RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA: A REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

 
GIVEAWAY ENDED 
RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA
 BY KIMBERLY McCREIGHT

ABOUT THE BOOK:

When Kate, single mother and law firm partner, gets an urgent phone call summoning her to her daughter's exclusive private school, she's shocked. Amelia has been suspended for cheating, something that would be completely out of character for her over-achieving, well-behaved daughter.

Kate rushes to Grace Hall, but what she finds when she finally arrives is beyond comprehension.

Her daughter Amelia is dead.

Despondent over having been caught cheating, Amelia has jumped from the school's roof in an act of impulsive suicide. At least that's the story Grace Hall and the police tell Kate. In a state of shock and overcome by grief, Kate tries to come to grips with this life-shattering news. Then she gets an anonymous text:

Amelia didn't jump.

The moment she sees that message, Kate knows in her heart it's true. Clearly Amelia had secrets, and a life Kate knew nothing about. Wracked by guilt, Kate is determined to find out what those secrets were and who could have hated her daughter enough to kill. She searches through Amelia's e-mails, texts, and Facebook updates, piecing together the last troubled days of her daughter's life. 

Reconstructing Amelia is a stunning debut page-turner that brilliantly explores the secret world of teenagers, their clandestine first loves, hidden friendships, and the dangerous cruelty that can spill over into acts of terrible betrayal. 

PRAISE FOR RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA:

“McCreight captures the complexities, cruelty and angst of teenage girls so well my stomach was in knots. What really happened to Amelia? You’ll find yourself staying up all night to find out.”

— Jennifer McMahon, New York Times bestselling author of Island of Lost Girls

“The real story of Amelia’s life and death emerges slowly, through a creative blend of Kate’s present, Amelia’s past, and such varied communication methods as texts, e-mails, blog entries, and Facebook status updates. . . . Fans of literary thrillers will enjoy the novel’s dark mood and clever form.”--Publishers Weekly“A multilayered legal thriller. . . . Comes to a seamless and unanticipated conclusion.”— Kirkus Reviews“An elaborately plotted mystery. . . . A harrowing story. . . . McCreight does a fine job of building suspense and creating characters, notably Kate and Amelia, whom the target audience—both adults and older teens—will care about and empathize with.”— Booklist

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kimberly McCreight, named one of Entertainment Weekly's "13 to Watch in 2013," attended Vassar College and graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. After several years as a litigation associate at some of New York City's biggest law firms, she left the practice of law to write full-time. Her work has appeared in such publications as Antietam Review, Oxford Magazine, and Babble. She lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn, with her husband and two daughters. To read more about this author, visit her "Bio" on her website HERE.
MY THOUGHTS/REVIEW:

Kimberly McCreight’s first novel, RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA, is a realistic thriller woven around the relationship of a single mother and her teenage daughter. On the surface, all appears to be quite normal until a terrible tragedy forces examination of what is really going on in their lives. Inclusion of contemporary issues such as bullying and dealing with one’s sexuality, make this a timely narrative that grabs you from the start and makes it hard for readers to put down.

As an attorney for a busy law firm in New York, Kate Baron, is a single mother to daughter, Amelia. Amelia is a curious and bright sophomore who appears to love attending the elite, private Grace Hall School. With a best friend, Sylvia, Amelia enjoys doing well in school and even has a text pal, Ben, who she appears enthusiastic about. Amelia is chosen to be a member of the Magpies which is an unofficial, all-girls’ club who are very cliquey in who they select. Although Amelia doesn’t really want to be part of this group, she sees significant reasons for joining.

The story really takes off when Grace Hall calls Kate to tell her that Amelia has been suspended for a paper she says she wrote but rather had plagiarized it. Upset, she heads to the school only to get there too late. Kate is now shocked for when she arrives, she finds that Amelia is dead, having fallen from the roof of the school! It is originally believed that Amelia jumped. Kate is naturally distraught, filled with grief and guilt as she tries to examine where she failed Amelia. However, when Kate receives an anonymous text that says “She didn’t jump”, it sets in motion a mother determined to find out what really happened to her daughter.

RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA is masterfully written by alternating Kate and Amelia’s first person point of view so that the narrative shows readers what really was going on before and after Amelia’s death. Through examination of Amelia’s emails, blogging, texting, and even Facebook account, Kate begins to reconstruct what really was happening in her child’s life that led to her death. McCreight does a superb job of developing these two characters with such precision that you know them and totally feel for them both. Topical in scope, heartfelt in emotion, RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA is sure to draw you in and stay with you for a long while. How a mother and daughter can be so close and yet so far apart will play out as their secrets are revealed. Don’t miss RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA and if you are like me, you will eagerly await the release of more from Kimberly McCreight!

GIVEAWAY
THANKS TO KATHRYN AND THE GOOD
FOLKS AT HARPER COLLINS, I HAVE ONE
COPY OF THIS THRILLING NOVEL,
RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA

 
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  GIVEAWAY ENDS AT 

6 PM, EST, MARCH 21

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