2020: THIS BOOK IS AN ATROCIOUS EXCUSE OF A NOVEL. I seriously cannot believe that anyone enjoyed being on this mystery ride from hell. The “twists” in this book are utter nonsense and I literally did not even care who murdered the child in the end.

The plot centers around the idea that, within three months, a 34 year old man and a 15 year old girl fell so in love that they were going to run away to Canada so they could be together. The story is told through the eyes of a shallow, egotistical (potentially the author’s autobiography?) writer who essentially leads the murder investigation. THIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN.

This book BARELY passes the Bechdel test (a mother and her daughter sneak in ONE conversation about unpacking groceries). The dialogue in this book is LAUGHABLE - the 15 year old uses the most formal phrases, and the monologues that some characters go on take no less than 5 minutes to say aloud. No one talks like that!

The only thing I might be able to forgive this book for is its third grade reading level, as it was originally written in French and subsequently translated. As to whoever decided it was worthy of translation, they deserve to be fired. Hopefully, it’s just a trash translation, and maybe this book is actually decent in the original French. I SERIOUSLY DOUBT THAT THO.

SAVE YOURSELF 600 PAGES OF DRAMA UNWORTHY OF YOUR TIME AND EFFORT AND READ SOMETHING ELSE (preferably written by a woman of color, this just REEKS of white male privilege and I need to cleanse my palette).