Sunday, May 31, 2015

Being A Parent Is Terrifying Enough - Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight

I wanted a page-turner and that's what I got. 

Kate's teenage daughter Amelia has jumped from the roof of her school after a cheating scandal. Or maybe that's not what happened, and Kate, a successful lawyer and single mom, decides to investigate as she comes out of the fog of her grief.


The alternating timelines and POVs make for a suspenseful read, but the plot is a bit ridiculous once you look back. Several times during my reading I felt manipulated as a woman and mother. 


I've decided that publishers are pushing what I'll call "mom horror". Books like Defending Jacob and Reconstructing Amelia suck you in by preying on your very worst mom fears, but when the ride is over and you look back, you see that the fear was really preposterous. The silliness of the timing and intensity of the drama surrounding Amelia was hard to overlook once I finally closed the book.

3 stars.

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