Reconstructing Amelia

 

Reconstructing Amelia

by Kimberly McCreight

★★★★

 

Kate, a successful lawyer, is shocked when her daughter dies after falling from the roof of her Brooklyn prep school. The death is ruled a suicide and Kate is left reeling. She begins to question everything she knows about her daughter Amelia and starts to research her life before that fateful day.

 

The story is told from a rotating point-of-view. We see it from Kate’s side, Amelia’s and even a catty blog called gRaCeFULLY. There are emails, texts and personal thoughts combined to have the feel of a slow-burning thriller. It’s a mean-girls style novel that delves deeper into the subjects of bullying and how technology is used in that sense.

 

**SPOILERS**

- There were a few things that bugged me about the book. Listening to it on audio was frustrating because you have to hear every single individual time stamp and to/from for every text. I would recommend reading a hard copy.

 

- It really bugged me that Ben was Amelia’s father. That relationship was wildly inappropriate and with all the horrible things she was going through and confiding in him, he should have told Kate what was going on.

 

- When they finally revealed the author of the gRaCeFULLY blog it just wasn’t believable in my opinion.

 

- Sylvia, the best friend, drove me nuts though. The fact that the author kept reminding the readers why the main character was friends with her is not a good sign.

**SPOILERS OVER**

 

I really loved the relationship between Amelia and her mother. It felt realistic, both the struggles and the strengths gave a layer of depth to the characters. I also thought that the final reveal at the end made sense in the context of the story and was a satisfying ending. 

 

BOTTOM LINE: Fast paced and interesting, read this one when you want something to keep you on your toes. Some of the finer details fell flat for me, but I was definitely entertained throughout the book.