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Community comment are the opinions of contributing users. These comment do not represent the opinions of Vancouver Public Library.
Apr 30, 2013JCLChrisK rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
I think I might have had more trouble suspending my disbelief about this character's actions and motivations had she not been so convincingly portrayed with OCD. If she had been just any average girl from an average part of town I wouldn't have bought the fact that she kept running around the worst parts of Cleveland with the homeless, strippers, and criminals, breaking into crime scenes and doing all kinds of crazy stuff, but I could actually buy into the idea that this particular character would become so obsessed with a murder that she would feel compelled to keep investigating, even after being warned away by a mutilated cat left on her porch with a note and worse. But I was still annoyed that she was so unbelievably stupid at times, which made it hard for me to empathize. Some readers, I'm sure, are annoyed by the omnipresent reminders of her OCD ticks and the small ways they constantly control her, but I felt that was realistically necessary and thus a strength. And some of the reactions she received from both peers and adults felt agonizingly realistic in a positive way. No, it was her larger choices that, while perhaps believable, kept the book from being enjoyable for me because I just couldn't imagine her actually managing to pull off all the things she got away with. The reactions of other characters to those choices, of the very environment itself to her presence, were what I found hard to swallow a bit too often. --- On the positive side, it certainly made for a tense and suspenseful mystery story, and I enjoyed that aspect quite a lot. Along with the chance to experience the world from an OCD perspective and see different aspects of life than I normally do. I'm not sure it offered an insightful examination of the human condition, but it made for some good escapist fun that had real weight and depth to it. It's well worth reading it that's what you're looking for.