Tattoo

Hi, I won a Kindle copy of this in a Goodreads Giveaweay

I didn't take this book too seriously for the first 2/3rds. I read along, enjoying, thinking. “Okay, what bonkers thing is going to happen next,” and then another bonkers thing would happen. I found it very VC Andrews Flowers in the Attic in tone, a bit more soap operaesque, meant to be engaging, but not literary or deep.

Mercy, the main character, is pretty simple in doing what it takes to survive. There are no scenes where she thinks or analyzes. The writing heavily favors telling over showing. I think the story would have had a whole different tone and a different level of engagement for me if Mercy would have been more proactive, instead of waiting for the bad thing to happen before making her next move.

The last portion of the book, however, seemed deeper, started to make me care and engage more, as the book felt like it had a theme, a message, and Mercy seemed to experience growth. One of the things I would say about the series that began with Flowers in the Attic is that Cathy never really matured from the child she was in the very beginning, never really operated as an adult. Mercy was similar for most of the book, and then she took steps to become more.

And so toward the end, I though, okay, it's about sisterhood, not just the biological kind, but the female relationships we choose for ourselves – wow, I like that. But everything that came before only lightly hinted at that. If this book at been operating at this level, both in terms of the sisterhood angle and in terms of feminist commentary on the men she encounters – whew!

4 stars because I always liked this book, and it would be 4 stars even if that last portion didn't become more layered, because it was entertaining. I LOVED Flowers in the Attic, after all. However, that last portion indicates to me that Jenna Cosgrove has more going on than I thought, and that it's quite likely I will love future books from her.

Also, love tattoos, so...