Luckiest Girl Alive audiobook

You only scream when you're finally safe.this book is kind of like if the lifetime channel exploded, causing lifetime confetti to go everywhere.but i don't think that's a bad thing.a lot of people have had really strong negative reactions to this book, but since this seems to be the year that i like the books everyone hates and hate the books everyone likes, here i am with at least one thumb up.this book is far from perfect, and it's got a lot of things in it that people who read less clinically than i do are going to have emotional responses to. it covers all the modern-day danger-ground topics like bullying, (view spoiler)[school shootings (hide spoiler)], (view spoiler)[rape (hide spoiler)], eating disorders, homophobia, and there are various gender and class issues scattered throughout. is it the new Gone Girl? not really, although it does share some qualities with that book in centering around a calculating and manipulative female lead, with several twists and reveals along the way, as well as an explication of knoll's version of "the cool girl." however, unlike Gone Girl, where the more we know about amy dunne the less likable she is, here it's the complete opposite and the character becomes more sympathetic as the story unfolds.and i like antiheroes more than empathy.i suppose here is where i am supposed to use the character's name, but it is so spectacularly bad. and it's meant to be, but still. okay - bracing myself: TifAni FaNelli. fortunately, she goes by "ani" for most of the book, so i will use that name for the rest of the review, because good lord.so ani is one stone cold bitch. shedding her past and her bougie mother's grasping ways (Italians who don't even know how to pronounce "bruschetta." We are the worst kind.), she has reinvented herself not only by changing her name, but by changing her everything. she has landed herself a prestigious job at a well-known women's magazine and refashioned herself into a combination of trendy stylishness and timeless class, landing herself a fiance who can offer her the stability of his family's aristocratic, blueblooded bliss. and a honking big ring. ani has relentlessly driven herself up several social classes through observation and rigorous study, learning the difference between nouveau riche and really rich, learning the difference between true class and glitzy veneer, learning old-world etiquette and adopting the pose for herself. she is bateman-esque in her label name-dropping and her carefully-composed public face.about that honking big ring, which she casually flaunts at every opportunity…my pride and joy: a fat, brilliant emerald planet, flanked by two winking diamonds, the band simple platinum. It had been Luke's grandmother's - pardon me, his Mammy's - and when he gave it to me he'd offered me the option to reset the stones on a diamond band. "Mom's jewelry guy said that's the look a lot of girls go for now. It's more modern I guess."And that's exactly why I didn't want to have it reset. No, I would wear it just the way dear sweet Mammy had worn it: at once restrained and ornate. A very clear message: This is an heirloom. We don't just have money, we come from money.she is the very paradigm of calculating self-control - starving and exercising herself to exhaustion to attain her ideal body, and using her status and beauty to power play other women. it's cutthroat competition, and she's great at it. it's snarky popcorn entertainment.I always eye the wife first; I like to know what I'm up against. She was wearing the typical Kate uniform: white jeans, nude wedges, and a silky, sleeveless top. Hot pink, I'm sure she spent a few minutes debating it - was she tan enough, maybe the navy silky sleeveless top instead, can't go wrong with navy - and over her shoulder, a cognac Prada the exact same shade as her shoes, the perfect match more age revealing than the skin starting to pucker in her neck. She had at least ten years on me, I determined, relieved. I don't know how I'm going to live with myself when I turn thirty.my problem is - i liked her cold. i liked her savage. i enjoyed her chilling calculations - My favorite strategy is to feign inferiority and encourage my enemy's arrogance. but as the story progresses, and we learn about her past and what she has lived through (a checklist of lifetime movie themes), so much of what she is now turns out to be just superficial reflexive armor and when the cracks reveal her past vulnerability, i thought the story weakened. not that her backstory is weak on its own, but this reads like two separate stories fused together, and it's the joining that is unconvincing. there's a reason both megan abbott and alissa nutting have blurbed this. knoll writes the teenage girl stuff so so well, and it's heartbreaking, but she's also able to slide a thin blade under your comfort level with shocking scenes just this side of gratuitous. i'm more interested in/impressed by the heartbreak than the shock, so i'm going to focus on that, even though it's the shocking things that most readers will remember. this really does a great job covering all the warts of female adolescence; it's the froth of mean girls mixed with blood and venom: the social performances required to achieve and maintain status, the superficiality, the shame of having breasts enormous and unpredictable without a bra, the boredom of following the crowd, how private letting-off-of-steam appears more sinister under the public eye, the way motives are misjudged, the way there's nothing sadder than the adolescent rite of passage to have sex before understanding what sexy is, the temporary rise in popularity and the rapid decline after obscure transgressions, and the cutthroat ways that girls enact revenge on other girls. jesus, the scene with the running