Denise's Reviews > True Story

This was just not my cup o' tea. I recently read My Dark Vanessa, which has a similar plot, and although horrifying in many ways, it was across-the-board a much better read. This one was confusing and all over the place, and I actually think it missed the mark in making the statement Kate Reed Petty intended.

I always admire an author for taking a stylistic risk, but the weird, "mixed-media" format in this one just didn’t work for me. I hated the college essays that went on far too long, and I also thought the screenplays were dead weight to the plot. The multiple POVs were confusing - there needed to be a clearer indication of which character was narrating the story at which point. More than once, I would start a chapter and a few pages in, I still had no clue which character I was reading about. There was also an overabundance of sentences that started off with “You” instead of the voice actually coming from the character, i.e. You wake up and get a cup of coffee, and you realize you are still exhausted.

I thought both Alice and Nick's characters had potential, but honestly, there were too many horrific events in their lives that kept them from feeling authentic. Warning: there is also cat abuse, which was completely unnecessary and turned my stomach. And then the chapters at the cabin were a huge WTF? for me. They were set up like there was going to be some cult or paranormal twist, but it wasn’t the case at all.

While it's a fact that rumors can take on a life of their own and can ruin lives, but the "reveal" bothered me. I don't want to give anything away, but I don't think the ending did Alice or any real-life survivors any favors.

Overall, this is a book that many of my reviewer friends have loved, but it was just a middle of the road read for me. 3 stars.