In Her Skin by Kim Savage

April 2, 2018     erinthebooknut     Book review

In Her Skin by Kim SavageIn Her Skin by Kim Savage
Published by FSG on March 27th 2018
Pages: 304
Goodreads

Sixteen-year-old con artist Jo Chastain is about to take on the biggest heist of her life: impersonating a missing girl. Life on the streets of Boston these past few years hasn’t been easy, and Jo is hoping to cash in on a little safety, a little security. She finds her opportunity in the Lovecrafts, a wealthy family with ties to the unsolved disappearance of Vivienne Weir, who vanished when she was nine.

When Jo takes on Vivi's identity and stages the girl’s miraculous return, the Lovecrafts welcome her back with open arms. They give her everything she could want: love, money, and proximity to their intoxicating and unpredictable daughter, Temple. But nothing is as it seems in the Lovecraft household—and some secrets refuse to stay buried. As hidden crimes come to the surface, and lines of deception begin to blur, Jo must choose to either hold onto an illusion of safety, or escape the danger around her before it’s too late.

4 Nuts

Dude I am absolutely LIVING for these mysteries and thrillers this year. I have been wanting to read this book since I first heard about it last year. I LOVE stories about cons and fake miracle returns of missing kids. Don’t ask, I don’t know why. They just intrigue me.

This book was no different. I was here and read from the word go. Despite the kind of weird writing style (the book is written as if it’s being told to another character in the story) I blasted through this book like it was nothing. Though a little distracting, the writing style didn’t slow me down and I quickly got used to it.  The plot is just so addicting, it’s very hard to put it down for even a minute to do things like go to work or sleep.

Our main character Jo/Vivienne is a gifted con. This girl has well honed skills for lying, playacting, and all around shiftiness. I love her. She is bold and willing to survive however she possibly can. She has an obsession with rich girl Temple, which becomes a sort of twisted love story between the two girls. Twisted because both girls are a little mentally unstable.

Temple herself is a hard character describe, and I wouldn’t want to anyway because there’s some hella spoilers here. Suffice to say that this girl is nothing like she seems. I LIVE for Temple’s backstory. She’s fascinating on a deep level. I kind of just want to read about her life and pick apart her brain for hours. I get why Jo is obsessed with her. She’s enthralling.

This book has tons to layers, it’s quite the onion. What you see in pretty much everyone isn’t nearly as close to the truth as you would think. This is a story of crime and of secrets, and nobody gives you the straight and honest truth. If there were more intricately told mysteries like this out there in YA I doubt I would ever leave my library.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I absolutely want to pick up the rest of Kim Savage’s stories. If they’re any bit as addictive as this one was I’ll be a happy little bookworm.

Don’t forget that it’s OAAA time and we have an epic giveaway running all month long!

What’s your favorite YA mystery? Share in the comments.

From my shelf to yours,

Erin

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