shorts will NEVER LEAVE ME. this sums up adolescence perfectly:I was so tired of everything that was embarrassing about me being on display.and you don't come out of that without a little damage; without learning how to hustle and con and pose and manipulate and become an adaptive adult.and ani's damage is worse than most because - again - she has lived through every after-school special ever.and she leaves behind her painful adolescence by distancing herself from everything she was, learning the ropes and ascending beyond her expectations, The place I had worked so hard to fit into that was now beneath me. but the past never leaves us.i really liked this book. i wish it had been two different books, because i think it takes on too many issues and it doesn't present a consistent character, even allowing for change and growth and damage, but it was damn entertaining and i don't got no triggers, so i liked it just fine.come to my blog!["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll is a 2015 Simon & Schuster publication.When this book was first released and making the rounds on Goodreads, the cover was so enticing, but the reviews were mixed. I hemmed and hawed over it, unable to decide if I wanted to read it or not. But, as time passed, and all the hype died down, I forgot all about this book. But, when I noticed this author had a new release coming up soon, I thought I’d go back and give this book a second look. The reviews were still mixed, but this time, instead of scaring me away, it only increased my curiosity. It seemed people either loved it or hated it. I had to see which side of the fence I would come down on. Ani’s life is golden. She has a job at a very popular women’s magazine and is engaged to Luke, a good looking, wealthy guy, and is ready to embark on, what appears on the surface, a charmed life. She embraces the role completely, replete with an entitled, snobby, snotty attitude. But, maintaining that image, is hard work. It seems Ani is also working mighty hard to convince herself, she’s as close to happy as she’s ever going to get, and that her chosen path is the right one for her. Further complicating matters, is that her dark and troubling past has come to roost, so to speak. She has agreed to do a documentary centered around a very traumatic event in Ani’s life, and Luke is not as supportive as she’d like him to be. Not only that, talking about it now, after all these years, has brought the whole horrible situation back into the forefront of her mind. As the details slowly emerge, Ani’s well orchestrated and carefully constructed life begins to fray at the edges, as she confronts her personal inner demons. Well, I must say, this book was nothing at all like I thought it would be. This is yet ANOTHER book once compared to ‘Gone Girl’. that is not even remotely similar in style, format or content, in my opinion. This is not a psychological thriller in the purest sense, either. Yes, there is a slow burn of building suspense, the feeling our narrator is not exactly reliable, and of course there are crimes, with a palpable feeling of foreboding, but at the end of the day, the book was more about Ani’s coming to terms with her past and the traumatic event that was the possible catalyst to a stunning turn of events. I don’t know if I’d say Ani’s psychological state was deteriorating, though, but I can see where some might question it. Admittedly, Ani is not the warmest person, especially in the beginning, which makes it hard to sympathize with her. But, as her story unfolds, I began to understand her better.It took me a while to get into this book, and quite a while to read it as a result, but the second half of the book made up for it, big time. The book touches on some very important topics, and Ani’s backstory has a definite authenticity and realism to it. I think the book is far more thought provoking than it is being credited with, all because the characters are not especially likable. This is a shame because the very important messages the book sent out was tempered, drowned out by Ani’s difficult personality. If you discover someone you dislike has suffered a series of very serious traumas, does that in some way lessen its severity, or make it any less a crime, any less traumatic? Could it be, that the reason the person behaves in an off-putting way is because they are a product of their past? Maybe they have suffered in ways you can’t imagine, maybe they are being judged, if not unfairly, then maybe a bit too harshly. Most importantly, though, is learning what makes a person tick can change our perception of them, softening our opinions. I admit I did feel guilty for being too hard on Ani in the beginning, did soften once I knew more about her, and even cheered for her after she made some very tough personal decisions about her life. In hindsight, I think Ani made a very interesting character study. Having said all that, I still couldn’t decide how to rate this one. It was a bit uneven, and I’m not sure if painting Ani in such a negative light, was the best choice to make, or if maybe a firmer, more pronounced and obvious conclusion, was needed to wash that bad taste out the reader’s mouth. I don’t think the book quite lived up to the hype surrounding It either, and the style of writing is not comparable to Gillian Flynn, but the book does have many merits and is a very solid debut novel. In the end, I ended up sitting on the fence, instead of coming down on one side or the other. I didn’t love the book, but I certainly didn’t hate it. It didn’t stir my emotions, but it did make me think. So, while I’ve been waffling between a 3 or 3.5, I’ve convinced myself to fudge the rating up a notch- 3.5 rounded up, to make up for my awful prejudgement and bias against Ani. May we should all strive to be and do better.

