Surfacing by Kristin Halbrook
Three Pixies Press
Publication Date: December 10, 2014
Date Read: November 29, 2014
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I received an advance reader
edition of this book from the author for the purpose of providing an honest review.
1.5 Stars
I have been procrastinating. I should have wrote this review weeks ago but I hate writing bad reviews. I feel like I should apologize or something for not liking this book. Maybe that is going too far but I really wanted to enjoy this book and I tried really hard but this was not the book for me. This ended up being the kind of book that you just cannot wait to finish. When I finished this book, I was so happy to be done just because I wanted to move on to something else – something I might actually like. I do think that this book could work for some audiences. I just couldn’t relate to really anything in this book.
Katie is the president of her sorority. She is dating a popular boy in school and they make such a cute couple (or at least she keeps telling us how perfect they are as a couple). Her best friend, Chelsea, is murdered and shoved into a closet inside a classroom. Her body is discovered when it falls out of the closet during class at the beginning of the story. I had high hopes of the mystery in this book but Katie seemed more focused on keeping up appearances than anything else.
Did I put on waterproof mascara this morning? I simply couldn’t remember. I hoped I had.
The above quote is a shining example of type of important stuff that runs through Katie’s head during this book. I wanted to slap her. I wanted to shake her. I pretty much hated everything about Katie. I thought that this book was going to focus on solving the mystery of Chelsea’s death but instead there is a lot of focus on putting on a fashion show, discussion of what Katie was wearing. Who cares what Katie is wearing? Who cares about putting on a fashion show? One of the sorority members has been killed – shouldn’t that sorority skip the contest this year? But, no. Katie must look strong and keep up appearances.
If my best friend tries to look cute and put on a fashion show after my murdered body is found, I will haunt her…..forever. To be fair, there is some mystery solving in the book but it never seemed to take center stage. The only character that is remotely likeable is Josh but he constantly lets Katie treat him horribly throughout the book so I kind of wanted to smack him too.
To be fair, my life is so different than any of the characters in this book. I went to college but I never lived in a dorm and I was never part of a sorority. I wore sweatpants without any make-up during my college days. Okay, I will be honest that is usually what I still wear unless I have to put on real clothes. I never wear high heels but I do have a lovely pair of custom orthotics to put in my shoes – I am sexy like that. I don’t remember ever trying to date anyone simply because we would make a cute couple. I would have kicked that jerky boyfriend of hers to the curb on about page 2 of the book. And you know what? I would have mourned the death of my best friend. I would have screamed and cried ugly tears for DAYS. I would have been a mess and I wouldn’t have cared because my best friend would be DEAD. Not just dead but MURDERED.
Let’s just say that I was the wrong audience for this book. I actually thought about quitting the book early on and I really wish I had followed through with that feeling early in the book. This is a really short book and I finished it hoping I would find something I liked in the book. The end of the book was better than the beginning but not enough to overcome my distaste for all things Katie. I cannot recommend this book to others.
