Underwhelming execution of a plot which had real potential.
“Destiny spun the wheel and did what it wanted, and the rest of us just had to hang on for the ride and do the best we could with the cards we were dealt.”
The Hanging Girl by YA author, Eileen Cook, is an entertaining and very twisty thriller featuring a whip-smart and brilliantly flawed central protagonist in eighteen-year-old Skye Thorn, a girl who ditched her birth name of Candi as soon as she possibly could! Despite my opinion on the implausibility of the serpentine course this novel takes waxing and waning throughout there was enough substance between the pages to keep me hooked all the way. Skye has a gift for reading people, telling them what they want to hear, seeing if their body language matches their words and ultimately spinning a damn fine story. The more gullible element amongst her high school peers can easily be convinced that this equates to some kind of psychic connection and will even hand over ten bucks for the privilege of having their tarot cards read by her. As Skye herself says, "Destiny is like a boulder. Bulky and hard to move. It’s easier to leave it alone than to try to change it”, but in a bid to leave small town Michigan and her life with a mother who is convinced that she has visions (and even accepts recompense in the form of PayPal), Skye will do just about anything..
Best friends with wealthier college bound Drew, a girl from the other side of town, Skye is determined to move to NYC and share an apartment, so much so that she has already lied to Drew about having savings in the bank. Given the big fat juicy lie that still hangs over Skye’s head and has passed into town legend, she can ill afford to let Drew down a second time. In short, Skye needs to make a quick buck fast. An audacious plot is unveiled, with the kidnapped daughter of the local draconian Judge Bonett, seventeen-year-old Paige, being subject to a ransom demand. In tandem with a shadowy figure going by the pseudonym of Pluto, Skye has agreed to conveniently feed some of her bogus visions to the cops, all in the name of getting them invested in her talents and delivering a well-timed uptick in Paige’s imminent risk of harm. Judge Bonett is about to launch his bid for office as a Republican candidate and author Eileen Cook’s thinly veiled swipes in the name of making political capital bring nothing to the novel. Paige Bonett is the spoilt blonde haired queen bee of the popular girls, but with a reputation for her habit of taking off and unreliability, it appears that it will take some time for Skye’s revelations to agitate the cops.
Whilst it is one thing to accept the unworldly teenagers of high school being drawn into the ruse of Skye’s gift, the problem comes when she moves onto the cops, teachers and adult figures, which is a far harder proposition to swallow. To see her hoodwinking the cops and Judge Bonett requires a severe suspension of disbelief. Welcome amusement is however added by the susceptibility of school counsellor, Mr Lester, to Skye’s talents and her zany mother, Susan, a woman who swiftly jumps on the bandwagon of assisting the police and courting the media. By this point, The Hanging Girl, was losing its grip on me, reliant on the fact that Skye was so easily being taken seriously by the cops and steering dangerously close to being a carbon copy of the synopsis of Linwood Barclay novella, Never Saw It Coming. However, things are turned on their head when the identity of the mysterious Pluto is revealed and Judge Bonett fails to cough up what should be a trifling ransom for a man of his wealth. From this point onwards my lips are sealed as for optimal enjoyment the reader is best served by witnessing the subsequent flip-flop progression which shifts from Skye appearing to hold all the cards to dancing to someone else’s tune. From what should have been a straightforward execution of a simple ruse, the stakes are well and truly raised when Skye turns from a player into the one being played and it leaves her second guessing not one, but two, more ruthless individuals who are pulling the strings. If this stress isn’t dramatic enough, Paige is then discovered DEAD, something that was most definitely not on Skye’s agenda! All to quickly, Skye finds herself trying to gauge the motivations of everyone from Paige’s ex-boyfriend, her competitive best-friend and even the undercurrents between her and her father, in order to work out just who killed Paige and whether they are coming after her next..
