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A review by frances_frances
Lovely Girls by Margot Hunt
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
The more I think about this book, the more problems I have with it. In a nutshell, I found it to be formulaic, anticlimactic, poorly written, and weirdly juvenile in its language and point of view. I have a lot of random thoughts so here's a semi-organized list:
THE CHARACTERS
* Very two dimensional and generally uninteresting
* Lacked unique/authentic qualities, felt like generic stand-ins for real people
* Who even is Kate? Or Alex? A worried widow who's guilty about dating again, and a surly teenager who's mad at her mom for moving them. Overdone, generic.
* What was the point of Joe? I was waiting for him to end up being a "bad guy" or have some kind of twist. Nope. He's just the perfect love interest for Kate - an attractive, rich, single man with a teenage son. Joe doesn't add to the tension or suspense in this "thriller".
* Leita is presented as a fat, physically repugnant busybody with poor hygiene and possible untreated mental health issues. We don't need another character who's coded as unlikable via the size of their body or mental state. Using fatness as a character flaw is not only lazy writing, it's harmful. The scene where Kate meets Leita and Taylor in the coffee shop was a perfect example. Kate and Taylor are having a serious discussion while Leita is greedily eyeing the pastries.
GENRE
* This is a drama, not a thriller. There's little suspense or thrill because we pretty much know the who, what, when, where, and why early on. The focus of the book is on social drama and interpersonal relationships.
* The teen girl drama/bullying trope is used a LOT. If you're gonna go with this trope, you need to bring something new to the table.
WRITING
* This book felt juvenile in perspective and amateur as far as the quality of the writing.
* The dialogue doesn't flow and the characters say things that people don't in real life.
* There's a lot of telling rather than showing
* The conversation Kate and Joe have at the end felt forced. It was like an exchange a child and caregiver might have.
* The way child sex abuse is used and handled was weird and problematic. The assault is used as a plot device to serve Alex's story. It was treated, by both characters and writer, with a strange distance. It felt amateur.
I could go on, but these are my biggest complaints.
THE CHARACTERS
* Very two dimensional and generally uninteresting
* Lacked unique/authentic qualities, felt like generic stand-ins for real people
* Who even is Kate? Or Alex? A worried widow who's guilty about dating again, and a surly teenager who's mad at her mom for moving them. Overdone, generic.
* What was the point of Joe? I was waiting for him to end up being a "bad guy" or have some kind of twist. Nope. He's just the perfect love interest for Kate - an attractive, rich, single man with a teenage son. Joe doesn't add to the tension or suspense in this "thriller".
* Leita is presented as a fat, physically repugnant busybody with poor hygiene and possible untreated mental health issues. We don't need another character who's coded as unlikable via the size of their body or mental state. Using fatness as a character flaw is not only lazy writing, it's harmful. The scene where Kate meets Leita and Taylor in the coffee shop was a perfect example. Kate and Taylor are having a serious discussion while Leita is greedily eyeing the pastries.
GENRE
* This is a drama, not a thriller. There's little suspense or thrill because we pretty much know the who, what, when, where, and why early on. The focus of the book is on social drama and interpersonal relationships.
* The teen girl drama/bullying trope is used a LOT. If you're gonna go with this trope, you need to bring something new to the table.
WRITING
* This book felt juvenile in perspective and amateur as far as the quality of the writing.
* The dialogue doesn't flow and the characters say things that people don't in real life.
* There's a lot of telling rather than showing
* The conversation Kate and Joe have at the end felt forced. It was like an exchange a child and caregiver might have.
* The way child sex abuse is used and handled was weird and problematic. The assault is used as a plot device to serve Alex's story. It was treated, by both characters and writer, with a strange distance. It felt amateur.
I could go on, but these are my biggest complaints.