Hi. Come on in. Have a seat, here's a cup of tea. Now, let me explain to you why you need to pre-order (or, depending on the date you're reading this, go pick up) this book. First and foremost, please understand that it took me a few times of running through the ARCs on Netgalley before I requested this title. The cover art just didn't do it for me, made me think romance, fluff, air. Not my style. But then I looked a little closer, read the description, popped onto GoodReads to see what was up with this book with a tragically unfortunate cover.And I got intrigued.I turned it into an at-work book. To be read on my computer during down times, or when mindlessly filing. And at first glance, it wasn't something I wished I had on my phone or tablet, to take home with me and devour. But slowly, ever so slowly, it took over. And it's the first book in an extremely long time that I stayed awake to finish. And I lay awake afterwards because I couldn't stop thinking about it. Reason Number One you need to get this book: Ani. The grown-up version of our narrator. You will hate her. She is shallow. She is a Super Bitch, one of those The Devil Wears Prada clackers who judges everyone she meets, and holds her power over them with intense self awareness. She knows she's a horrible person, and she crafts her world meticulously to make sure no one else does.You will hate her. Keep reading, though. Because when that facade starts to crack, when you see the bone and marrow beneath, it is so mesmerizing. This is when you start to get pulled in, really pulled in. You start to ask why. Reason Number Two you need to get this book: TifAni. The 14-year old version of our narrator. God, if there were ever a more unfortunate name for a child. Why would you ever think it was a good idea to subject a child to this name. You will not hate her. You might not particularly like her, but there will not be the visceral dislike you had for her adult counterpart. But she starts out as an average 14 year old, and depending on how far removed you are from her age, you might find her trying.This story bounces back and forth in time between Ani and TifAni. And it tells you everything in tiny hints. Hints that make sense eventually, but it's not until you get to these reveals that you realize the hints existed in the first place. Reason Number Three you need to get this book: You will think you know what's coming. You will laugh at your own assumptions when you find out you're so very wrong. I will not spoil this book for you. Not because, "Don't you dare let anyone spoil this book for you!!" because that is a trope that is so overplayed as to be laughable. I won't spoil it because this roller coaster ride has to be felt all on its own, without warning.Jessica Knoll needs to be commended for this writing. There are so many pot holes this book could have fallen into. So many turns it could've taken, that I was silently begging it not to take. Apparently, Ms Knoll and I are familiar with similar books, because she knew the pot holes I was worried about her falling in, and swerved around them so deftly. Every expectation I had disappeared. Every cliche I expected, it was like she was laughing at me. I love it.This book is being compared to Gone Girl. Don't listen to that. It's in a league all on its own.

3.5 Oh My! I think this is going to be a popular book. For those who have enjoyed "Gone Girl", "The Good Girl", The "Still Missing" Girl, "The Forgotten Girl", and any other troubled story with the word "GIRL" on its book cover -then get a copy of "Luckiest Girl Alive", and start reading! As for me, I'm somewhat "A Confused Girl". I'm confused about the 'ending' of this story. I'm not sure what 'fully' happened.Makes you even more interested to read this right?Heck, it would me! (but I'm not going to give any spoilers away here)Its definitely a 'book-discussion' novel. The main character isn't the most likeable person you'll ever met. In fact, 'none' of the characters are particularly likeable. Yet, doesn't matter --I can enjoy a book where I'm not crazy about the characters. I just need other things to keep me interested. Ani FaNelli lived through a haunting disturbing trauma --(during High School). As an adult -- She seems to have somewhat recovered. She works for an established successful woman's magazine, and is engaged to a man who loves her from an-affluent family.The storytelling goes back and forth --flashbacks to her high school years. The author Jessica Knoll does a great job engaging us --(but sometimes I just wasn't interested in what I was engaged in). The crafting was excellent though --artfully constructed! I tended to get bored with the following 'ME' theme : (just my personal preference, though)Ani's has concerns with being pretty, with her clothes size, and body image. Concerns with herself play out during both her teen years and adult years. We witness Ani either feeling better than others, or less than. --but rarely do we experience Ani feeling 'whole'. During her teen years --she often came off as being meek. As an adult, sometimes as a bitch. This contrasts from meek to bitch allows for some deeper human understanding though --(so I did understood the value for the situations presented to us in the storytelling) Things I was 'most' interested in:I wanted to know about the nightmare from Ani's teen yearsI wanted to know more about Ani's relationship with her favorite teacher when she was in High SchoolI wanted to know more about the man Ani was engaged to as an adultI wanted to know what choices Ani was going to make as an adult.The suspense storytelling was built effectively -- There comes a point in the novel --where you can't stop reading --You're hooked!Congrats to Jessical Knoll for a GIRL GRIPPING book! Also --Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley

