Title: Genuine Fraud
Author: E. Lockhart
Genre: Young Adult, Thriller
Format/Length: ebook, 288 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Press, 2017
My Rating: ★★★
Genuine Fraud has been marketed as a thriller. There’s a mystery at the heart of the story. There’s suspense. It will be "edgy and inventive."
Or so they say.
The book begins at the end. At the start the reader learns that Jule is on the run, and might have been evading authorities for quite a while. This moves on to carefully building up to the what and why.
Through that careful build up it became clear that I’ve read this story. I’ve seen these characters before. They even acted and did the same things. Some scenes are only slightly different.
So there goes the mystery. I already know this story. In fact, I loved it once. But who knows I might love it again. After all, this one has troubled women and this writer is known to excel at portraying those. There might also be a different twist at some point.
Sadly, if there was one it was not significant enough to distinguish this book from an old favorite.
Essentially Genuine Fraud is the modern reimagining of a book I read a few years ago.
Unfortunately I didn’t know that starting out and I found myself slowly getting disappointed.
Even with the "homage to a classic" in mind, I wanted so much more out of this book. I wanted to be wowed. I wanted to be impressed. I wanted excitement. I wanted a twist so different and separate from the other that it would make my head spin.
In the end I give this book 3 stars because while the plot was a letdown it is not a complete loss for me. I did finish it. I also appreciate it for the Lockhart’s writing - which I admit is engaging and well paced.
The themes and the questions this book presented were also something I enjoyed.
Such questions about identity. About truth. About relationships; what’s healthy, what’s definitely not. Self presentation, self-esteem, self preservation. Lies, secrets, boundaries, envy, morals.
There’s also the big question of what a person is willing to do to get what they want. How far will someone go to live the life they believe they are supposed to have.
Considering these things and choosing to look at this book as a retelling makes Genuine Fraud more enjoyable, even if not memorable.
