BOOK REVIEW: TRAGEDY GIRL BY CHRISTINE HURLEY DERISO

Tragedy Girl

by Christine Hurley Deriso

Paperback edition, 240 pages

Published April 8th 2016

MY GOODREADS RATING 4/5 STARS

(Thanks to Flux and NetGalley, I received an ebook copy of this book for free to review.)

GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:

“Of course Anne would be drawn to Blake. He’s good looking, he’s friendly, and they both bring sob stories to the table: her parents died in a car wreck, his girlfriend, Cara, drowned. Of course Blake would understand what she’s gone through. And of course they can help each other work through the pain. It’s like it was meant to be.

But just as Anne starts to feel she’s finally found something good in all the tragedy, she can’t ignore signs that something’s off. Her friends rarely let her be alone with Blake. Even those closest to Blake seem uneasy around him. And then there are the rumors about the death of Cara, whose body was never recovered. Rumors that suggest Blake’s pain is hiding something darker than Anne can even begin to comprehend . . .”

MY THOUGHTS:

“How do you go on without your parents? What steps are involved in moving on with your life when your foundation has been ripped from underneath you?”

I really enjoyed the character development throughout this book. It seemed like like the author gave you bits and pieces of the characters personality at just the right pace. I liked that Anne immediately bonded with Blake over the fact that they both grieving, her the loss of her parents,  him the loss of his girlfriend. It was also nice that they both felt as if they could have done more in their situations, it was a realistic touch. I loved the fact that Melanie had a dark sense of humor, and made light of things, it brought a sense of comic relief that I feel the story really needed. In my opinion Anne gave off a sense of vulnerability that could very easily be taken advantage of, and seemed to always second guess herself. I wasn’t very fond of Blake’s character from the beginning, he seemed to be eating up the “tragedy attention”, and was just too charming to be believable.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, I thought it was a bit slow paced in the middle but picked up quickly toward the end. I did find it funny though, that Anne was “running” away from the unwanted attention from her parents loss, right into the arms of someone who seemed to enjoy the attention he was getting from the loss of his girlfriend. I thought the story has just the right amount of twists and turns. They were realistic enough that I didn’t question them. The ending caught me off guard, it was predictable but had the perfect twist.