From the Publisher: Stuck with her father for the summer, Jex Malone fears she might snap from boredom. Then she meets three girls, already best friends. Jex risks banishment to eternal geekdom by confiding her goal--to solve her dad's unsolved cases, especially the disappearance of a young girl that so obsessed her dad it helped break up the Jex's parents. To her surprise, even glam girl Deva is willing to swear Jex's crazy oath and set out on the trail to find out what happened to the lost child. What they learn is not only answers, but a truth that's beyond belief.
After reading the synopsis of the book, and seeing that it was labeled as a Teen/YA Mystery/Thriller, I quickly requested the book. I loved the character's name and couldn't wait to settle into an updated Nancy Drew novel, perhaps even a Veronica Mars for the new millennium. What I found, however, was that this book was mislabeled. Instead of the YA-level reading I'd expected, I found middle-reader material, something fitting more of a pre-teen or tween reading level. As this was not what I signed up to read, I regret that my review may be a bit biased and not as glowing as some of the reviews listed on Good Reads.
Secondly, I found the writing style jumpy and hard-to-follow. There was nothing smooth about it. It honestly felt like a chore to try to make sense of the plot and to complete the book. There was no flow to be found; everything felt disjunct.
The characterization was alright, but the characters, though high school age, would have been more suited if written as tween detectives. They were two-dimensional caricatures of teens rather than possessing the real-life qualities of teenage girls. I could not make myself invest in them as people.
I think this novel has the potential for greatness, but I think it needs a few more rewrites first and perhaps a different editor. I hate to give such a negative-sounding review, but these are my true thoughts.
The plot sounds really interesting. Maybe the author just has to work on it a little more. Knowing that tweens would be a more appropriate audience might help the author rethink the characters!
ReplyDelete