Good morning, everyone! Today I'm on the TLC blog tour for Kimberly McCreight's debut, Reconstructing Amelia.Lawyer Kate Baron was late picking up her daughter.
In the midst of a big meeting, Kate is called with the news that her daughter, Amelia, has been suspended, effective immediately. The news comes as a shock considering Amelia has always been a good kid. The reason behind the suspension is even more jarring for Kate: apparently Amelia was caught cheating. When Kate finally arrives, Amelia is dead. The police ruled it a suicide but weeks later Kate receives a text reading: Amelia didn't jump.
I stayed up LATE finishing this one! It's the first time in a long time that I've been able to delay passing out long enough to finish a book. And it was totally necessary! From the very start, Reconstructing Amelia grabs you and doesn't let go. I wish I could think of a better word than "gripping," but the book is just that, gripping.
The story alternates between Kate, present day, Amelia in the days leading up to her death, and Amelia's text conversations, and facebook posts. Interspersed throughout are flashbacks to Kate's actual pregnancy with Amelia and posts from the gRaCeFULLY blog, an unofficial and anonymous gossip blog focused on the students at Grace Hall.
The secrets that Kate learns about Amelia are the kind no parent wants to hear. Amelia is a good kid and Kate does her best as a mother, but her job and its demanding hours mean that Amelia spends a lot of time alone, which is exactly what leaves her prey to the events in the book.
I don't want to give too much away, so I'll leave it at that. This is an excellent thriller in the vein of Laura Lippman (for reasons that I can't really explain other than the fact that it involves high school girls, I thought Reconstructing Amelia reminded me a bit of Lippman's To the Power of Three). Definitely recommended. Note some folks have mentioned the issues discussed in the book and while they are certainly timely and terrible, it only made Reconstructing Amelia that much more of an intense read for me. It's strange to say that I enjoyed it but, quite frankly, this was truly a great read!
To see what others thought, check out the official TLC tour page here.
For more on Kimberly McCreight, visit her official website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.
Rating: 5/5
3 comments:
This one sounds like a really compelling read! I'm so glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks for being a part of the tour. I'm featuring your review on TLC's Facebook page today
Exciting from the start not a boring book at all.a page turner makes you want to finish n know every last word to the end. Read it
I really could not put this book down. I read it in just a few days and I loved it. It was suspenseful and unpredictable. I can't wait to see it as a movie!
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