Title: Envy
Author: Gregg Olsen
Release Date: September 2011
Published By: Splinter
Pages: 285
Review: Fifteen-year-old twins Hayley and Taylor Ryan live in Empty Coffin, Washington, where evil lurks and strange things happen. But perhaps strangest of all is when their childhood friend Katelyn dies under mysterious circumstances, and no one knows why. Was it murder? Suicide? Or could it be... something shocking, something worse than anyone could imagine?
As many regular readers of this blog know, I'm always on the look-out for YA horror and thriller, so I had very high expectations for ENVY. Unfortunately, these expectations really weren't met, and I was quite disappointed with this book. For starters, the suspense level wasn't all that high, and I found it much easier to put the novel down than it should have been.
The kind of horror/thriller I want to read needs to be so suspenseful and keep the reader so on the edge that you can't help but park yourself on the couch and fly through the pages. Here, I found myself drifting during even what should have been heart-stopping moments, and instead of having an intense need to know what happens next, I had more of a vague curiosity.
It was also difficult for me to connect with the characters. I didn't straight-out dislike Hayley and Taylor, but they never felt like full, fleshed-out people to me and to put it plainly, I just didn't care about what happened to them. They were too generic and bland with no real personalities of their own, and I kept hoping to get to know them better, but it didn't happen.
I know most of this review has been fairly negative, but that's not to say this entire book was bad by any means. I will say that the plot itself was intriguing, and I didn't truly guess what happened and who the killer was until right before it was revealed. The pacing was perfect, each event unfolding exactly when it should have.
Overall, ENVY was a novel with an intriguing plot but lackluster characters and, well, a general lack of suspense that just didn't cut it for me. I do feel like the author has a great deal of potential - the writing itself was quite good - and although I probably won't pick up the future books in the series, I look forward to reading other novels the author writes later on.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. This in no way affected my review.
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2 comments:
It sucks that this book wasn't a good as it looks. it did really look like it had potential!
I actually loved this book , though I did find parts of the plot confusing as it seemed to go in several tangents. Im looking forward to Book #2 Betrayed. New Follower
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