Book Review: Complicit

Two years ago, sixteen-year-old Jamie Henry breathed a sigh of relief when a judge sentenced his older sister to juvenile detention for burning down their neighbor’s fancy horse barn. The whole town did. Because Crazy Cate Henry used to be a nice girl. Until she did a lot of bad things. Like drinking. And stealing. And lying. Like playing weird mind games in the woods with other children. Like making sure she always got her way. Or else.

But today Cate got out. And now she’s coming back for Jamie.

Because more than anything, Cate Henry needs her little brother to know the truth about their past. A truth she’s kept hidden for years. A truth she’s not supposed to tell.

Trust nothing and no one as you race toward the explosive conclusion of this gripping psychological thriller from the William C. Morris Award-winning author of Charm & Strange.

1. Check another one off bookshelf. Just going to take a quick moment to pat myself on the back. I have so many books on my bookshelf that have been collecting dust, waiting to be read, and I am determined to read all of these books this year. This book.. I have no idea how I got it, who got it for me, or how it ended up on my bookshelf, but I’ll take it.

2. Bad Reviews? I’m a sucker for Goodreads. Before picking up a book, I look it up on Goodreads.. check out the reviews, see if any of my friends or book bloggers that I follow have read it, what they have to say about it. So of course, before reading Complicit, I jumped on Goodreads and saw that Jamie, from The Perpetual Page-Turner, had read this book and rated it 1 star. Whomp whomp. I wasn’t going to let that distract me from my goal (see point 1…), and I figured since the book was short, I’d at least give it a try. I’m glad I did.

3. Don’t listen to them! I honestly enjoyed this book. It was a quick read, but it held my attention for the entire time I was reading (which, lately, is a feat). Yes, there were some issues with the way the book jumped around in timeline, with the character of Cate, and with the predictability of the twist, but the writing was excellent and it was suspenseful enough for me to stay up until 11 last night reading. Jamie’s character was chilling and the process of trying to watch him figure out what was up with him was intriguing. AND THE ENDING THOUGH.

4. The ENDING. Ok, obviously I can’t say much on this point, but I will say this: despite the fact that I predicted what had happened with Jamie to cause his issues, I had NO IDEA the book would end the way it did. It was heartbreaking and bone-chilling and just really good. If you read it at all, read it until the end.

This book was more predictable than I would have liked, but it didn’t detract from the good writing and bone-chilling ending.