Review: In Her Skin by Kim Savage

Title: In Her Skin

Author: Kim Savage

Publisher: FSG

Publishing Date: April 17th, 2018

Pages: 293
Audio Length: 6 Hours and 42 Minutes

Genre: YA Contemporary Mystery
TW: N/A

Series: Standalone

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.

What made me pick this book up: 

It was one Jenn had gotten on audio and the cover looks like it could either be a thriller or a good contemporary.

What did I like about the cover: 

The cover is kind of meh to me. The colors are good but I don't like the close up of the face or the design all over it.

What made me read this book: 

It sounded like a good mystery book after reading the synopsis. I love books like this.

What did I like the most: 

I think the story is a good one. Though it's not very unique. There's a lot of books about someone who takes over another person's identity. It's funny I read this one and Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart within days of each other.

Anyway, I always like reading these even if they aren't very unique, because every author has a different way of telling the story. 

This one isn't really very unique though, in my opinion, which I'll talk about under the didn't like portion. 

I did feel like this had a slight thriller feel to it, what with us not knowing what happened to the original Vivienne, and not knowing if she was coming back, or if they would guess that she wasn't Vivienne.

By the time you get to reading it and you see what else is going on you feel a nervous. I always love books like that, that make me feel nervous.

What didn't I like: 

The characters weren't well written in my opinion, they were very flat and I just feel as if I didn't get the chance to really know or care for them. There wasn't a lot of character development. 

I had the big "twist" figured out before it was revealed. Like way before. So I think everything that was supposed to be like a WHOA moment just... wasn't... I don't know if that's the authors fault or me just being a person who doesn't trust anyone, lol.

As far as the story not being unique it's a typical teenager in a bad situation wants in a better one and then bam next thing you know they're a different person. There wasn't anything that set this book out from the rest. In a year when I read 3, 4, 5 more of these I won't remember anything unique about this one.

Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
Probably.

Overall it wasn't a bad read, but it wasn't amazing either.

“When you accept who you are, you can tap the breaks when you feel yourself veering toward your worst tendencies.”
― Kim Savage, In Her Skin

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.