Monday, June 3, 2013

Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight

Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publishing Date: 4/2/2013
ISBN13: 9780062225436
380 Pages

                          Synopsis 

When Kate, a single mother and law firm partner, gets an urgent phone call summoning her to her daughter's exclusive private school, she's shocked. Amelia has been suspended for cheating, something that would be completely out of character for her over-achieving, well-behaved daughter.

Kate rushes to Grace Hall, but what she finds when she finally arrives is beyond comprehension.

            Her daughter Amelia is dead.

Despondent over having been caught cheating, Amelia has jumped from the school's roof in an act of impulsive suicide. At least that's the story Grace Hall and the police tell Kate. In a state of shock and overcome by grief, Kate tries to come to grips with this life-shattering news. Then she gets an anonymous text:

             Amelia didn't jump.

The moment she sees that message, Kate knows in her hear it's true. Clearly Amelia had secrets, and a life Kate knew nothing about. Wracked by guilt, Kate is determined to find out what those secrets were and who could have hated her daughter enough to kill. She searches through Amelia's e-mails, texts, and Facebook updates, piecing together the last troubled days of her daughter's life.

                                                           My Review

I really enjoyed this book and the fast pace keeps you reading! The story explores a single mother's relationship with her teenage daughter and her struggle to find out what happened to her. Kate was a very sympathetic character and I felt so bad for her as she struggled with the though that she was a bad mother. Then you read chapters from Amelia's viewpoint and she expresses that although she wished her mom was around more, she thought Kate was a great mother. Bullying is a very prominent theme in this book as well, and its interesting, but very sad, to read about the struggles Amelia had when she joins a club in school. The things Kate had to learn about her daughter's life was heart-wrenching. Any parent who loses a child so young doesn't want to learn about their struggles; they want to picture their child as they knew them: generally a happy person. But Kate has to come to terms with finding out things Amelia encountered in high school that she never knew about and therefore didn't do anything to help her.  There were so many twists and turns that I couldn't put this book down! It only took me two days to read, showing how much I couldn't stop reading. :) I can't wait to read more work from Ms. McCreight!

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4 comments :

  1. Oh wow, this sounds good! That would be terrible to go through something like that.

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  2. I highly recommend it! It was a very touching story.

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  3. I enjoyed this book and the author was very skillful in being able to intertwine past and present to tell the story.
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    1. I thought so too! Thanks so much for stopping by (:

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