Release Date - Sept 5, 2017
Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages - 264 pages
My Rating - 3.5/5
**received for an honest review from publisher**
The story of a young woman whose diabolical smarts are her ticket into a charmed life. But how many times can someone reinvent themselves? You be the judge.
Imogen is a runaway heiress, an orphan, a cook, and a cheat.
Jule is a fighter, a social chameleon, and an athlete.
An intense friendship. A disappearance. A murder, or maybe two.
A bad romance, or maybe three.
Blunt objects, disguises, blood, and chocolate. The American dream, superheroes, spies, and villains.
A girl who refuses to give people what they want from her.
A girl who refuses to be the person she once was.
Genuine Fraud is a fun, rapid paced read. It is also a gender swapped novel version of a movie whose title I cannot reveal because it is too spoilerly. The major plot points of Genuine Fraud would be instantly ruined if you knew which movie it resembles, and that is part of why this novel didn't work as well as I wanted it to.
There is the potential in this story for a discussion about gender swapping, and how that would change the story being told. A discussion about girls and how they interact with each other.This author is known for the feminist slant she often puts on her writing, and I felt this element could have shone a little more. It could have distanced itself from its inspiration and should have been the way this author's mark was left on this story. I felt like E Lockhart's spin was missing from this story and that is what I so desperately wanted to read.
The sharp writing I have come to expect from E Lockhart is definitely present. Her writing is always pitch perfect and is what makes this novel such a joy to read. The clever story narration device of telling the events in reverse also allows for the story to unravel in a way that feels fresh enough, even when it invokes its obvious inspiration. The tone is perfect for this type of novel, and switches perfectly as the twists are revealed. It grows darker as the story progressions and the tension starts to creep in.
The characters of Imogen and Jule are both so fascinating. I wish more time would have been spent on characterization. This novel, because of what it is, is very plot driven. The pacing of the plot, and the way it unravels almost doesn't allow us to get to know the characters, especially one of them in particular, but I think it would have resonated more if there was more of an investment in the characters. These female characters are (among other things) complex, messy, and unapologetic in their actions. I wanted to get inside their heads a little more because these are the characters I want to see more of. I wanted this book to say something about these character types in this genre of story and I felt that opportunity was missed.
I think readers who are unfamilar with the movie this book so clearly pays homage to will end up enjoying this one much more than those who are familiar. The plot is gripping, the pacing wonderful, and the revealations shocking. It is everything it needs it to be for the story and writing style to work. Where it faulters is in the lack of surprise. The plot depends on that surprise and it is lost the minute you reconginize this story.
A book that had so much potential and just didn't quite deliver as fully as I wanted it to. It is an engaging and tension filled story, however it feels like one that should have had something more to say. There wasn't anything new that was dissected or revealed in this story, and this missed potential is perhaps what remains with me the most after turning the final page.
There is the potential in this story for a discussion about gender swapping, and how that would change the story being told. A discussion about girls and how they interact with each other.This author is known for the feminist slant she often puts on her writing, and I felt this element could have shone a little more. It could have distanced itself from its inspiration and should have been the way this author's mark was left on this story. I felt like E Lockhart's spin was missing from this story and that is what I so desperately wanted to read.
The sharp writing I have come to expect from E Lockhart is definitely present. Her writing is always pitch perfect and is what makes this novel such a joy to read. The clever story narration device of telling the events in reverse also allows for the story to unravel in a way that feels fresh enough, even when it invokes its obvious inspiration. The tone is perfect for this type of novel, and switches perfectly as the twists are revealed. It grows darker as the story progressions and the tension starts to creep in.
The characters of Imogen and Jule are both so fascinating. I wish more time would have been spent on characterization. This novel, because of what it is, is very plot driven. The pacing of the plot, and the way it unravels almost doesn't allow us to get to know the characters, especially one of them in particular, but I think it would have resonated more if there was more of an investment in the characters. These female characters are (among other things) complex, messy, and unapologetic in their actions. I wanted to get inside their heads a little more because these are the characters I want to see more of. I wanted this book to say something about these character types in this genre of story and I felt that opportunity was missed.
I think readers who are unfamilar with the movie this book so clearly pays homage to will end up enjoying this one much more than those who are familiar. The plot is gripping, the pacing wonderful, and the revealations shocking. It is everything it needs it to be for the story and writing style to work. Where it faulters is in the lack of surprise. The plot depends on that surprise and it is lost the minute you reconginize this story.
A book that had so much potential and just didn't quite deliver as fully as I wanted it to. It is an engaging and tension filled story, however it feels like one that should have had something more to say. There wasn't anything new that was dissected or revealed in this story, and this missed potential is perhaps what remains with me the most after turning the final page.
