Review: The Girl I Used to Be by April Henry

The Girl I Used to Be by April Henry
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co
Release Date: May 3rd, 2016
Purchase: Amazon

When Olivia's mother was killed, everyone suspected her father of murder. But his whereabouts remained a mystery. Fast forward fourteen years. New evidence now proves Olivia's father was actually murdered on the same fateful day her mother died. That means there's a killer still at large. It's up to Olivia to uncover who that may be. But can she do that before the killer tracks her down first?

My thoughts:
I'm thinking I need to part ways with Ms. Henry.  This is my third book by her and while I loved the first one I read these past two have really left me feeling meh.  I'm used to "it's not you it's me", but in this case I really kinda think it was the book.

The first chapter was amazing, full of suspense, girl on the run from the killer, and terror.  I liked it and after reading it I was ready for this story, but it all fell apart rather quickly.  It all just felt very convenient.  From Olivia deciding to move into her mother's old house which just recently became available to the whole town opening up about this unsolved case that happened fourteen years ago.  I just didn't buy it.  The way the events happened also just seemed to work in Olivia's favor.  I mean she decides to go to a certain family members funeral but has no idea how she is going to get in because she wants to keep her identity a secret when in walks the elderly neighbor she used to know.  I can't imagine anybody asking a complete stranger to give them a ride to a funeral.  I know certain things were exposed later, but at this time the neighbor still had no idea who Olivia was so that was no reason for her to even ask. 

I also didn't like how Olivia just moved into her old town and started asking questions about her parents and what happened fourteen years ago.  Everybody in town thought she was a stranger so why in the world would they talk to her?  And when did Olivia decide to start looking for the killer? This was never explained all we get to read is her many inner monologues asking herself could it be this person, that person, what motive.  She was not a detective and she didn't have any clue who these people were.  How did she know this person would even still be in the town??  See very convenient.  I think way more ground work needed to be worked in for me to buy a lot of the things that the author was throwing out.  I also kept having to remind myself that Olivia was not an adult, but the way the adults kept treating her and telling her things that really shouldn't have been shared with a teenager it was hard to remember that she was only seventeen. It almost felt like a TV show where everyone gets stuck in their small town and everybody still acts like they are in high school.  It was so bizarre!

I don't know a lot of things didn't add up.  The ending especially didn't work for me.  The actual villain was out of nowhere and didn't make much sense to me.  I get the why's and how's but the author could have gone in a much darker path and it would have made me forget a lot of the things that bothered me. I know she's capable of this because of her previous book, but she just closed everything up with a weird bow that didn't even match her story.

So I am going to part ways with Ms. Henry.  After two disappointing books I can say without a doubt her stories are just not for me.

2 snowflakes...only because I loved Duncan and the way he didn't let Olivia run away from her past.

Review: The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die by April Henry

The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die by April Henry
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.
Release Date: June 11, 2013

“Take her out back and finish her off.”

She doesn’t know who she is. She doesn’t know where she is, or why. All she knows when she comes to in a ransacked cabin is that there are two men arguing over whether or not to kill her.

And that she must run.

In her riveting style, April Henry crafts a nail-biting thriller involving murder, identity theft, and biological warfare. Follow Cady and Ty (her accidental savior turned companion), as they race against the clock to stay alive.

My thoughts:
I really enjoyed a previous book by April Henry so I was so excited to pick this one up.  It sounded intense and just as creepy as her other novel.  Unfortunately this one did not deliver for me and I am left with a hatred for Cady's parents and an unsatisfied itch.

The story starts off with Cady waking up in a cabin not knowing who and where she is.  She wakes up to her body in terrible pain and to the voices of two men talking about getting rid of her. She has no idea how she got into this situation, but she does know she has to save herself.  Her brain kicks in a little bit and she escapes, but her memories refuse to surface.  Cady soon bumps into a stranger who gives her the safe place she needs to think about what to do next and what follows is something completely unbelievable and truly frustrating.

Like I said I loved this authors previous books, but this one is just a mess.  I know it is fiction and and all but the story is just unbelievable.  The whole premise is about biological warfare and while that part does seem to something that could happen the chain of events don't.  Everything that happened was too convenient.  For instance, Ty the guy that decides to help Cady goes looking for information on amnesia and just happens to find something about fugue. He finds this out of about a billion sites that pop up on google and finds it rather quickly.  And while yes I can see that Cady did indeed have this I don't believe that Ty could have found this so quickly and I honestly don't believe he would have even thought to look it up.  I have never read a book where the characters gave so much thought to what caused amnesia.  Small detail I know but it just bugged me.

Cady's constant questioning also irritated me. I think half the book is spent inside her head and going over the same questions over and over again.  Her questions are valid but after the first 3 times I really don't need to read them anymore.  I never really warmed up to Cady either.  She was an okay character, but if she didn't make it in the book I wouldn't have been devastated and for a main character I should want her to live. 

My biggest issue was her parents.  Now I know YA parents tend to be MIA most of the time but WTH?!!  Cady's parents leave her by herself, don't even attempt to look more into the cabin fire to see if she was actually in there, and basically tell her that she is their only hope since they can't be seen in the building.  Ummm again WTH??!  Her parents should have been there for her, they should have found a way to get to her and be the adults!  Cady shouldn't have been the one responsible for saving her family especially when it was her parents that put her in this situation!  I am still beyond ticked off that Cady had to figure everything out on her own.  We are told that her parents are genius, but you would never know it from the way they acted.  I think this part of the storyline really killed the rest for me.  I'm not saying that I would have loved it if they had been more involved, but I probably would have rated it a little higher.

So unfortunately I am not a fan of this book.  I expected something creepy and the first 2 chapter were great with Cady waking up and going all karate crazy on her captors, but the story didn't hold up to those first few chapters.  Could just be me, but I think Ms. Henry's other novels are far superior and worth reading instead of this one.

2 snowflakes