Jane Retton would never
let anyone read her diary. After all, it was filled with her wildest
secrets - the sort of things she wouldn't even tell her closest friends.
Then something terrible happened. Somehow her diary ended up at school. And soon, everyone was reading her final, shocking entry. Some girls would simply die. Other girls would kill. But Jane Retton...she would do both. |
This one's much different than Pike's other works. His black humor shows through as always, even stronger, particularly with one of the more bizarre villain motivations I've read. It's an interesting enough story - a girl gets humiliated at school when some kids pass around pages of her diary, and then takes revenge by faking her death on a cruise - and is told mainly through the eyes of Jane to a police captain after people really do die in her rescue. Pace wise, the story moves swiftly (it's a shorter book for him, a mere 152 pages), with enough bumps and oomphs to keep the scenes speeding along. It's easy when reading this study to remember the angst of high school days, trials, and tribulations
As always Pike writes with a creative pen, this time a little less aptly in some parts, but hey - maybe I just think that because I didn't care much for the book. I mentioned the villains motivation being bizarre, and while it may have been meant as a huge joke, I didn't find it humorous. It was more stupid to me than anything else. I know Pike has much better stuff in his imagination, I've seen it. The characters didn't draw me as much as usual, either, instead just existing as plot pieces.
However, there were some scenes that stand out. The boat scene was an amusing mishap, and the house scene with her friend was nail-biting. Suspense is always done well in his books, whether I enjoy them or not. I would never call this a full-fledged mystery (as again the motive makes no sense), but the curiosity was there too to keep me reading along. Overall I'd say to stay away from this one unless you're already a fan, and start with his other works instead.
And yes, this is a sinfully short review, but it's also a short young adult book, where I have nothing left to say.
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