Author: Kit Frick
Total Pages: 384
Personal Rating: 2/5
Review:
I Killed Zoe Spanos recounts the events that follow the disappearance of well-loved teenager Zoe Spanos in Herron Mills. Anna Cicconi decides that taking a summer “au pair” position in the Hamptons is just the fresh start that she needs before attending SUNY New Paltz. Over the last year Anna and her best friend, Kaylee have taken to the party scene. Drinking out of control, taking drugs for recreation, and hooking up with boys she can barely remember. Anna is now growing tired of the party lifestyle and yearns to get away. Once she arrives in Herron Mills she quickly draws the eyes of strangers. It appears that she bears an uncanny resemblance to Zoe Spanos, who has gone missing. Two months later, when Zoe’s body is found, it is Anna that confesses to her murder.
This book had so much potential to be a great YA mystery-thriller novel, but it ultimately flatlined for me. The main issue I had with the book was that it was extremely confusing. From the start, the reader is introduced to various characters and settings (which was unnecessary because half of the characters don’t play any role towards the end of the novel). Once the reader is introduced to Zoe’s missing person’s case, the book becomes very hard to read, as we are introduced to side-plots and flashbacks that don’t contribute anything to the disappearance of Zoe Spanos. I also think the first half of the book is unnecessarily long and there are many descriptions. Mystery factor is almost non-existent and totally anticlimactic, and definitely not the mind twisting one the premise promised. In addition to the confusing plot, the ending of the book just didn’t make any sense. While I was reading, the closing of the book felt really rushed and nonsensical, as I really didn’t understand how everything I read prior to the ending contributed much to the grand finale. I would’ve liked if the book was a little more organized with the ideas & events that were incorporated because it seemed a little all over the place especially at the end.
Thanks Gwenyth!