After the jaw-dropping that was We Were Liars I couldn’t shy away from Genuine Fraud. I read some reviews telling it wasn’t as good, but that didn’t push me away. It’s not just the fact that I was blown away by the ending of We Were Liars that made it one of my favourite books, in fact, E. Lockhart’s writing was another factor. So I was determined to read Genuine Fraud, but this time I knew nothing about it.

Author: E. Lockhart Publisher: Delacorte Press Pages: 262 Genre: Mystery, Contemporary, Thriller Publication: 5th September 2017

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Synopsis:

Imogen is a runaway heiress, an orphan, a cook, and a cheat. And Jule is a fighter, a social chameleon, and an athlete. They share an intense relationship that hides lies, fears and secrets. Imogen and Jule. Jule and Imogen. Inseparable best friends. Two very different people and one of them is a genuine fraud.

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The story is told from Jule point of view and in reverse chronological order. It starts in Mexico, in June 2017, and begins to go back week after week. This is a unique and smart way to tell this story, and I think it was perfect to completely mislead the reader and keep you guessing at all times. Although the story became confusing. In the middle of all this reverse timing, there were throwbacks to the pasts while Jule was remembering to give more back story, but that only confused me even more. I never fully understood how Jule and Imogen’s relationship started, and there are other bits and pieces that I didn’t quite get. For sure is a book that you have to pay attention to the details and even then you will know nothing.

Other than that, Genuine Fraud was a roller-coaster of revelations. Chapter after chapter something new, unsettling, surprising, and nerve-racking was going to happen. I kept on questioning everything I knew until that moment, yet I knew nothing. Be assured that what you are reading is the truth, it’s a luxury that you don’t have in this book. One moment I was so sure about something, and in the next chapter, my theory shatters to pieces. This is a mystery that I couldn’t predict. Not even a tiny bit! But all these twists throughout the book took a toll on the ending.

When a book starts with secrets, mysteries, small revelations so soon in the story, creating this growing excitement, I’m expecting a HUGE turn in the end. Something bigger than everything I read so far. And Genuine Fraud lacks that. That punch in the face that makes your head spin around, your jaw drops and leaves you staring into the void while your mind tries to understand everything. But Genuine Fraud didn’t have that. And it was a big let down on an otherwise marvellous story.

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I can’t recommend this book to everyone that enjoyed We Were Liars. It was E. Lockhart’s biggest hit and why so many people (myself included) jumped on board with Genuine Fraud. Not only the stories can’t be compared since they are so different in subjects, but the writing is different. In We Were Liars, the author uses a lot of metaphors, while in Genuine Fraud is more straight forward. And We Were Liars only has one big mystery that is revealed in the end, and Genuine Fraud has a compilation of them spread throughout the story. Genuine Fraud has a more serious mood while We Were Liars is more relaxed. Both books have a young adult female protagonist, but they are nothing alike.

Then don’t go read this book expecting another We Were Liars kind of mind-blowing ending. Instead, go read this book to spot a fraud, to understand this friendship between Imogen and Jule, to read a story backwards, and to be surprised. This book is a pleasant ride to take, and I’m considering embarking on it again.

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