan and Lexi did. That could absolutely be because teenage boys need a lot less to be happy than teenage girls? I don’t know.
But the frimily (as Lexi called them) also didn’t seem to be likeable, almost to the point where I kept wondering how they had all remained friends for so long even before they fell out.
The story is primarily Lexi’s although we do get a few chapters here and there from Emily’s point of view. As such, we are supposed to (I think) feel sorry for Lexi as she stands to be the voice of reason when the rest of the family goes a little off the rails.
I have to agree with one of the other characters, though, that there were times where she came across as sanctimonious. Maybe that was (again) because the others lost their marbles a bit.
Books-A-Million Powell’s
About half-way through, the action began to pick up, with the planning of an event and lots of fall out from it. I started to feel like there was too much going on. It might have just been my frame of mind when I was reading, which was entirely possible.
It seemed that everything started to go a little gonzo and not all of the choices seemed rational to me. Again, could just be illustrative of money giving people bad judgment. There was definitely a lot of that.
Characters like Colleen and Toma had interesting roles in the bigger picture, but they kind of faded and came back into focus. There were some moments near the end where I thought one of them was going to have a much bigger part in the whole story…but they didn’t.
There were also a few things that seemed to come out of nowhere as issues were revealed and resolved. And the last couple of chapters felt hurried to me, especially with the information that they contained.
The last chapter actually raised more questions for me than answering anything. It did make me re-evaluate what I thought I understood from earlier in the story, and I even went back to read a few sections to see if I could have caught what the author was plotting.
I would recommend this book, but hold on to your hat because it really goes a bunch of different directions leading to the climax.
Author Bio:
Adele Parks is the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of twenty novels, including Lies Lies Lies and Just My Luck, as well as I Invited Her In. Just My Luck is currently in development to be made into a movie. Her novels have sold 4 million copies in the UK alone, and her work has also been translated into thirty-one languages.
