See Jane Die

This book pleasantly surprised me. Going into it, I had no real expectations about whether this would be good or not and I ended up thoroughly enjoying it. It wasn't that easy of a read but it flowed smoothly and the story developed naturally.

I found this book in a box that my boyfriend's mom was going to put out for a garage sale and since my Nook was out of battery and I had nothing better to do, I gave it a shot. Little did I know that Erica Spindler would become one of my favorite writers after this random book of hers that I came upon by total accident.

The cover leaves much to be desired in my opinion, especially since it is not a good representation of the complexity of what happens in this book and how all the characters react and adapt to these situations as they happen. To me the cover looks rather dull and because of that the book itself seems like it would be pretty damn forgettable. Of course, I was wrong about that and learned my lesson not to judge a book by its cover. It's all good, lesson learned.

Again, I am a big sucker for books that are written through the eyes of more than one character. In this instance, we see the story unfold through the eyes of the two main characters: Jane Killian and Stacy Killian. I love how their relationship as sisters starts out completely separate and then intertwines together as the book gets moving and the plot thickens.

I didn't really know how completely addicting mystery/suspense novels could be until I dove into this book. It sucked me in and I couldn't put it down. I had to know what happens next and I loved how the killer wasn't revealed until the second to last chapter or so. For this reason, I was on the edge of my seat until the very last page. It's a good idea to hook people this way because I am personally a fan of working out my own theories of who the bad guy is all throughout the book and as more information is revealed I like reworking that theory accordingly. In this case, I only guessed right once I had about 50 pages left and then I had to make sure that I was indeed correct.

I really loved the heroine of this book as well because she's complex and flawed, which makes her that much more human and I was able to relate to her on a deeper level. Her character progresses with the events that happen in the book and it was extraordinary to follow her development all throughout. We are affected by our childhood experiences and it was apparent that her own horrific childhood experience made her the adult she grew up to be, most specifically in the beginning of the book. We begin with Stacy refusing to deal with her emotional issues/baggage and she is gradually forced to deal with them as the book progresses until she comes out of the whole experience at the end as a different person then she was at the beginning.

The reason I gave this book 4 stars as opposed to 5 was because I would have liked to have seen a little more at the end, after she goes through the major betrayal at the end of the book and would have liked more of the thoughts going through her mind after that happens. Because, it seems her world has suddenly come crashing down and then the book kind of cuts of abruptly and we are left wanting more. Of course, there's the next book in the series but the next one focuses on the next part of Stacy's story and only lightly mentions the events of the previous book.

All in all, this book is for anyone who wants a suspenseful, mystery read that will keep you guessing about who the bad guy is until the very end. It's also wonderfully written and not overly simplistic, so people of all ages can read it and enjoy it immensely.