Review: Please Don’t Tell by Laura Tims
SYNOPSIS:
Joy killed Adam Gordon—at least, that’s what she thinks. The night of the party is hazy at best. But she knows what Adam did to her twin sister, Grace, and she knows he had to pay for it.
What Joy doesn’t expect is that someone else saw what happened. And one night a note is shoved through her open window, threatening Joy that all will be revealed. Now the anonymous blackmailer starts using Joy to expose the secrets of their placid hometown. And as the demands escalate, Joy must somehow uncover the blackmailer’s identity before Joy is forced to make a terrible choice.
In this darkly compelling narrative, debut author Laura Tims explores the complicated relationship between two sisters, and what one will do for the other. It’s a story that will keep readers turning pages and questioning their own sense of right and wrong.
REVIEW:
*Book Received in Exchange for Honest Opinion/Review*
This book was…it was something. I think the message the book portrays is intriguing however, the execution is lacking. This book covers a wide variety of mental illnesses, from an eating disorder, obsessiveness compulsive tendencies, to schizophrenia and alcoholism. To speak in these terms of extremes, it is clear from the beginning that Grace needs help, Joy needs help, hell half the town needs help.
Personally, I feel like there is just too much going on in this book. There are too many mental illnesses and they kind-of overwhelm you and really bring the book down. This was not in any way, shape, or form a light read. It was a very heavy read with the blackmailer concept always following Joy around like a black cloud. The characters all seem emotionally unstable, we have Joy who will be crushing on a boy one second and then depressed about her blackmailer the next. This type of emotional extreme case made the characters wishy-washy to me. I couldn’t get attached or even like them.
Finally, I really loathed Joy and Grace’s parents who don’t even deserve the title of parents. They literally provide a place for the girls to sleep and food to eat that is it. How do you not notice your daughter avoiding food and excessively exercising. Maybe its the parent’s desire to see the best in their daughters or hope for the best in them but the parents were extremely transparent for me. Overall, the concept was excellent but the execution left something to be desired.
PRE-ORDER THE BOOK (Available May 24, 2016):
