Reconstructing Amelia

By: Kimberly McCreight

Narrated by: Khristine Hvam

Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

When Kate, single mother and law firm partner, gets an urgent phone call summoning her to her daughter's exclusive private school, she's shocked. Amelia has been suspended for cheating, something that would be completely out of character for her over-achieving, well-behaved daughter.

Kate rushes to Grace Hall, but what she finds when she finally arrives is beyond comprehension. Her daughter is dead.

Despondent over having been caught cheating, Amelia has jumped from the school's roof in an act of impulsive suicide. At least that's the story Grace Hall and the police tell Kate. In a state of shock and overcome by grief, Kate tries to come to grips with this life-shattering news. Then she gets an anonymous text: Amelia didn't jump.

The moment she sees that message, Kate knows in her heart it's true. Clearly Amelia had secrets, and a life Kate knew nothing about. Wracked by guilt, Kate is determined to find out what those secrets were and who could have hated her daughter enough to kill. She searches through Amelia's emails, texts, and Facebook updates, piecing together the last troubled days of her daughter's life.

Reconstructing Amelia is a stunning debut pause-resistor that brilliantly explores the secret world of teenagers, their clandestine first loves, hidden friendships, and the dangerous cruelty that can spill over into acts of terrible betrayal.

©2013 Kimberly McCreight (P)2013 HarperCollins Publishers

Great story!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was suspenseful, well-narrated and addicting. I'm looking forward to reading more books by this author.

Enjoyable!

Where does Reconstructing Amelia rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This book is a top 20 for me.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed this book. A very good young adult read!

Horrible narration to a bland book

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Lot's. It was incredibly predictable. With very little closure at the end.

Would you be willing to try another book from Kimberly McCreight? Why or why not?

No. Her word choices and sentence structures were incredibly immature and amateurish. I do a little writing on the side (hell, even took an Ivy League course for creative writing), and her writing mirrors mine. I can honestly and openly admit that I am even a moderately good writer....she got lucky and this book was promoted, giving her a bump for her career. But, I can only call a duck, a duck. She is not a good enough writer to keep me coming back.

Also, I get the idea of bouncing chapter back and forth with all the different characters as the new, main voice (chapter 1-kate; chapter 2-amelia, etc) but if the author was going to choose to do that, they have to be careful with it.

This author was not careful and thoughtful in how she executed this. Each chapter had the same voice and characteristics. Each one sounded like the last with no differences in how they spoke, acted and thought. If you want to switch back and forth between characters narrating that chapter, you have to change your word usage, voice and behaviors.

I would compare this book to the structure and lack of differentiation between characters in the third Divergent book (Allegiant).

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Khristine Hvam?

Anybody. She was a horrible narrator. I cringed every single time she tried to do a male voice...each and every male sounded like they were one of those greasy, creepy guys at a bar with their hair slicked back with an over-abundance of gel and one corner of their mouths curled up. It was as if every guy in the book was a pompous jerk with their nose up in the air. Her male voices need improvement.

Do you think Reconstructing Amelia needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No, there was barely any plot in this book.

Devastating.

The dark and disturbing experience of a young teen dealing with the pressures of adolescence, bullying, the social hierarchies of high school and the ache and need to belong, and to be loved. It broke my heart, but I couldn't stop reading. It was exquisite and unapologetic. Life can be very cruel.

contrite

it was written well but includes a disturbing group of characters. there is no hero, except, maybe, the police officer, maybe

DEFINITELY A MUST READ!!!

Wonderful narrator, superbly written!! This is one of those books where the characters will remain with you long after you've finished it.

Just ok

I felt like the author made the story unbelievable by adding too many complications. Ending was predictable and too many loose ends.

slow

this could have been half the length. hard to keep reading/ keep my interest. The characters were likable.

very engaging. great book

great narrator, interesting story that captured me and I could not put it down. characters were easy to track and follow, the narrater did a good job of differentiating voices to help listener.

Looking for a page turner- look no further

I couldn't turn this off! So well constructed and read! Loved it! It kept my attention from moment one. Read this. You won't regret it.