Frayed | Kara Terzis
Released: June 7th, 2016
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Genre(s): Young Adult, Thriller
Pages: 304
Edition: E-ARC
Source: Publisher
Rating:
Dear Kesley,
My therapist tells me I should write you a letter. Like flushing all my thoughts and feelings out of my system and onto paper. I tell her it's a stupid idea.
But here I am, writing a letter to a dead girl. Where do I start? Where did our story begin? From the moment you were born...or died?
I'll start with the moment I found out the truth about you. Your lies and my pain. Because it always begins and ends with you.
And that end began when Rafe Lawrence came back to town...
Ava Hale will do anything to find her sister's killer...although she'll wish she hadn't. Because the harder Ava looks, the more secrets she uncovers about Kesley and the more she begins to think that the girl she called sister was a liar. A sneak. A stranger.
And Kesley's murderer could be much closer than she thought...
A debut novel from Wattpad award-winner Kara Terzis, Frayed is a psychological whodunit that will keep you guessing!
My therapist tells me I should write you a letter. Like flushing all my thoughts and feelings out of my system and onto paper. I tell her it's a stupid idea.
But here I am, writing a letter to a dead girl. Where do I start? Where did our story begin? From the moment you were born...or died?
I'll start with the moment I found out the truth about you. Your lies and my pain. Because it always begins and ends with you.
And that end began when Rafe Lawrence came back to town...
Ava Hale will do anything to find her sister's killer...although she'll wish she hadn't. Because the harder Ava looks, the more secrets she uncovers about Kesley and the more she begins to think that the girl she called sister was a liar. A sneak. A stranger.
And Kesley's murderer could be much closer than she thought...
A debut novel from Wattpad award-winner Kara Terzis, Frayed is a psychological whodunit that will keep you guessing!
I received a review copy courtesy of the author/publisher. This does not affect my opinion or views regarding the book whatsoever.
Next to contemporaries, thrillers -- especially psychological, are my favorites to read. I love not only the " whodunit " aspect but also the suspense that comes with trying to piece together the plot of a good mystery novel. I like the feeling when my heart starts beating when I'm derailed by an unexpected plot twist, the feeling I get when I'm on the edge of my seat, biting my nails in anticipation of what is to come next. Long story short, thrillers are . . well, thrilling. Exciting almost. So how come I had such a terrible experience while reading Frayed by Kara Terzis?
Hmm, where do I even begin?
Hmm, where do I even begin?
.
Where's The Mystery Scooby? The essential part of any mystery novel is of course, the mystery itself, so you can probably imagine my confusion when I discovered that this aspect was completely missing. Yes, people. Missing, as in: nowhere to be found. There wasn't anything mysterious, let alone thrilling about this story, and the cause boiled down to two different things: the setup and its execution. In Frayed, we follow our main character Ava as she tries, (and horribly fails) to navigate life months after her sister's brutal death. The story kicks off with a shit-storm of face-palms when Rafe, (her sister's best friend and the only one in this book with any common sense) returns to town. This causes a domino effect of ridiculous events, I-seen-you-coming-from-a-mile-away plot twists, and an ending that sent my kindle flying straight into my closet door. I had so many issues with this monstrosity, that I literally felt as if I were drowining in them.
Can We Trade Main Characters? Someone? Anyone? If there was ever an MC I didn't like, it would be Ava. I desperately tried, and failed to connect with her in any way, shape, or form. She was quite strange, (I'm guessing that was supposed to be the point, who knows) but it was her logic, decision-making, and her incredibly shallow perception of others, that irked my soul and almost caused me to DNF the book altogether.
Can We Trade Main Characters? Someone? Anyone? If there was ever an MC I didn't like, it would be Ava. I desperately tried, and failed to connect with her in any way, shape, or form. She was quite strange, (I'm guessing that was supposed to be the point, who knows) but it was her logic, decision-making, and her incredibly shallow perception of others, that irked my soul and almost caused me to DNF the book altogether.
There's A New Sherif In Town. Ava suspected everyone who crossed her path of being Kelsey's killer. The trashman, the people at the grocery store that stocks the milk, her mom's co-worker that's sleeping with their boss, I mean everyone honey. If you had any connection with Kelsey, (or have been to juvie since all people that go there are bad apparently) then you were briefly slapped on the " omg they so killed Kelsey " list. It was definitely apparent what the author was trying to do here. Add in the supporting cast and make them unreliable so that it raises suspicion, resulting in us readers being distracted from what's really going on. Do you know how suspenseful that would've been? The classic guessing game of " whodunit " would've been in full-effect! I wanted to tap into my inner Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes to crack this case wide open, there just wasn't anyone or anything to be suspicious of. I didn't have an actual case to solve.
Easy Peasy. One of the main reasons why the story failed to deliver as a mystery/thriller novel, (In my humble opinion of course) was the nature in which the plot was laid out. Everything was so easy. It was as if the entire plot was dropped Hansel & Gretel style -- follow these chicken nuggets to the yellow brick road, then turn lef-- wait, watch out for cheating boyfriends, unrealistic kidnappings, and all other irrelevancy until you see the " what-in-the-actual-fuu-reveal! " Obvious clues popped up at just right the second, and with everything so straightforward, there were literally no twists, nothing that threw a curve ball into the mix to derail us off track.
Everything But The Kitchen Sink . . Nah That Was Thrown In Too. If drama was supposed to be the forefront of the story, then the author most definitely delivered, and if she wanted me to feel as if I were watching a classic episode of Jerry Springer, then hell she achieved that too. So many events transpired, and my goodness was it the biggest circus act in YA history. As I mentioned before, the kidnapping, Ava's boyfriend's infidelity issues, (how do you have sex with her sister AND her best friend, come on bruh) her lowkey hater of a best friend, the weird relationship between her and Rafe, the fights, that unbelievable ending, I mean I can go on and on. It was all too much and my question to the author is, " How much filler can you possibly " fill " a story with? "
I think what bothered me the most about Frayed, was that we spent sooo much time on things that had absolutely no relevance to the murder at all. Supporting characters played key players when they didn't need to be, clues and " twists " were gift-wrapped and handed to us on a silver platter, (I knew the ending reveal before I even reached 10%) and let's not forget the unnecessary drama that turned this mystery novel into a watered down, cringe-worthy rendition of Pretty Little Liars. I'm so sorry guys, but I was not impressed.
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