Dacia

Read this in preparation for reading James by Percival Everett. My only previous brush with Twain was when I was assigned to read Tom Sawyer in middle school. I was so bored by it, I opted to watch the movie instead and never touched another Twain, though I was told Huck Finn is the better book. Reading it as an adult, I have more of an appreciation for Twain's wit and humor. I also think 11-year-old me was valid in her complaints that all the books we were assigned to read were “boy” books.

So unfortunate when an author tries to make a strong, self-secure female character and winds up creating a self-absorbed, shallow asshole. This story would've been better if it had been more about the girl this hateful heroine was trying to protect. But it's not. And then it gets even worse when our super-tough femme fatale gets herself in trouble and has to be saved...twice. By a dude. Groan.

Fast-paced thriller that has excellent character development, which so many plot-driven thrillers lack. Enjoyable if you're a fan of Gillian Flynn, Kate Atkinson and Tana French.

The one thing that annoyed me about this book was the constant teasing about what was to come. The narrator has a secret, and she wants you to know she has one, so she keeps reminding you of it, even though you know you won't find out what the secret is until the very end. It's kind of like watching a movie when someone has told you to expect “a twist,” and then you're distracted, looking for the twist, trying to figure out what it might be. In this book, the foreshadowing felt heavy handed and unnecessary. I would've kept reading anyway just for the characters.