Edgewater
Author: Courtney Sheinmel
Publication Date: September 8th 2015
Publisher: Amulet Books
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~
Lorrie Hollander used to be a rich girl, but now she’s lost everything because of the secrets and lies of the people around her. It’s been 12 years since Lorrie’s mother skipped town and left Lorrie in the care of her unstable aunt Gigi. Together they live in a neglected, decrepit mansion called Edgewater, the eyesore in a town of extraordinary wealth and privilege.
When Charlie, the son of an esteemed senator, takes an interest in Lorrie, her shame for her family and lifestyle runs deep. But what she doesn’t know is that Charlie’s family is hiding something, too, and that their secrets are inextricably tied. Now Lorrie must confront the truth about her family—and everything she ever thought she knew about herself.
I have mixed feelings about Edgewater, mainly because for
the most part, I wasn’t really into it, but once I got passed the first half,
it started to get better, and the ending really did save it for me, mainly
because while I saw one twist coming, I hadn’t even thought of the second one,
so that surprised me.
That said…I was bored for most of it, don’t get me wrong, it
wasn’t, ugh – I – need- to - put- this-
down- boring, just not a lot was happening, and my main issue is with Lorrie.
Firstly, I have to say she isn’t a terrible character, but she isn’t exactly
nice either, and I do get it, and I get her frustration, but she was burning
her bridges with people along with it, and she was so full of anger and
self-pity and had no empathy whatsoever with her family that she went into the
bitch zone. And for most of her characterisation has something important to do
with the plot, so I can’t say what, but I will say she does grow, she isn’t
entirely likable by the end, but she’s getting there.
I liked Lennox, Lorrie’s best friend, she’s pretty selfish,
and my favourite character, even if that’s all her character seems to be. And
by that I mean, Lennox was mainly only there when Lorrie needed something. A
ride, money, money, money, and I know Lorrie felt bad for taking it, and Lennox
seemed fine giving it, since that’s what best friends do, but we’re not
introduced to Lennox as the best friend, we’re introduced to Lennox paying for
Lorrie’s flights home after she was kicked out of equestrian camp because her aunt hasn’t paid
her tuition.
Charlie, Lorrie’s love interest, was nice, perfectly nice,
but there wasn’t much there, we got to know him a bit, but they had only met
like twice before he kissed her, and the whole thing was a little intalovey and
while it was cute, I just didn’t feel it.
My other issue was how their Aunt, GiGi was portrayed, you
do get to see why she was the way she was, which again, is to do with the plot,
so can’t spill any of that, but I wished there was more there, that we saw more
of that, it didn’t feel realistic.
The best thing about Edgewater though was the connection
Lorrie had with her horse, Orion, it’s sweet and I haven’t really read that
many that included horses as a focal point, her
other best friend.
Though I didn’t like the characters as such in Edgewater, I
did warm up to them, and the plot and twists were great-even if one was
somewhat predictable-the second was a nice surprise.
Rating: 3.5/5
