Thursday, July 10, 2014

Review: Premeditated by Josin L. McQuein

From Goodreads: A week ago, Dinah’s cousin Claire cut her wrists. Five days ago, Dinah found Claire’s diary and discovered why. Three days ago, Dinah stopped crying and came up with a plan. Two days ago, she ditched her piercings and bleached the black dye from her hair. Yesterday, knee socks and uniform plaid became a predator’s camouflage. Today, she’ll find the boy who broke Claire. By tomorrow, he’ll wish he were dead. 

My Rating: Somewhere between 3 and 3.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: With an emphasis on revenge, Premeditated by Josin L. McQuein promised to be an entertaining read, an aspect it delivered upon. However, it would have gotten a higher rating from me had I been able to support the protagonist’s actions.

Although I admired Dinah’s loyalty and commitment to exact revenge, she was just so oblivious to reality and made little effort to see past her assumptions! I saw the twist coming from a mile away, and so rather than wanting Brooks to get what he deserved, I spent most of the book feeling sorry for him.

The synopsis also makes it seem like Dinah has a brilliant scheme in mind, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Instead, she pretty much plays dress up and tries not to develop a connection with Brooks while her best friends – one of whom is conveniently an amazing hacker – come up with devious ways to ruin Brooks’ life.

Despite all the focus on getting revenge for Dinah's younger cousin, Claire, I didn’t think I got to know Claire very well because the way that Dinah portrays her is very idealized. It would have been nice to get a more layered depiction of Claire, perhaps through some flashbacks.

Another change that I would have liked would have been for the ending to be more realistic. There’s just no way that a parent would offer a lawyer for someone who deliberately set out to destroy their child’s life or for a person to fall for someone that had done their best to make them wish they were dead!

Premeditated was released in October 2013 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers. 

Comments About the Cover: I love how the glass has cracked but not shattered, letting you only glimpse some of the girl’s features so that you’re not exactly sure who’s coming for you or when she’ll put the final nail in the coffin.

8 comments:

  1. Well blast! It's too bad it wasn't as good as the hype, but I am still intrigued to see what happens... and if I can predict it. I didn't even highlight the spoiler! :P

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  2. I really, really struggle with revenge stories on a whole Z, like you, I find I just can't support the characters' actions and find myself just wanting them to walk away rather than carry through with whatever scheme they've come up with. Pretty sure this one isn't for me, but as always, loved reading your review!

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  3. I do love a good revenge story, haha. But umm, you know, really GOOD ones in which you can't guess the twist and have a more self-aware protagonist... So I can't say this one is really calling out to me to be read.

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  4. I was curious about this one, Z. While I'm not completely sold on it, I do think I might skim this one at the library before I pick it up.

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  5. Hmm, I think I'll be skipping this one. I dislike plots where you predict things like this, especially in a book kind of revolving around the twist. And the characters sound a bit frustrating as well.

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  6. I've generally heard good things about this author's writing, so I'm curious, but not sure how I'd feel if I couldn't connect totally with Dinah and her actions. I don't think I'm in a rush to read it, but maybe one day. Great review, Z!

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  7. I don't think I'm big of revenge themes. For me, they have to be really really clever and the person had to have done something particularly bad. Premeditated doesn't sounds like my kind of story. I am glad that it wasn't a total bust for you though.

    Thanks for the review!

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  8. Haven't heard of Premeditated before. The summary sounds really good but not sure about Dinah and the way this story goes and if I could like that in the end. Love the cover! Thank you so much for your review:)

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