Exquisitely disfunctional! And there's one hell of a crazy girl portrayed in here! It's Gone Girl all right! This book storyline is entirely disgusting, it's like watching a car crash. One can easily see why modern guys go gay. I would too if facing life with such a nasty creature.Frankly speaking, a good psychoanalyst would be soo much needed, both for the happy bride and for the unlucky catch. And for the reader too. This should be made a reading material for psychologists in training. The illustration for OCD, neurosis, PTSD and an entire plethora of other conditions. Paying that much attention to minutiae of life, work, day-to-day... These people are officially crazy!Q:I once wrote some tip in The Women’s Magazine, “A study found that the act of physically closing your menu once you’ve decided what to order can make you feel more satisfied with your choice. So go with the pan-seared sole and snap that menu shut before you start eye-sexing the penne alla vodka.” LoLo, my boss, had underlined the words “eye-sexing” and written, “Hilarious.” (c)Q:I gushed, “That would be such a help, Eleanor,” and bared my recently whitened teeth. The elevator doors dinged my freedom.(c)Q:Clifford batted his eyes flirtatiously. Eleanor got nothing. Clifford has been the receptionist at The Women’s Magazine for twenty-one years and has various, absurd reasons for hating the majority of people who walk past him every day. Eleanor’s crime is that she is awful, but also that one time, an e-mail went out that there were cookies in the pantry. Clifford, who couldn’t leave the phones unattended, forwarded it to Eleanor asking her to bring him one, plus a coffee with enough milk that it turned the color of a camel. Eleanor happened to be in a meeting, and by the time she read the e-mail, the cookies were gone. She brought him his precious camel-colored coffee anyway, but Clifford turned his nose up at it and hasn’t spoken more than five words to her since. “Fat cow probably ate the last one instead of giving it to me,” he hissed to me after “the incident.” Eleanor is just about the most anorexic person I know, and we fell to our knees we laughed so hard.(c)Q:“Look at that skirt.” Clifford whistled, his eyes approving on the size two leather tube I’d stuffed myself into after yesterday’s carb catastrophe. The compliment was as much for me as it was for Eleanor. Clifford loved to showboat what a peach he could be if only you never crossed him.“Thank you, doll.” I opened the door for Eleanor.“Fucking queen,” she muttered as she passed through, loud enough for Clifford to hear. She looked at me, waiting to see what I would do. If I ignored her, it was a line drawn in the sand. Laugh, and it was a betrayal to Clifford.I held up my hands. Made sure my voice carried the lie, “I adore you both.”(c)Q:The editor in chief—a chic, asexual woman named LoLo, with a menacing presence I thrive on because it makes my job feel forever in jeopardy and therefore important—seems to be simultaneously disgusted by and in awe of me.(c)Q:My co-workers turn their noses up at meeting with these sad-sack girls the same way they turn their noses up at writing about the grundle, but I find it to be pure entertainment. Nine times out of ten, she’s the prettiest girl in her sorority, the one with the best closet, the biggest collection of J Brand jeans. I’ll never tire of seeing the shadow pass over her face when she sees my Derek Lam trousers slung low on my hips, the messy bun sprouting out of my neck. She’ll tug at the waist of her tasteful A-line dress that suddenly seems so matronly, smooth down her overly straightened hair, and realize she played it all wrong. This girl would have tortured me ten years ago, and I fly out of bed on the mornings I get to exert my power over her now....I make it a point to bring these girls to the newsstand. “You were a staff writer for your college newspaper?” I’ll cradle my chin in my hand, encourage them to tell me more about their exposé on the school mascot, the costume’s homophobic undertones, when I’ve already decided how much help to provide them based on how they treat Loretta.(c)

