JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

Friend Request by Laura Marshall

Maria Weston wants to be friends. But Maria Weston’s dead. Isn’t she?

1989. When Louise first notices the new girl who has mysteriously transferred late into their senior year, Maria seems to be everything Louise’s other friends aren’t. Authentic. Funny. Brash. Within just a few days, Maria and Louise are on their way to becoming fast friends.

2016. Louise receives a heart-stopping email: Maria Weston wants to be friends on Facebook. Long-buried memories quickly rise to the surface: Those first days of their budding friendship; cruel decisions made and dark secrets kept; the night that would change all their lives forever.

Louise has always known that if the truth ever came out, she could stand to lose everything. Her job. Her son. Her freedom. Maria’s sudden reappearance threatens it all, and forces Louise to reconnect with everyone with whom she’d severed ties in order to escape the past. But as she tries to piece together exactly what happened that night, Louise discovers there’s more to the story than she ever knew. To keep her secret, Louise must first uncover the whole truth, before what’s known to Maria-or whoever is pretending to be her-is known to all.

Friend Request is Laura Marshall’s debut psychological thriller — it’s told in dual timelines and switches back and forth between 1989 and 2016.

In the present, Louise receives a friend request on Facebook from Maria Weston, a high school classmate who died twenty-five years ago (although her body was never found). Louise is shook, but she’s also feeling deeply guilty because of things that transpired in high school in 1989. The reader learns early on that Louise didn’t treat Maria well in school, and more importantly, Louise feels responsible for Maria’s death.

“I have lived the last twenty-seven years in the shadow of what we did, of what I did. Of course my life has carried on — I have studied and worked, shopped and cooked; I’ve been a friend, a daughter, a wife, a mother. Yet all the time, in the back of my mind, this one unforgivable act has loomed — squashed, squeezed, parcelled, but always there.”

Louise is a single mother to four-year-old Henry; she was married to her high school classmate Sam, but the two split up when Henry was two and now Sam is remarried with a new child. Things seem tense between the two, and Louise is trying to keep the relationship as pleasant as possible, but deep down she is still hurt that Sam cheated on her and then left her for the woman he was having an affair with.

This book feels very current because of how dominant social media is to the storyline. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the premise is quite absurd, but it’s still a good read. It’s still thrilling and an absolute page-turner.

I really thought I had a solid theory about the ending of the book, but I was completely wrong. I was actually genuinely surprised by the twist at the end, and in some reviews people say they saw it coming, but I definitely didn’t.

“I tend to divide the people I meet, or certainly those of my own age, into two broad categories: those who are like me, and those who aren’t. I was fascinated if a little disgusted by this new information about someone who (on my admittedly limited acquaintance with her) had seemed firmly in my category.”

There is one thing about this novel that I didn’t particularly enjoy. Every so often, there’s a chapter in the book written in italics. It’s unclear whose point of view these chapters are written from, but there’s definitely an ominous danger to them. You feel like these chapters are key to the twist at the end of the book, but you can’t quite grasp the answer. After I’d finished reading the novel, I went back and re-read these particular chapters and thought that they probably weren’t needed. I could certainly see some hints dropped in, but I felt like those italic chapters detracted from the plot and stalled the story too much.

“Some days she feels like a prisoner in her own home. There’s no reason she can’t go out, of course. Nobody could tell from simply looking at her. But on days like today, it feels as though someone has peeled back a layer of skin, leaving her face red raw, offering no protection from the elements.”

Friend Request illustrates to readers that we are actually really vulnerable online. We post all about our lives, and we allow people to see things about us that we may not choose to tell them in an everyday face to face setting. This is a chilling, engaging read but it’s also a social commentary on how much we expose ourselves online to strangers.

I’d recommend this to crime fiction fans and also anyone who has an online presence. Readers who don’t have social media may not understand some of the references, but the underlying plot of this book is the disappearance and (presumed) death of Maria Weston and I think most readers will enjoy playing the guessing game.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Friend Request
Laura Marshall
July 2017
Hachette Book Publishers

The Dry by Jane Harper

The Dry is crime fiction set in the small country town of Kiewarra. Luke Hadler, a struggling farmer, has turned a gun on his wife and child, and then himself. It appears that the years of punishing drought had finally tipped Luke over the edge, causing him to murder his wife and child and leave one sole survivor: his baby daughter. Federal police investigator Aaron Falk, 36, returns home to Kiewarra for the funerals after twenty years away. After Luke’s parents plead with him to look into the case, Falk decides to stay on and investigates the deaths, just in case Luke’s family were actually murdered.

