Friday 31 January 2014

(Review) No One Else Can Have You - Kathleen Hale

Title: No One Else Can Have You
Author: Kathleen Hale
Format: ebook
Pages: 384 pages
ISBN: 9780062211224
Publisher: HarperTeen
Date Published: January 7th 2014

Summary (from Goodreads)

Small towns are nothing if not friendly. Friendship, Wisconsin (population: 688) is no different. Around here, everyone wears a smile. And no one ever locks their doors. Until, that is, high school sweetheart Ruth Fried is found murdered. Strung up like a scarecrow in the middle of a cornfield.
Unfortunately, Friendship’s police are more adept at looking for lost pets than catching killers. So Ruth’s best friend, Kippy Bushman, armed with only her tenacious Midwestern spirit and Ruth’s secret diary (which Ruth’s mother had asked her to read in order to redact any, you know, sex parts), sets out to find the murderer. But in a quiet town like Friendship—where no one is a suspect—anyone could be the killer.

Review:

HOLYMOLY This book was quite the pain in the butt to read. I can't even begin to describe how incredibly insane it felt reading through the character interactions. They were all so unrealistic. I'm still in shock I managed to finish this book because that was a whole form of torture in itself. I admit that the cover was what initially drew me in, it's very cozy and homey compared to the stereotypical "elegant girl" on dresses.

The book begins with the death of Kippy's best friend Ruth, who was found brutally murdered in the middle of a cornfield in true horrific fashion. What follows is a series in painfully kitschy scenes that involves incapable police officers and fake people. I would love to point out every single thing that made this book completely insane but that would probably give me a little stroke so I'm just going to highlight some parts...

First, there's the issue with the lone police sheriff (basically, there was no one else on Friendship that could've helped?) doing all the work and he seemed hellbent to pin the crime on a person he doesn't like. Who does that? How can that happen so easily and so unopposed in real life? Second, everyone seemed to act extremely suspicious throughout the book, and then suddenly the epiphany arrives on who the true killer is. The whole transition from confusion to revelation seemed a little too quick. And lastly, Kippy kissed another guy because she didn't think the other one liked her? I mean, come on, I would imagine a smart, straight-A student like her would think twice before pulling that off. She also seems to get into all sorts of trouble, many of which she doesn't oppose to no matter how wrong and insane they are! Who gives one retort after being told you're going to be sent to an insane asylum for two months? These kind of things, and the psychological torture Kippy half-willingly endures almost drove me insane.

I would hope that whatever book Kathleen Hale chooses to write next doesn't belong in the same realm as this one. She has the potential and the imagination to pull off something far greater than this.

Rating: ♚♚

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