By: Joanna Wallace
Why I Chose This Book?
One hundred percent, I picked up this book because of the cover. The neon green with a cartoony design was very appealing when I walked into my local Barnes and Noble and saw it on the front table. Also, thrillers were BYGO 50% off so as someone with no self control and the constant need for more books, I took advantage.
Unfortunately, I did not resonate with the contents of the book as I did the cover.
*This post contains spoilers for You’d Look Better as a Ghost
Book Summary:
The night after her father’s funeral, Claire meets Lucas in a bar. Lucas doesn’t know it, but it’s not a chance meeting. One thoughtless mistyped email has put him in the crosshairs of an extremely put-out serial killer. But before they make eye contact, before Claire lets him buy her a drink—even before she takes him home and carves him up into little pieces—something about that night is very wrong. Because someone is watching Claire. Someone who is about to discover her murderous little hobby.
You’d Look Better as a Ghost, BY: Joanna Wallace
The thing is, it’s not sensible to tangle with a part-time serial killer, even one who is distracted by attending a weekly bereavement support group and trying to get her art career off the ground. Will Claire finish off her blackmailer before her pursuer reveals all? Let the games begin . . .
My thoughts:
I had a hard time connecting with the main character. Not on a personal level… you don’t need to see yourself in the character to connect. However, you don’t rout for her and you don’t rout against her. She is not so cold that it is unnerving but also isn’t chaotic. Claire is just at a 5 at all times.
The constant switch of antagonists doesn’t allow for the suspense to build. Just when you think that Claire is going to unravel and she is going to be exposed, she just kills each adversary and another one pops up.
Yes, she is a serial killer but she never intended on killing so many people so quickly.
If it weren’t for her slip of emotions after her father’s death, she wouldn’t be in this situation. Her not getting a spot in the gallery led her to an impulsive decision to kill Lucas Kane. Had she not, Jemma would not have been lurking around her and then her sister Helen following Jemma’s death.
Overall,
Not a very interesting and dynamic story. I do think a bit of this is due to the fact that I am an American reader and this is a British story.
That being said, there wasn’t enough tension or high stakes throughout the story. The overall calm nature of Claire should have been unnerving but ended up underwhelming the story.
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
FableStoryNovel 