Author: Anne Heltzel
Publisher: HMH Books
Publication Date: June 2, 2015
Goodreads ♥ Amazon ♥BookOutlet
Review:
I went in to Charlie, Presumed Dead expecting to be wowed and amazed. In this post Gone Girl era of mystery books it feels like each plot is getting more and more fantastical. Charlie, Presumed Dead fits perfectly in to this genre of psychological mystery with a heavy dose of crazy.
Charlie, Presumed Dead begins at Charlie’s funeral where Aubrey and Lena realize that they weren’t the only girl in Charlie’s life. The two set off on an improbable around the world journey to discover who Charlie truly was and what secrets he was keeping.
I had a hard time getting to know Lena & Aubrey, Charlie’s girlfriends. I kept getting them confused and forgetting details about their lives. Honestly, I understood how Charlie got the two girls confused. Despite repeatedly saying how different they are, the two girls were very similar. I also didn’t understand the girl’s motivation. Charlie cheated on them, why would they want to find him? Why did he matter so much to each of them? I wish this had been better explained.
Spoiler alert: Charlie isn’t dead. This isn’t really a spoiler though because Charlie has his own perspective written in 2nd person. Usually, I hate second person but this was truly second person done right. I really enjoyed the chapters written from Charlie’s perspective.
My favorite thing about this novel was also my least favorite thing about this book. It ends on a massive cliffhanger! I’m talking the biggest cliff I’ve seen in a long time. On top of that as part of the Charlie, Presumed Dead Blog Tour Anne Heltzel said that she originally hadn’t planned for there to be a sequel. Hopefully, she can be persuaded to write a sequel because I seriously need to know what happens next.
Overall, Charlie, Presumed Dead took me on a wild ride and at times I wasn’t sure I was enjoying it. At other times I couldn’t put the novel down. It definitely was full or twists and turns that I’m not entirely sure fit together. Still, that ending surprised me and I definitely want to read whatever Anne Heltzel writes next.
I really wanted to read this book. It sounds like something I would enjoy. Thanks for the stellar review!
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I completely agree that at times this book was hard to put down -- based upon the ending, I need more! I did not realize that there was not a plan for a sequel -- whoa! That changes things for me!
ReplyDeleteMy review here