Do I love the cover of this book more than the plot, or do I love the plot more than the cover? Do I love Imogen more than Jule or Jule more than Imogen? Am I fan of E. Lockhart or am I fan of E. Lockhart?
Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart is that psychological thriller which will keep your jaw to the floor as you race to finish the book in less than three hours. (I would have managed reading the book in two hours, but my study timetable stared at me as murderously as Imogen/Jule)
Note: I’m using the names of both the characters together throughout the review as Imogen/Jule to avoid giving any spoilers. There are, in fictionality, two separate characters by the names Imogen and Jule.
Before I talk about the plot of this book, I’d like to point out that this book is written in an interesting style. The author reveals the story to us in flashbacks. So, the story starts off with Imogen/Jule sipping a mocktail of Diet Coke + vanilla, and then slowly traces back to how Imogen/Jule reached that place where she could sit down like a queen, and drink her mocktail in peace. The flashbacks go back in a neat and orderly fashion, one month ago from the day ‘this’ happened, five weeks ago from the day ‘that’ happened. It’s almost like reading a diary in reverse.
Except that this diary has to be the most fascinating diary I’ve ever read. (The book is written in third person POV.)
Now, to the plot (as seen on the blurb of the book)
Imogen is a runaway heiress, an orphan, a cook, and a cheat.
Jule is a fighter, a social chameleon, and an athlete.
An intense friendship. A disappearance. A murder, or maybe two.
A bad romance, or maybe three.
Blunt objects, disguises, blood, and chocolate. The American dream, superheroes, spies, and villains.
A girl who refuses to give people what they want from her.
A girl who refuses to be the person she once was.
Let’s get to the characters of the book. Without giving you any spoilers.
Imogen Sokoloff is heir to the rich fortunes of her adoptive parents, Patti and Gil Sokoloff. A bit of a free spirit who doesn’t wish to take instructions from anybody, she runs away from home with her boyfriend, Forrest. Forrest is a budding novelist with a man-bun, and a mothering attitude towards Imogen. Guess who’s not too happy about that.
Jule Williams is a fighter and social chameleon. She turns out to be best friends with Imogen, all because of one commonality: they’re both orphans. Exploring emotions, and sharing feelings they’ve never felt like sharing with others, they grow up, grow apart, and grow back together. Will they stay friends the way they used to? Or will something happen, to tear them apart once again?
What I liked about this book is its fast pace. The chapters are short, easy to read, and leave you wanting to read the next chapter ASAP. The characters are revealed to the reader like a striptease: You’re dying to know more about the characters, but the author is holding back the juicy details for the right moment. However, the book manages to be a striptease only till 66.66% of the book. I had guessed what was about to happen at the 66.66% point before I reached there. But, I couldn’t figure out, for the life of me, the reason behind what happened at the 66.66% point. But, no worries. The remaining part of the book is all about tying up loose ends, and helping the reader understand what exactly happened, how it happened and why did it happen.
And, when you reach the last page of the book, the meaning of the title will make a lot of sense to you.
This is my first E. Lockhart book. I am planning to read We Were Liars next, as there was a small teaser of WWL at the end of Genuine Fraud. Hell, I’m planning to read all of E. Lockhart’s books. You’ve got a fan in me, E. Lockhart!
One tip for reading this book: Try to finish it off in one day. I tried reading it on two days, and found it a bit difficult to remember the story on the second day. But maybe that’s my ‘cheating-with-a-book-by-reading-three-other-books-at-a-time’ talking.
I give this book a 5/5 star rating, and recommend it to every YA Fiction lover. And even if you’re in reading slump, this fast paced thriller is all you need to get out of it.
~Amateur-Book-Reviewer
Note: I received a review copy of this book thanks to Bloomsbury India! Thank you so much! <3
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