Review: "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart
Travel back in time and discover a world of the super rich, of intense friendships and of a web of lies....
Synopsis:
Imogen - a runaway heiress, an orphan, a cook and a cheat
Jule - a fighter, a social chameleon and an athlete
Imogen and Jule. Jule and Imogen.
An intense friendship. A disappearance. A murder, or maybe two. A bad romance, maybe three.
Blunt objects, disguises, blood and chocolate. The American dream, superheroes, spies and villains.
A girl who refuses to give people what they want from her.
A girl who refuses to be the person she once was.
A girl who is ... a genuine fraud
Overview:
This book was a fun read. I found myself unable to put it down as it delves back in time through Jude and Imogen's history.
Lockhart's writing style is pretty unusual - the story starts at Chapter 18 and rewinds back to Chapter 1 - before ending with Chapter 19. Although I did find this time reversal quite confusing at first, it is a novel way to unravel a story and an interesting way to look back on the events that led up to that.
The story itself is pretty interesting - it tells the story of Jude and how she met, and then took on Imogen's persona.
Although I liked the story - its full of unexpected twists and turns - I did find it hard to like the characters. I never really understood Jule's motives for what she does or understood her as a character, and I couldn't bring myself to like Imogen, as she just seemed to flit between one friend and another.
Overall:
This book is enjoyable and its style is completely unique. However, I found the reverse chronology quite strange to follow and as a result, found it quite tricky to really engage with the characters.
Rating:
⭐️⭐️