[4.5 Stars]ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS!!!! Seriously, so good! I had to take off half a star because there is this one scene where the main character asks someone for help and the person says "I'm not qualified to answer that" and walks away and I am not okay with the author writing that scene like that. Other than that, this was amazing!Triggers Warnings: Depression, Anxiety, Eating Disorders, Bullying, Sexual Assault

★★★★½The lingering affects of trauma...that is the theme of this novel. I could go into detail about the parallel storylines, the timeframes, and the relationship dynamics featured here, but it doesn't change the devastating portrait of a woman who grew up broken, unbelieved, invalidated, and judged. It's hard to heal under those circumstances, and the consequences sadly speak for themselves. Jessica Knoll's debut novel, Luckiest Girl Alive is a character-driven novel that allows readers to get to know the leading lady: TifAni "Ani" FaNelli pretty intimately, but that's not always a good thing. After all, broken people are at times the most difficult. But I for one really liked her character and was less impressed with the behavior and thought-processes of those around her. Ms. Knoll's incorporation of realistic fiction, suspense, mystery, and complexity make this novel incredibly engaging from start to finish. Speaking of finishes, I must note that I was expecting a big twist or mind-boggling revelation at the end (likely due to the fanfare), but this wasn't the case. I did, however, leave my reading experience extremely satisfied with a feeling of hopefulness for TifAni. Instead of a gasp, I ended with a smile, and as long as TifAni was smiling too, that was OK with me :)My favorite quote:"He saw me at my stray-dog lowest and still he stood behind me, did everything he could to help me. He imagined the future I could have before I even wanted it for myself, and he was the one to push me toward it. That's faith. Growing up I thought faith was about believing Jesus died for us and that if I held on to that, I'd get to meet him when I died too. But faith doesn't mean that to me anymore. Now it means someone seeing something in you that you don't and not giving up until you see it too.”

A Voz do Silêncio O livro que acabei de devorar contém uma verdade camuflada!Quantas jovens vítimas de crimes sexuais se refugiam no Silêncio, ao invés de erguerem a voz, clamando pela justiça que lhes é devida?!Seja por medo, pudor, repulsa ou um misto dos três, optam por enterrar segredos devastadores que as marcam ao longo da vida, condicionando-lhes o comportamento.Vemos jovens alegres e populares transmutadas em sorumbáticas introvertidas, sem entender como nem porquê!?...Falar implica recordar, reviver ao pormenor experiências de dor e expô-las a julgamentos quantas e quantas vezes, reprovadores.Por isso, Basta! Rebobinar aquele filme, reressar àquela agonia, NÃO !!!Antes mergulhar na paz podre do Silêncio.Porém, devagar devagarinho, a Verdade lá vai emergindo com passos curtos mas determinados, até consumar a merecida Justiça!!!..."A Verdade vem sempre ao de cima" - não é o que se diz?!E é nesse desabrochar, nessa escalada íngreme da Verdade, que esta leitura ganha interesse e dimensão!!!...Ao escrever sobre Ani e a sua história, a autora escreve também sobre si mesma.Quando jovem, Jessica Knoll foi vítima de agressões sexuais e, tal como Ani, também ela optou pelo caminho da dor muda. Por isso, a concepção desta história, foi simultaneamente, uma aliviante catarse, o que aliás até se comprova no artigo onde a autora expõe arrojadamente, o seu segredo reprimido:https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/30/bo...Há por aí muitas Anis , e histórias assim são a Voz Colectiva dos seus Silêncios de Dor - são 5 estrelas bem merecidas!!!

Woah that was pretty crazy! Such an interesting story.

