Retrato do autor

Lisa Roecker

Autor(a) de The Liar Society

4+ Works 348 Membros 31 Críticas 1 Favorited

Séries

Obras por Lisa Roecker

The Liar Society (2011) 188 exemplares
This is W.A.R. (2013) 75 exemplares

Associated Works

Who Done It? (2013) — Contribuidor — 136 exemplares

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Sexo
female

Membros

Críticas

This was more of a 2.5 since three chapters in I knew who had killed Willa, guessed at the motive and thus the book lost a lot of the tension. It wouldn't be fair to say that the Roeckers gave away too much so much as they followed some very predictable tropes.

Willa was the most interesting part of the story in my opinion. The brief moments from her (third person) view and the stories told by the girls all paint a picture of girl who was struggling just as much as everyone else to figure out what's important to her. That's a bit hard to remember at times as what people say about her outside of the group varies from "She deserved it" to "Poor poor innocent lamb". You'll be vilified or martyred in death no matter who you are, remember that.

Here's the thing: the living really should have at least been memorable. I read this book (at the time of this review writing) a little under three weeks ago. I can't remember anyone's names but Sloane's and I did not like Sloane (I'm never a fan of girls who pretend themselves into stupidity).

Part of my absentee memory may be that the set-up is a little outlandish. Even being a (semi) devotee of the ABC show "Revenge" I found it utterly unrealistic that the Gregory Family is so very influential that they're practically dictators. Its one thing to get away with murder, that unfortunately happens to the rich, poor, young, old. Its totally another to apparently have everyone so cowed that the police can do little more then nod sympathetically at the victim's parents when the Gregorys are involved.

But hey I don't hobnob with the rich and the ultra rich, so maybe I'm wrong and this is common place. The point is that the Roeckers don't make it seem a natural part of the world the story exists in. Which brings me to the next point, the girls are out for revenge against James Gregory as the killer of their friend. Sort of. It gets a bit murky as the girls each recount ways the Gregory family rubbed them the wrong way.

In the end this wasn't as satisfying or as tension filled as I hoped. The ending is anti-climatic (though the last chapter, which reveals what really happened to Willa that night, is interesting...it would have been moreso if the identity of the killer had been more ambiguous or the motivation less cardboard) and there's a false sense of 'change'. Decent for the Gossip Girl crowd, mystery or suspense fans won't be as entertained.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
lexilewords | 8 outras críticas | Dec 28, 2023 |
I refused to put this book down. I started reading it Saturday before I came to work, read it during work, and finished around 2AM Sunday morning. I fell in love with Kate and Liam, and reveled in a mystery I didn't figure out by page 20. The Sisters Roecker have a fabulous flair for teenage voice and know how to spin a story. I'm stoked for the next book in the series!
 
Assinalado
CatherinePeace | 19 outras críticas | Apr 8, 2022 |
My reasons for requesting this book were two-fold. One, Soho Teen has amazing titles and two, the premise sounded so deliciously creepy. A country club that covers up lies? Definitely sounds like the perfect place for a thrilling mystery! Luckily, This is W.A.R. dove right into the mystery of Willa's death. I found myself anxious to figure out why Willa died, and who the culprit was. I was hooked, and you couldn't have stopped me from finishing if you'd tried.

The characters were really what made this story so much fun for me. Each had their own unique personality that really contributed to this vigilante battle. We have Lina, who is bold and brutally honest, Sloane who is lost, Madge who is bossy, and Rose who is just trying to fit in. It's no surprise that I loved Rose the most. I always cheer on the underdog , and I loved watching her grow from an outcast into someone who was able to take charge. Best of all, every character has a secret that they are hiding and I found myself eagerly waiting to find out what they were.

That being said, there was a lot I loved about the mystery in this story. The clues are well laid out. Willa's mystery unravels at a nice, even pace and expertly ties into each character's life. No one is ever what they seem at Hawthorne Lake, and it creates delicious tension. Still, I have to admit that I just didn't feel the excitement that I usually feel with mysteries like these. I wanted to see more sleuthing and more plotting for revenge. The girls have plenty of resources on their side, but I honestly felt like they didn't always use them as well as they could have.

Still, I can't deny that This is W.A.R. was a book that kept me reading until the very end. Despite slight issues I may have had with it, the story itself drew me in and the vivid characters sealed my reading fate. I had no choice but to read ravenously, and I had more than a few moments of intense emotion as the story unfolded. This was a story that I ended up loving, and I have a feeling that you will too.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
roses7184 | 8 outras críticas | Feb 5, 2019 |
This is W.A.R My reasons for requesting this book were two-fold. One, Soho Teen has amazing titles and two, the premise sounded so deliciously creepy. A country club that covers up lies? Definitely sounds like the perfect place for a thrilling mystery! Luckily, This is W.A.R. dove right into the mystery of Willa's death. I found myself anxious to figure out why Willa died, and who the culprit was. I was hooked, and you couldn't have stopped me from finishing if you'd tried.
 
The characters were really what made this story so much fun for me. Each had their own unique personality that really contributed to this vigilante battle. We have Lina, who is bold and brutally honest, Sloane who is lost, Madge who is bossy, and Rose who is just trying to fit in. It's no surprise that I loved Rose the most. I always cheer on the underdog , and I loved watching her grow from an outcast into someone who was able to take charge. Best of all, every character has a secret that they are hiding and I found myself eagerly waiting to find out what they were.
 
That being said, there was a lot I loved about the mystery in this story. The clues are well laid out. Willa's mystery unravels at a nice, even pace and expertly ties into each character's life. No one is ever what they seem at Hawthorne Lake, and it creates delicious tension. Still, I have to admit that I just didn't feel the excitement that I usually feel with mysteries like these. I wanted to see more sleuthing and more plotting for revenge. The girls have plenty of resources on their side, but I honestly felt like they didn't always use them as well as they could have.
 
Still, I can't deny that This is W.A.R. was a book that kept me reading until the very end. Despite slight issues I may have had with it, the story itself drew me in and the vivid characters sealed my reading fate. I had no choice but to read ravenously, and I had more than a few moments of intense emotion as the story unfolded. This was a story that I ended up loving, and I have a feeling that you will too.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
roses7184 | 8 outras críticas | Feb 5, 2019 |

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Associated Authors

Estatísticas

Obras
4
Also by
1
Membros
348
Popularidade
#68,679
Avaliação
½ 3.6
Críticas
31
ISBN
19
Marcado como favorito
1

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