Beneath Her Skin, a review by Tanya

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Beneath Her Skin (Empty Coffin #1)
Gregg Olsen

311 pages
Published Feb 2nd, 2021 by Bookouture

Amazon | Goodreads

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According to Goodreads, “This book was originally published as ENVY. This new edition has been re-edited since its publication in 2011.”
Having read the book’s summary, I expected this story to be told from the viewpoint of two twin sisters, who investigate the so-called suicide of a teenager at their school. It also says these twins can talk to the dead.

Ok

I love paranormal and I love thrillers and mashing them together can lead to a great story. This, however, really missed the mark for me. This is not listed as a YA book but it had so much teen slang that it felt like it was trying to market to the younger crowd.

The characters were all superficial. No one was interesting or likable, not even the twins. The plot line was full of holes (how are they talking to the dead when information just falls in their lap when they are underwater or sleeping?), was very slow and tried to build suspense by holding information back and then dropping in information with little to no explanation. This just felt all over the place for me.

*Spoiler Alert* And why the heck do the people responsible for the girl’s death get off with a slap to the wrist basically, but the reporter gets run over?!?! What?? And is that what we are putting out there these days? When someone tries to expose you, you just kill them? But you let actual bullies roam around living their lives. Ick! I wanted to give this book a 1 just for those plot lines!

The parts I loved about this book all revolve around the setting. Having lived in Bremerton when I was younger, I loved having so many references to that area.
I am going to move on to Book 2 because I think there is a good story here and I’ve heard great things about this author. I’m hopeful that it’s a better read and I can get some good character development.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #Bookoutoure for providing this book. I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy and all views expressed are only my honest opinion.

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