This was not something I would have picked up on my own thanks to its cheesy cover, so many thanks to the couple of GR friends I have who introduced me to it! It's exactly what I needed after a few lacklustre reads, despite being yet another thriller being compared to Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn should be paid for all of the times someone references her book in order to sell other books. Or maybe she is? I don't know how that works...) At least in this case it's much more warranted.I liked both sides of Luckiest Girl Alive: the rich, gossipy, fashion-magazine world and the dark high school memories. The lightness gives it its frothy, addictive feeling (and the parts about her planning her wedding hit close to home!) but the dark past gives it such a delicious edge. TifAni (ugh), now Ani, has clawed her way up the social ladder thanks to a mix of starving herself, landing a choice job at a women's magazine, and best of all, winning over her rich, handsome fiancé and inheriting a massive vintage engagement ring. But all is not right with the world - she can hardly ever sleep, and a documentary about a tragic event she was involved in from many years ago is approaching its film date; she's agreed to be interviewed for it, but is worried about the effect it may have on her and her engagement to dredge up the awful memories.Flipping between past and present is not always an effective plot device, but it's done well here and really turns up the suspense a notch. And while I found the high school chapters more compelling, I appreciated both. Ani is probably supposed to be an unlikeable narrator, but the more that was revealed about what she had been through, the more I sympathized with her - plus, I usually do suffer from automatic support of a main character, especially in a first person narrative. Highly recommended for anyone who's looking for a female character with some bite and an above-averagely written high school/domestic/whatever you call it thriller. And try not to judge it by its cover!

I went into this with low expectations because so many people absolutely hated this novel. While I wouldn't go so far to say I loved it, overall it held my interest. However given the dark subject material it's not one of those fun type reads. It's one of those books you keep reading because you have this need to find out the conclusion. Ani FaNelli attended the prestigious Bradley School. She is now engaged and working for a woman's magazine. From the outside it looks like she has it all but in reality she is still haunted by things in her past. The story alternates from what happened when Ani was a teenager and her present day life.I struggled a bit at first particularly with the present day story line. Ani comes across as really shallow until you learn more about her. And even by the end you might not even like her at all, but you can at least acknowledge the fact she is a complicated person. There really is a lot going on in this novel but other than a few minor things, it felt realistic. It makes for a tough read knowing that things that occurred in the story, also happen in real life. This is the type of book in which you will just have to decide for yourself if it's something you want to read.

Sheesh this book was heavy as fuck. Please check TW before reading.. 3.5 stars

** spoiler alert ** This was a sick and twisted book... but in a good way. A way that makes me want to keep reading. TifAni was a remarkable character and I found myself comparing her attitude to my own and realized we are very much the same. Tif was raped by cocky, nasty high school boys and made fun of and I could see why Arthur went nuts the way he did. I think Arthur really cared for Tif and that's why he killed every one. I think he wanted her to see what she meant to him. Arthur was a great character even though I had no clue up until the attack that this Columbine reenactment was going to take place. I liked that he was a tortured soul and was best friends with this chick who wanted to bad to be accepted. They were perfect friends.I wanted Tif to end up with Mr. Larson, I didn't like Luke and thought he was a joke. Andrew got Tif and wanted her and I really wanted them to get together. They were perfect for each other.Dean got what he deserved. He was a smug bastard and deserved to be shot in the dick. He screwed lives up with his penis and he deserved to be shot in the area that caused so much damage, physically and mentally. Overall great book. Took it down a star because I really wanted Tif to end up with Andrew, they both needed a happy ending.

I received an electronic copy from NetGalley for an honest review. 5 Stars. Wow!I read this book in only two days, it is that good.The Luckiest Girl Alive centers around a woman named Ani, who seemingly has the perfect life. Ani has a rich fiance, an important job at a magazine company and a fabulous wardrobe for her size 2 figure. However, Ani has a dark past and it all comes to light as the author weaves between Ani as an adult and Ani as a teen. There is no question that this book is dark, as peer pressure, sexual abuse and bullying is tackled throughout the book. Without giving anything away, There are a lot of surprising twists and turns and the more you read, the more the book will suck you in.

I'd give this book a solid "B" rating. It is really good--engrossing and excellent from the first person point of view. Kept me totally interested throughout, had the feeling of a Gillian Flynn novel. I hesitate to say it's like Gone Girl, because every book seems to be touting itself as "the next Gone Girl", but there are definitely some similarities. That said, I don't think this book actually goes far enough. I was waiting for a big twist payoff at the end and I was disappointed at how it all wrapped up. I could come up with about three alternatives for the ending that would have been a better fit with the main character's personality. Ani comes across as an unreliable narrator, yet the author doesn't really take advantage of that. Very readable, flows well and quite fast-paced. The information is doled out at the right times as to not be too frustrating with waiting for the "big reveal".