This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Zoe Lea
Kate Baron, a single mother and hard working lawyer, is interrupted in the midst of a crisis meeting to receive the news that her daughter has just been suspended from school. Leaving her meeting, much to the surprise of her work colleagues, Kate makes her way to the school only to discover a reality that no mother ever wants to – her daughter, Amelia, has killed herself.
Devastated, Kate can't accept the fact that Amelia would take her own life. Her daughter was an exemplary student, a perfect daughter, so why would she want to throw herself from the roof of Grace Hall, the private school where she reveled in her studying? Grieving and confused, Kate starts to look closer at the life that Amelia led, and so begins the unraveling of a secret life. The friends Amelia kept, the lies, her secret confidences that her mother knew nothing about, are all brought to the surface and Kate discovers that Amelia’s private world was a very different one to that which she expected.
I found Reconstructing Amelia a fascinating read. I thought the writing was sharp and portrayed excellent insights into each of the characters with snappy dialogue and insightful narrative. I particularly enjoyed the chapters from Amelia's point of view, which give a brilliant demonstration into the world of teenagers and their relationships with their mothers. Sexual rivalry and high school bullying were brilliantly depicted and with each chapter revealing more about Amelia and who she really was, and I found myself getting caught up in the novel the further it went along. The plotting was excellently done, interweaving the story-lines of Kate and Amelia together to really build up the tension. A fast paced mystery with bad girl characters that I just loved to hate and kept me page turning right to the end.
8/10
Kimberly McCreight's Website