Review: In Her Skin by Kim Savage

Title: In Her Skin

Author:  Kim Savage
Publisher: FSG

Publishing Date:  

Pages: April 17th, 2018
Genre:  YA Psychological Thriller

Series:  Stand Alone
Source:  Audio

 

Sixteen-year-old con artist Jo Chastain is about to take on the biggest scam of her life: impersonating a missing girl. Life on the streets of Boston these past few years hasn’t been easy, and Jo is hoping to cash in on a little safety, a little security. She finds her opportunity in the Lovecrafts, a wealthy family with ties to the unsolved disappearance of Vivienne Weir, who vanished when she was nine.

When Jo takes on Vivi's identity and stages the girl’s miraculous return, the Lovecrafts welcome her back with open arms. They give her everything she could want: love, money, and proximity to their intoxicating and unpredictable daughter, Temple. But nothing is as it seems in the Lovecraft household—and some secrets refuse to stay buried. As hidden crimes come to the surface, and lines of deception begin to blur, Jo must choose to either hold onto an illusion of safety, or escape the danger around her before it’s too late.

I was really looking forward to this book. Its been one of my waiting on Wednesday books, anticipated release for April. I was so very read for this book. I grabbed the audio and started it up. I really don’t know where to begin with my thoughts on this book. Did I enjoy the book yes? Was it what I expected? Yes and no. Do I know how I feel about this book? Not a Clue! It was a very good read as I couldn’t put it down. I was way into this book. It was full of twists, it was exciting, it was a page turner. I just didn’t know how I felt in the end. Even now as I write this… I am at a loss for my real feelings for this book.

Jo is a con artist. She is homeless, lives on the streets, an orphan. She does what she can to get by. Things change when she decides to do a permanent con. She finds an article. A girl her age gone missing when she was a just a child. She decides she can  pass for her and she does. She moves in with the family. She becomes this girl. But things are not as they seem and before she knows it she is way in over her head. 

This is going to be a bit of a short review since I can’t say too much without giving things away. It’s a book built around secrets and lies and twists. So saying too much will take too much away from those that would love to read this book. I really really enjoyed this book. I was completely pulled in and stayed in the story from start to finish. It’s a fast-paced book with so much character development and the story was so well thought through. It was set up seamlessly for me. I was floor by all that happened. Even though I could see certain things happening there were others I was so shocked by.

The main character, I liked her. I couldn’t help but love her. She was lying and taking over someone's life, yes, but she had a way about her that made her easy and of course see her as the victim. She was living on the streets, no family. She wanted a place to call home a family to belong to. She didn’t care about the money or prestige… she just wanted something to call her own… or someone. She had so many issues though. She was layered and she was complex, but I loved her.

I liked pretty much all of this book. I would say it almost as if it’s a YA Noir kind of read. The issue of what is crossing the line and what is acceptable… well, that is in question this entire book. There is a ton of suspense and so much bad in this book. I mean really morality doesn’t exist in this book. So its really not a read if you can’t see beyond what is morally right. Because in this book… there is no compass for morality whatsoever. I love these type of stories, I love to questions what I would do in a dire situation. What lines would I cross? I would love to say I would take the moral high ground.. but would I? Many times in these stories, the victims rise through doing what they have to do survive whatever it is they need to survive. Whether or not their behavior is on the good vs bad side… they survive and they are strong. On the flip side of there needs to be something the victim is trying to survive… evil and all that... Well, there is that in this book too. Plenty of it.

The ending is really where I had a hard time summing up how I really felt. It didn’t quite end how I wanted it to end. The ending was good. I just needed some of the loose ends to be tied up and they weren’t. So really that is my only problem with this book. The ending could have been a bit more concrete.

I think anyone who likes jaw-dropping moments and questionable motives or actions in a story should really read this book. I thought it was just excellent.

A very wild ride! 

KIM SAVAGE is the author of three critically acclaimed young adult novels, After the Woods, Beautiful Broken Girls (named by Kirkus as one of the 10 Best YA of 2017), and In Her Skin (releasing April 17, 2018), all with Farrar, Straus, Giroux/Macmillan. Her novels have been published in Spain, Brazil, and Turkey, and have been optioned for TV. Kim presents at conferences and book festivals nationwide; has been featured on NPR, Herald Radio, and on local cable stations; and she reads from her novels at bookstores across the country. A former reporter with a Master degree in Journalism from Northeastern University, Kim's stories are based in and around Boston. She lives with her family near Boston, not far from the real Middlesex Fells Reservation of After the Woods. Kim and her husband have three children, each of whom beg to appear in her books. They shouldn't.

You can follow Kim on Insta (kimsavagewrites) and Twitter (khsavage), and visit her at kimsavage.me.