One of the reasons that I have begun to find many of these YA novels such a worthwhile read is because of the author’s willingness to craft genuinely realistic and diverse characters and offer something away from the mainstream stereotypes. Undoubtedly Skye is an excellent complete package with a complex history and her own battles with anxiety, meaning that as the tension ratchets higher, she is caught up in an associated battle of her mind over. Despite her talent for lying and lack of qualms about spouting a host of baloney in the name of psychic visions, at heart, there is an ultimately sympathetic and likeable girl behind Skye’s confident persona. Evidence comes in the shape of the what kidnapping scam backfiring, leaving her in a moral quagmire and facing a choice of coming clean or being implicated. I was really impressed with how Skye’s character evolved and learnt from her experiences. Suddenly from Skye priding herself on her ability for reading people, peeling back the layers and exposing their insecurities she has been resoundingly beaten at her own game.
As for the supporting cast, Eileen Cook bombards her readers with every trope under the sun, from the overly earnest school counsellor, Mr Lester, to the precocious brat tendencies of Paige and her crowd of girlfriends. Even with regards to the police investigation there was good cop, Detective Jay and bad cop, Detective Chan, himself a man who deals in facts and has no time for psychic phenomena. The character that I was left pondering the most was the enigmatic Drew, and for supposedly being best friends with the obviously intelligent Skye, Drew seemed to be rather vacuous. Aside from their domestic circumstances being diametrically opposed there is an obvious lack of chemistry in their dynamic. I wan’t convinced at all by the friendship when in actual fact, Drew and Skye share each have their own secrets and share next to nothing.
Towards the ending, despite the about turn twist in the final pages, I really felt that The Hanging Girl copped out and went a little too heavy on the moralistic element and in the words of one detective to Skye:
“You don’t need to tell stories to be special, you know. You’re a pretty neat kid just the way you are.”
All in all, I suspect that the rather numerous twists will keep a YA audience of around 12-14 years reading, but for anyone over that age bracket this will prove a little too simplistic. Compared to the teen girl politics of Megan Abbott, The Hanging Girl just feels a little wooden, and Cook opts for an increasingly convoluted succession of twists. I confess to being somewhat miffed and rather let-down by the discovery of the killers identity, and whilst it raises questions of whether the prime movers get what they deserve, I was more flummoxed by the killers identify and justification as it seems to appear out of the blue.
An underwhelming execution of a plot which had a real abundance of potential. I do however plan to read more of this author and already have the highly rated, With Malice, awaiting.
I received a free copy of this book from Readers First and my review is my honest and unbiased opinion.
The Hanging Girl by YA author, Eileen Cook, is an entertaining and very twisty thriller featuring a whip-smart and brilliantly flawed central protagonist in eighteen-year-old Skye Thorn, a girl who ditched her birth name of Candi as soon as she possibly could! Despite my opinion on the implausibility of the serpentine course this novel takes waxing and waning throughout there was enough substance between the pages to keep me hooked all the way. Skye has a gift for reading people, telling them what they want to hear, seeing if their body language matches their words and ultimately spinning a damn fine story. The more gullible element amongst her high school peers can easily be convinced that this equates to some kind of psychic connection and will even hand over ten bucks for the privilege of having their tarot cards read by her. As Skye herself says, "Destiny is like a boulder. Bulky and hard to move. It’s easier to leave it alone than to try to change it”, but in a bid to leave small town Michigan and her life with a mother who is convinced that she has visions (and even accepts recompense in the form of PayPal), Skye will do just about anything..
Best friends with wealthier college bound Drew, a girl from the other side of town, Skye is determined to move to NYC and share an apartment, so much so that she has already lied to Drew about having savings in the bank. Given the big fat juicy lie that still hangs over Skye’s head and has passed into town legend, she can ill afford to let Drew down a second time. In short, Skye needs to make a quick buck fast. An audacious plot is unveiled, with the kidnapped daughter of the local draconian Judge Bonett, seventeen-year-old Paige, being subject to a ransom demand. In tandem with a shadowy figure going by the pseudonym of Pluto, Skye has agreed to conveniently feed some of her bogus visions to the cops, all in the name of getting them invested in her talents and delivering a well-timed uptick in Paige’s imminent risk of harm. Judge Bonett is about to launch his bid for office as a Republican candidate and author Eileen Cook’s thinly veiled swipes in the name of making political capital bring nothing to the novel. Paige Bonett is the spoilt blonde haired queen bee of the popular girls, but with a reputation for her habit of taking off and unreliability, it appears that it will take some time for Skye’s revelations to agitate the cops.
