Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Vertigo by Kristina Dunker

Title: Vertigo
Author: Kristina Dunker
Publisher: Amazon Publishing
Acquired: Received free for an honest review
Age Group: Young Adult
Grade: 74% or C
Buy It: Amazon
And this weekend promises to be special, as she and her boyfriend, Julian, will be spending time together at his parents’ house in the country. Nothing could be more romantic and perfect. Except that the journey there goes horribly awry, and Eva’s dream weekend turns into a total nightmare.
After bearing witness to a terrible crime and narrowly escaping the scene, Eva loses her diary, an incredibly personal book that holds all of her secrets — including details of her visits to a therapist. So when she meets a helpful stranger who seems to know a great deal about her, she has to wonder if he is a kindred spirit or something darker.

Vertigo spins a psychologically intense tale of when to walk away…and when to run. 
My Thoughts::
I'm not sure if it was because I knew what the basic plot of the book was, or if it was the writing from the very beginning, but throughout the entire book I felt this creepiness. Like something was off or that something bad was about to happen. It put me in the mood to not trust any of the characters and to be wary of every event.

Even though  I was suspicious for the reasons listed above, Eva had no good reason to be suspicious and paranoid, yet she spent a lot of the book being those things. Eventually those feelings are warranted, but I couldn't help but feel that the author was trying to push Eva into feelings that weren't justified to move the book along. Either that or she's just unnaturally suspicious which just makes me not like her.

The mindset that this book put me in made it much more interesting to read. It made it seem like a psychological thriller instead of just a mystery. But eventually this wore thin and I just wanted them to figure it out already. I mean, seriously. Maybe I just read and watch a lot of mysteries, but usually the first obvious suspect is the criminal in the end. I knew who it would be so it was frustrating that the characters took so long to get it right.

Of course I didn't get every single detail though, so once all was revealed there were a few surprises to be had. Overall I think this was a decent mystery for most, but not so good for me.

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