Reconstructing Amelia

The Bookworm says… Yes. A roller-coaster from beginning to end, Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight is a fantastic novel. Amelia Baron, sophomore at Grace Hall, is one of the top students and best athletes at the school and has a reputation as such. When her mother, Kate, a lawyer, receives a call at work saying Amelia has been suspended for cheating on an English paper, Kate is shocked; she’s even more surprised when she arrives at the school and her daughter is dead. She jumped off the roof- suicide. As a single mom dealing with the loss of her only child, weeks pass by and grieving still hasn’t gotten easier for Kate; neither has believing that her joyful, charismatic Amelia would commit suicide. When an anonymous text message encourages her suspicions, Kate devotes herself to finding out the truth about Amelia’s death, no matter what secrets of the past she digs up along the way.

Reconstructing Amelia is gripping, thrilling, hysterical, and heart-breaking, all at the same time. It’s the struggle of a woman to thrive in a professional environment dominated by men. It’s the toils of raising a child as a single mother. It’s the relationship between a teenage girl and her hardworking, often absent mother. It’s the pressure to fit in, to blend in, to be cool. It’s the desperate frenzy to learn the truth about those you love. Kimberly McCreight expertly develops characters that readers can connect to and sympathize with, making the ending especially unpredictable. I was kept guessing the whole time, reading along as love and jealousy took hearts hostage. I literally could not put it down and did in fact bring it with me to the gym to read while I was working out. For fans of Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, or Shiny Broken Pieces, add this to your list.

“Sometimes I could barely feel my own heart beating beneath the weight of my hyperactive brain.”

The Girl On The Train

The Bookworm says... Absolutely! The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins was terrifying, twisted, and wrong... Which made it so right. Every day Rachel takes the train to London. Every day she sees the couple eating breakfast on their terrace. She names them Jess and Jason, and creates a life for them. Every day she composes more of this story in her head, until one day, she sees something. She's the only one that notices, and seconds later, the train keeps moving. Apprehensive about whether or not to go to the police, Rachel finds her self neck deep in an investigation about a crime she can't remember the night of. 

This book was twisted and disturbing and I couldn't put it down. Every turn of the plot had me turning pages faster, every sinister motive had me aching for the end. When it came I wish it hadn't. In a writing style very similar to Gillian Flynn, Paula Hawkins unleashes a thriller sure to appeal to all fans of Gone Girl. I promise you, you won't be able to put it down. 

"Eventually, I suppose, the nightmares will stop and I'll stop replaying it over and over in my head, but right now I know there's a long night ahead. And I have to get up early tomorrow morning to catch the train."