Whilst it is one thing to accept the unworldly teenagers of high school being drawn into the ruse of Skye’s gift, the problem comes when she moves onto the cops, teachers and adult figures, which is a far harder proposition to swallow. To see her hoodwinking the cops and Judge Bonett requires a severe suspension of disbelief. Welcome amusement is however added by the susceptibility of school counsellor, Mr Lester, to Skye’s talents and her zany mother, Susan, a woman who swiftly jumps on the bandwagon of assisting the police and courting the media. By this point, The Hanging Girl, was losing its grip on me, reliant on the fact that Skye was so easily being taken seriously by the cops and steering dangerously close to being a carbon copy of the synopsis of Linwood Barclay novella, Never Saw It Coming. However, things are turned on their head when the identity of the mysterious Pluto is revealed and Judge Bonett fails to cough up what should be a trifling ransom for a man of his wealth. From this point onwards my lips are sealed as for optimal enjoyment the reader is best served by witnessing the subsequent flip-flop progression which shifts from Skye appearing to hold all the cards to dancing to someone else’s tune. From what should have been a straightforward execution of a simple ruse, the stakes are well and truly raised when Skye turns from a player into the one being played and it leaves her second guessing not one, but two, more ruthless individuals who are pulling the strings. If this stress isn’t dramatic enough, Paige is then discovered DEAD, something that was most definitely not on Skye’s agenda! All to quickly, Skye finds herself trying to gauge the motivations of everyone from Paige’s ex-boyfriend, her competitive best-friend and even the undercurrents between her and her father, in order to work out just who killed Paige and whether they are coming after her next..
One of the reasons that I have begun to find many of these YA novels such a worthwhile read is because of the author’s willingness to craft genuinely realistic and diverse characters and offer something away from the mainstream stereotypes. Undoubtedly Skye is an excellent complete package with a complex history and her own battles with anxiety, meaning that as the tension ratchets higher, she is caught up in an associated battle of her mind over. Despite her talent for lying and lack of qualms about spouting a host of baloney in the name of psychic visions, at heart, there is an ultimately sympathetic and likeable girl behind Skye’s confident persona. Evidence comes in the shape of the what kidnapping scam backfiring, leaving her in a moral quagmire and facing a choice of coming clean or being implicated. I was really impressed with how Skye’s character evolved and learnt from her experiences. Suddenly from Skye priding herself on her ability for reading people, peeling back the layers and exposing their insecurities she has been resoundingly beaten at her own game.
As for the supporting cast, Eileen Cook bombards her readers with every trope under the sun, from the overly earnest school counsellor, Mr Lester, to the precocious brat tendencies of Paige and her crowd of girlfriends. Even with regards to the police investigation there was good cop, Detective Jay and bad cop, Detective Chan, himself a man who deals in facts and has no time for psychic phenomena. The character that I was left pondering the most was the enigmatic Drew, and for supposedly being best friends with the obviously intelligent Skye, Drew seemed to be rather vacuous. Aside from their domestic circumstances being diametrically opposed there is an obvious lack of chemistry in their dynamic. I wan’t convinced at all by the friendship when in actual fact, Drew and Skye share each have their own secrets and share next to nothing.
Towards the ending, despite the about turn twist in the final pages, I really felt that The Hanging Girl copped out and went a little too heavy on the moralistic element and in the words of one detective to Skye:
“You don’t need to tell stories to be special, you know. You’re a pretty neat kid just the way you are.”
All in all, I suspect that the rather numerous twists will keep a YA audience of around 12-14 years reading, but for anyone over that age bracket this will prove a little too simplistic. Compared to the teen girl politics of Megan Abbott, The Hanging Girl just feels a little wooden, and Cook opts for an increasingly convoluted succession of twists. I confess to being somewhat miffed and rather let-down by the discovery of the killers identity, and whilst it raises questions of whether the prime movers get what they deserve, I was more flummoxed by the killers identify and justification as it seems to appear out of the blue.
An underwhelming execution of a plot which had a real abundance of potential. I do however plan to read more of this author and already have the highly rated, With Malice, awaiting.
I received a free copy of this book from Readers First and my review is my honest and unbiased opinion.