Jane Harper has done a wonderful job of illustrating a closed in environment – a small town where everyone knows everyone and secrets don’t stay hidden for long. Kiewarra is suffering a drought, causing all the farmers to struggle and tensions to rise. Jane Harper has written the dry Australian outback very well, drawing in the reader with this vast open setting. At times, the reader feels claustrophobic, their world getting smaller and smaller with each accusation or twist in the plot. We can feel the tension building between the characters and we start to suspect everyone who comes into the book.

The Dry is written beautifully. It’s a slow build, with sly comments and throwaway sentences that could just as easily be clues to the mystery, and the reader isn’t sure what to take note of and what to cast aside. It becomes a guessing game, suspecting everyone in the town. In a crime novel, it can be frustrating when the clues are too obvious but the detective can’t see it. But in The Dry, Falk is smarter than the reader. He joins the dots faster than we could and his character helps propel the story forward and keep the reader interested.

“When Aaron Falk was eleven, he’d seen Mal Deacon turn his own flock into a staggering, bleeding mess using shearing clippers and a brutal hand. Aaron had felt an ache swell in his chest as he, Luke and Elli had watched one sheep after another brawled to the ground of the Deacons’ shed with a sharp twist and sliced too close to the skin.”

I thought the ending to this book would be a massive twist. But the reasons why Luke Hadler’s family died really couldn’t have been guessed, so I felt a little cheated. I like to read thrillers like this and then get to the end and think ‘oh I can’t believe I didn’t guess that’. But you really can’t guess the ending to this book. There’s no twist or turn or surprise. Just an explanation.

One of my only criticisms of the book was that I did feel like the characters were a little too light. Falk felt like a cardboard cut-out to me, with so much information left out about him that I felt like I didn’t really know him well and in turn, I didn’t really care about him as much as I would’ve like to. I cared more for the mystery than the characters in the story, and I felt like I should’ve cared about both of those elements.

But, for any readers who love crime fiction and thrillers, this mystery will envelop you and keep you intrigued until the very last page. The writing is beautiful and the characters are realistic and the setting is brilliant. A fantastic premise for a crime fiction debut, and very well executed by Jane Harper.

The Dry
Jane Harper
May 2016
Pan Macmillan Publishers

Black by Fleur Ferris

Black
Fleur Ferris
July 2016
Published by Penguin Random House

There seems to be a trend running through Australia YA fiction this year: cults and psychological thrillers. And amongst this trend is Black by Fleur Ferris, set in a mysterious, claustrophobic town Dainsfield where the main character – Black Marshall – is cursed. Three of her best friends have died in tragic accidents and the whispers are starting up again and people are keeping their distance from Black. And then Black’s formal date ends up in intensive care and the town starts to stir – like a slumbering beast being awoken by a new threat to its kingdom.

Almost immediately, readers are thrust into a world where rumours find footing and everyone in the town seems to have the memory of an elephant. Their watchful glares and the schoolkids’ cruel remarks set the scene for the novel and open up all sorts of questions for the reader. Black Marshall is a strong, resilient character who does not shy away into the shadows or feel enveloped by what others think of her. She’s a great main character, and she really drives the novel and the pacing.

This novel is quite disturbing. It has that ominous feel to it that you get during a horror movie when someone is walking through a dark house. Fleur has dropped hints and clues around the place for the reader to compile, and this keeps the reader engaged and intrigued. Fleur has also found an entertaining way to weave cults, religion, the devil, exorcisms, haunted houses and curses into one tiny book.

There were two elements of the novel that I found to be unrealistic. I didn’t quite understand the love triangle, or either of the relationships in the novel. Black and Aidan Sweet were set up to be the love story of the novel, but then Aidan ends up in intensive care for the majority of the novel. And then Ed, who is friends with Black and has been there this whole time, suddenly glides into the novel to form the love triangle. I found the relationships in Black to be distracting and unnecessary to the rest of the plot. They seemed to shift focus too quickly, and the resolution of the issue was too quick and unrealistic. Aidan was gone so quickly from the book that it felt pointless to have him there in the first place, and Ed and Black’s chemistry didn’t seem authentic enough to warrant the ending (I won’t give it away).

The second aspect of the novel that I found disappointing were the plot points in the novel that felt ‘too easy’ – they felt like they were rushed together to solve a problem. The biggest example of this is a certain speech that a character gives at a funeral at the end of the novel. It was unrealistic and forced and I found myself cringing a little bit. No one would make that speech at a funeral in real life. I also felt like Fleur used the speech to quickly solve the problem of ‘how am I going to quickly change everyone’s mind about Black? How am I going to fix this issue?’

