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A review by rachelmcchicken
The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove by Lauren Kate
4.0
Unlike many other people, this is one of my favourite stand-alone novels.
Natalie is indeed a selfish character, but once I started to understand her backround and how she spend her youth, it is kind of understandable, for me at least. Although I do have to say the whole 'daddy' plot line was a bit annoying. I think with better writing and maybe even an altogether longer book, that sub-plot could've worked it's way into the story nicely. However, when reading the book it's almost like Lauren Kate just threw in a text from Natalie's dad or an abstract thought or memory of Natalie's relating to her dad when things got a bit boring. I didn't like it at all.
I loved the ending, and yet hated it at the same time. I don't mind Natalie's death or Mike's disappearance afterwards, but I do think that Lauren Kate should've given us some more concrete info on J.B earlier on in the book instead of letting Nat reveal a memory or two of him every three chapters. I think if this had happened, the memory of Nat and J.B first meeting at the end would've flowed better. Especially considering the epilogue! To me, you can't have almost nothing known about Natalie and J.B's relationship then all of a sudden being shown how they met and that he was in love with her the whole time. I was so confused when I finished the book for the first time I had no clue what was going on.
Aside from the badly-written sub-lot and horribly confusing ending, it was a good book.
Natalie is indeed a selfish character, but once I started to understand her backround and how she spend her youth, it is kind of understandable, for me at least. Although I do have to say the whole 'daddy' plot line was a bit annoying. I think with better writing and maybe even an altogether longer book, that sub-plot could've worked it's way into the story nicely. However, when reading the book it's almost like Lauren Kate just threw in a text from Natalie's dad or an abstract thought or memory of Natalie's relating to her dad when things got a bit boring. I didn't like it at all.
I loved the ending, and yet hated it at the same time. I don't mind Natalie's death or Mike's disappearance afterwards, but I do think that Lauren Kate should've given us some more concrete info on J.B earlier on in the book instead of letting Nat reveal a memory or two of him every three chapters. I think if this had happened, the memory of Nat and J.B first meeting at the end would've flowed better. Especially considering the epilogue! To me, you can't have almost nothing known about Natalie and J.B's relationship then all of a sudden being shown how they met and that he was in love with her the whole time. I was so confused when I finished the book for the first time I had no clue what was going on.
Aside from the badly-written sub-lot and horribly confusing ending, it was a good book.