Review: The Girl Before

The Girl Before by Rena Olsen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This review is also found on Goodreads! :)
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Actual Rating: 3.8 stars
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First: This story is nothing like Gone Girl. I was right when I expected a different flavor between the two, and that was what I got. The Girl Before is so eerily realistic, because it can happen (or is already happening) in real life. And that's what makes it as scary (but not as amazingly deranged) as Gone Girl.

I went through a whirlwind of emotions as I read this book: scared and angry, wistful and teary. What Clara went through was painful. Even as the reader, I felt it. I marveled at how Olsen accomplished that. The book shifts between then and now--a technique that was so skillfully demonstrated by Olsen when she seamlessly chronicled Clara's story. The stark contrast between her Then and Now showed a life of love, sins, regret and forgiveness. Glen and Clara's relationship also provided a different insight as to what victims of human trafficking go through, with realities questioned, and normalcies shadowed with fear and doubt. I wanted Glen redeemed because Clara loved him so much, but I know if that happens, it won't be realistic. And it would be a slap to the faces of his victims when justice isn't served. Clara's "sentence" actually wasn't enough for me. I wanted her healed, but I also think she got off easy with the punishment. But at the same time, I know that her painful recovery and intense guilt is punishment enough for her. I don't know, I'm a bit undecided on what I want for Clara at this point.

Review: Lily and the Octopus

Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This review is also found on Goodreads! :)
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Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
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I almost didn't finish this book. Not because I was heartbroken from what was happening to Lily, but because Ted's fixation with the octopus and his bizarre (crazy?) interaction with it was just bewildering. Let me be blunt: the magical realism put me off. I am not a fan of it in books. For me, magical realism is better translated in movies rather than in my mediocre imagination. However, the end (Infinity) brought me to tears. It was written in the most fragile way. That was the only part of the book where I actually felt the "heart" of it, without the confusing imagery and delusions.