Despite these two things, I did enjoy reading this novel. It’s a short novel and it can be read in one sitting. The pace is fast and interesting and there are enough mysteries and twists in the novel to keep the reader interested. It’s not the best YA thriller out there in 2016, but it’s still a good read.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

This book is a lot like Gone Girl, in the sense that you get to the end of the story, and everything you thought you knew about the main character was wrong. You’re completely blindsided. And then you’re left sitting there wondering how you missed it.

At first, you’re a bit confused, because you’re trying to work out how Rachel, Amy, Megan, Jess etc all fit in together. And then you work it out and you run with it, because you want to know what happened to Megan. For a while there, you question Rachel. But you know that since she’s the main character and you’re supposed to sympathise for her, that she didn’t do anything to Megan. And Paula is able to achieve this through the realistic representation of multiple point of views. Oh, and an extremely flawed character.

Rachel is an alcoholic and is weak. She can’t give up alcohol, no matter how many times she tries. Does she even want to give it up? The reader keeps thinking it’s going to happen – we’re inclined to read a flawed character and hope that their flaws disappear over the course of the novel. But Rachel’s flaws don’t. Kudos to Paula for maintaining Rachel’s faults throughout the entire novel. This makes us question Rachel at times, and it makes us not want to like her. It makes us doubt her actions, and as a result, we grip the novel in frustration. And that’s extremely rare. It’s rare to have a main character who is more unlikeable than likeable. To be honest, I really couldn’t stand Rachel, but that’s actually because Paula is a really good writer.

The mystery surrounding Megan had me interested, but there were so many other aspects of the story that kept me reading. Rachel’s relationship with her ex-husband, and his relationship with Amy. Megan’s relationship with her boyfriend, and his friendship with Rachel. These characters all connected, and there were times when I was reading this where I’d grit my teeth and think ‘What the hell are you doing? I don’t understand!’

If you love thrillers or crime novels, you’ll love this. And if you’re one of those people who don’t usually like to read, but you sucked it up and read Gone Girl, then you’ll love this book too. My brother said to me a few weeks ago: I want to read clever books. Books that have me guessing. And so I gave him this book.

My Score: 9/10
Buy at BOOKTOPIA or BOOKWORLD

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

Harper Curtis is a killer who stepped out of the past. Kirby Mazrachi is the girl who was never meant to have a future.

Kirby is the last shining girl, one of the bright young women, burning with potential, whose lives Harper is destined to snuff out after he stumbles on a House in Depression-era Chicago that opens on to other times.

At the urging of the House, Harper inserts himself into the lives of the shining girls, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He’s the ultimate hunter, vanishing into another time after each murder, untraceable-until one of his victims survives.

Determined to bring her would-be killer to justice, Kirby joins the Chicago Sun-Times to work with the ex-homicide reporter, Dan Velasquez, who covered her case. Soon Kirby finds herself closing in on the impossible truth . . .

I’ve wanted to read this book since before I read Broken Monsters – mostly because I love the cover (I really need to stop judging books by their covers) and I was told this book is different to most crime/thriller novels. It’s not really a crime novel as such. It has elements of science fiction in it, and the jumping-back-and-forth style of storytelling is different to that of most crime/thriller novels.

The serial killer, Harper Curtis, is not glorified in this book – nor is his only survivor, Kirby, who starts tracking down his other victims in an attempt to catch Harper. Lauren Beukes always has such great characterisation. Each victim – and they may only be featured on a couple of pages – really feels unique, and you come to understand them, their desires, and what motivates them. And then they leave the story, and you feel depleted.

Beukes does a fantastic job of highlighting social prejudice. Harper travels through different time periods in order to kill these ‘shining girls’, and by doing so, the reader is subjected and thrust into the harsh, sexist or racial criticism that isn’t as prevalent in society today.

Sometimes I found myself having to reread a few pages in the first third of the book when Harper was travelling in and out of different time periods – when he was travelling back to his murders and leaving things at the scene. But this was only until I got the general idea of how his house worked, and how he was travelling back in time. Once I got that, I could follow the story quite easily.

The book ends on an almost ambiguous, especially between Kirby and the detective. I like this, because what Kirby experiences would dramatically affect how she reacts with other people. I recommend this book to people who love reading crime/thriller novels. The science fiction aspect (Harper being able to travel back and forth in time) is but a small aspect of the story, and shouldn’t act as a deterrent to those people who are always like ‘ew science fiction. No thanks’.

My Score: 8/10
Buy at BOOKTOPIA or BOOKWORLD

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