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A review by bookph1le
An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks, Sarah Pekkanen
2.0
This wasn't the worst psychological thriller I've read lately. If that ain't a ringing endorsement, I don't know what is. Anywho, I'll try to keep the spoilers to a minimum as I briefly summarize here.
- Unlike most of the thrillers I read lately, this one did hold my attention. I couldn't figure out exactly what was going on, and I kept reading because I wanted to know where the authors were going with the plot. I give it points for that.
- This is yet another thriller that feels to me like it was written by outline, or by checklist. It has all the elements thrillers require these days, and all the feeling of being written specifically to chase the ol' New York Times Bestseller tag. It's not that the book was unoriginal, exactly. I'd liken reading it to eating fast food when what you really crave is a creative, chef-prepared meal. It's okay, but you would have been a lot more satisfied with something daring and different.
- Honestly, parts of this read like they were quoted verbatim from a pop-psychology book, hence why I was entirely unimpressed with Dr. Shields as a character.
- BeautyBuzz sounds like a legit business. Does this sort of thing actually exist? Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think there's a far, far more interesting plot in the idea of the makeup artist going from house to house. Imagine the possibilities there. They'd have been a lot more interesting than the plot of this book, I think.
Final thought: Yeah, I'm done with the hyped commercial thrillers for a while. They just leave me feeling so empty and disappointed. I crave something original, something that doesn't follow the current formula, but I can't seem to find it. I'm probably better off just sitting back and waiting for the next Tana French to come out.
- Unlike most of the thrillers I read lately, this one did hold my attention. I couldn't figure out exactly what was going on, and I kept reading because I wanted to know where the authors were going with the plot. I give it points for that.
- This is yet another thriller that feels to me like it was written by outline, or by checklist. It has all the elements thrillers require these days, and all the feeling of being written specifically to chase the ol' New York Times Bestseller tag. It's not that the book was unoriginal, exactly. I'd liken reading it to eating fast food when what you really crave is a creative, chef-prepared meal. It's okay, but you would have been a lot more satisfied with something daring and different.
- Honestly, parts of this read like they were quoted verbatim from a pop-psychology book, hence why I was entirely unimpressed with Dr. Shields as a character.
Spoiler
- And what even is Shields's motivation? She was such a weird, weird character. I spent the bulk of the book trying to figure out if she was a sociopath, but I wasn't convinced she was. This is what made it so weird to me. Had she been a sociopath, the things she'd done would have made more sense to me. Instead, she comes across as so clinical and cold. And I'm still not sure about her choice at the end. Is she meant to be a tragic figure?- BeautyBuzz sounds like a legit business. Does this sort of thing actually exist? Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think there's a far, far more interesting plot in the idea of the makeup artist going from house to house. Imagine the possibilities there. They'd have been a lot more interesting than the plot of this book, I think.
Final thought: Yeah, I'm done with the hyped commercial thrillers for a while. They just leave me feeling so empty and disappointed. I crave something original, something that doesn't follow the current formula, but I can't seem to find it. I'm probably better off just sitting back and waiting for the next Tana French to come out.