Book Review :Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead by Jenny Hollander

 

Rating: 2.5⭐️

Editor-in-chief of a major magazine and engaged to a member of an affluent and influential family, Charlie Colbert has a seemingly perfect life. But when one of her former graduate school classmates decides to make a movie about the tragic events that transpired on Christmas Eve nine years ago – an event dubbed ”Scarlet Christmas “ by the Press - that resulted in the deaths of three of her classmates, leaving Charlie and other survivors traumatized, she is fearful that the movie, based on a book written about the tragedy, will upend the life she has so meticulously rebuilt. Charlie had distanced herself from her former friends after the tragedy but now not only will she have to reach out to them to prevent the movie from being made but also have to revisit her past to fill in the gaps in memories from that night.

To be honest, I liked the premise of Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead by Jenny Hollander more than the execution. Up until the halfway mark, I was enjoying the writing and found the plot intriguing. However, as the narrative progressed, the inconsistent pacing, repetitiveness and poor character development resulted in a less-than-satisfying reading experience. Despite this novel being less than three hundred pages long, it felt much longer, which is never a good thing. None of the characters were particularly interesting (Annoying and Shallow? Yes! Interesting? No). I did feel sorry for Charlie and her struggles, but that’s about it – I think I’m a bit tired of protagonists with foggy memories and dependence on alcohol. The therapy angle should have been better executed. The romantic relationship between Charlie and Tripp felt forced and superficial. Most of the twists felt contrived and I found certain revelations along the way too ridiculous to shock or even surprise me. I’m all for suspension of disbelief, but I found the resolution of the mystery behind “Scarlet Christmas” underwhelming, to say the least. I could go on about how this novel didn’t work for me, but I think I’ll stop here.

In short, I can’t say this was a thrilling read.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.