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Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart is a book that is inspired by The Talented Mr. Ripley. I loved Lockhart’s We Were Liars, and The Talented Mr. Ripley is such an interesting story that I haven’t seen retold before. However, as I was reading, I noticed that there isn’t actually much difference between the two stories. If you are familiar with The Talented Mr. Ripley, I wouldn’t recommend this book, as the plot won’t come as much of a shock.
Title: Genuine FraudAuthor: E. Lockhart
Also by this author: We Were Liars
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Genres: Mystery, Young Adult Fiction
Publication Date: September 5, 2017
Rating:
Imogen is a runaway heiress, an orphan, a cook, and a cheat.
Jule is a fighter, a social chameleon, and an athlete.
An intense friendship. A disappearance. A murder, or maybe two.
A bad romance, or maybe three.
Blunt objects, disguises, blood, and chocolate. The American dream, superheroes, spies, and villains.
A girl who refuses to give people what they want from her.
A girl who refuses to be the person she once was.
❃ I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. ❃
Review: Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart
What is interesting about Genuine Fraud is the use of reverse chronological order. The book starts with the ending and ends with the beginning, and this could have been really cool if it didn’t take away from the story itself. Because most of the action is at the beginning, the book falls flat near the end. I found the reverse chronology to be confusing as well, since there are so many jumps backwards. By the time I reached the end of the book, I was lost, and I had forgotten most of what the ending (or the beginning in this case) was explaining.
❀ Well-Written WIth Lots of Potential
Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart was well written, and it definitely has a lot of potential, but it just wasn’t for me. If you enjoy books written with reverse chronology, you may really enjoy this one. I had such high hopes for Genuine Fraud, and I’m disappointed that it wasn’t as enjoyable as E. Lockhart’s other books.
About E. Lockhart
E. Lockhart is the author of Genuine Fraud, We Were Liars, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, The Boyfriend List and several other novels.
About The Candid Cover
Olivia ❀ Canadian YA book blogger, Starbucks lover, & professional bibliophile.
I didn’t really like We Were Liars and I wanted to look into her new books, but after seeing this I don’t think I’ll be reading it. I also have issues when the chronological order is weird so I’ll be passing this one. Great review!
Kim @ Divergent Gryffindor
Oh I’m so sorry to hear you were a bit disappointed by this book. I really liked Lockhart’s books so far, and if I’m curious about this one, I’m also super nervous because of the way the story is told, with this reverse chronological order… I’m scared that it would be super confusing for me. I’ll have to think about it, thank you for the lovely review! 🙂
I have read We Were Liars but I remember that I didn’t totally love it and gave it three stars. This story does sound pretty unique though. Just too bad it wasn’t the best for you.
I think I definitely benefited from not having read The Talented Mr Ripley as I had no idea where it was going. Having watched the film last night I can see there are a lot of similarities.
I liked the reverse order, it just raised so many questions although I will admit to some flicking back and forth.
Reverse chronology sounds confusing, but intriguing. I haven’t read We Were Liars, but I have heard that it is fantastic. And this one sounds interesting enough.
The reviews for this book are killing me, because I was soo excited for new Lockhart, but this one is not getting the best buzz. I have put it off for months, but I vow to read it before the end of the year anyhow.
I’ve seen mixed reviews on this book. I’m sorry you didn’t enjoyed it much as you thought you would. The synopsis really sounds interesting, though.
I thought the reverse chronological order was one of the coolest things about this book. I’m not going to lie, when I first read it, I was kind of bothered by the way things went backward the way they did, but it grew on me after a while and I thought it made the story more unique. I wasn’t a fan of We Were Liars, but I really liked this one – it was different. I’m sorry this fell a bit short for you, though!
I like that this story uses reverse chronological order.
Thanks for the honest review. I don’t think this book is for me.