This book was so good. I really loved the main character and also how complex the mystery was. It explored loss, grief and self discovery in a heartbreaking way and also how far would you go for revenge and what does that turn you into! ( )

This book was so good. I really loved the main character and also how complex the mystery was. It explored loss, grief and self discovery in a heartbreaking way and also how far would you go for revenge and what does that turn you into! ( )

Video Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w6dv6kxpNI ( )

The whole book strains credulity. When she is 14 years old, Frances Mace’s parents are gunned down by unknown assailants as are the rest of the crew and passengers aboard the cruise ship Persephone, some 200 odd souls. Before the attack on the cruise, she has become best friends with rich girl, Libby O’Martin, and fallen in love with a senator’s son, Grey Wells, all within a week or two. I know teens feel things intensely but this scenario is improbable. The only survivors are Frances and Libby and they spend seven days on a life raft before they are rescued by Libby’s father, Cecil. Libby had died right before they were found. Frances learns that he only other survivors were the senator and Grey. They said a rogue wave sunk the ship and no one else survived. Cecil O’Martin believes Frances and he says that no one else will believe her story and that she is now in danger. So they conspire for Frances to become Libby. Four years later she returns home after spending her high school years in Europe at boarding school and all that time Frances/Libby has been meticulously plotting her revenge compiling notebooks detailing the lives of Senator Wells, his wife, and Grey. She believes she has mastered Libby’s mannerisms and life but Shepherd, the hot ward of Cecil O’Martin, knows how Libby put a towel around her waist, among other secrets Frances couldn’t possibly glean from Libby’s journals. Really? When she sees Grey again, Frances/Libby still has feelings for him and she struggles to quell those feeling lest they hinder her plans for revenge. She has to get him to fall in love with Libby, so that she can get him to turn on his father and tell the truth about what really happened. The overwrought, breathless narrative and musings of Frances/Libby might appeal to some teen girls as well as the two hotties whose shorts are always revealing the taut lower abs of the boys, but they will have to put aside their common sense.
Disclaimer: I received this ARC free from Penguin’s First to Read and this did not influence my review. In addition, I was not compensated for this review. ( )

Solid thriller with a compelling voice and pretty satisfying resolution. I think I maybe liked the premise more than the execution, but it's a good choice for kids who want a page turner. ( )