The American Girl: A Novel by Kate Horsley

(Thank you to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book!)

about book:

From a bright new talent comes a riveting psychological thriller about an American exchange student in France involved in a suspicious accident, and the journalist determined to break the story and uncover the dark secrets a small town is hiding.

On a quiet summer morning, seventeen-year-old American exchange student Quinn Perkins stumbles out of the woods near the small French town of St. Roch. Barefoot, bloodied, and unable to say what has happened to her, Quinn’s appearance creates quite a stir, especially since the Blavettes—the French family with whom she’s been staying—have mysteriously disappeared. Now the media, and everyone in the idyllic village, are wondering if the American girl had anything to do with her host family’s disappearance.

Though she is cynical about the media circus that suddenly forms around the girl, Boston journalist Molly Swift cannot deny she is also drawn to the mystery and travels to St. Roch. She is prepared to do anything to learn the truth, including lying so she can get close to Quinn. But when a shocking discovery turns the town against Quinn and she is arrested for the murders of the Blavette family, she finds an unlikely ally in Molly.

As a trial by media ensues, Molly must unravel the disturbing secrets of the town’s past in an effort to clear Quinn’s name, but even she is forced to admit that the American Girl makes a very compelling murder suspect. Is Quinn truly innocent and as much a victim as the Blavettes—or is she a cunning, diabolical killer intent on getting away with murder…?

Told from the alternating perspectives of Molly, as she’s drawn inexorably closer to the truth, and Quinn’s blog entries tracing the events that led to her accident, The American Girl is a deliciously creepy, contemporary, twisting mystery leading to a shocking conclusion.

my thoughts:

I'm currently addicted to this TV show called Guilt. Its about a young American woman living in London.  Her Irish roommate has been murdered and she's the prime suspect. Enter Billy Zane as her defense attorney. I swear he spends the majority of his time trying on hats to wear with his suits or threatening the police with bogus misconduct charges. Its hilarious and fun to watch. Oh, and the secrets and lies that are slowly being revealed each week on the show - Wow!! Talk about an over-the-top mini-soap opera. I am loving it! So, when I picked up my copy of The American Girl, I was excited to dive right in. It sounded so similar to Guilt, that I just knew I would love it.  Except, I didn't love it. In fact, I didn't like it. The American Girl is about a young American woman living in France as an exchange student. She's found wandering around one night and slips into a coma. When she wakes up she has no memory of what happened. And she finds out that her host family is missing - she's the prime suspect in their disappearance. Sounds like a good story, right? Well, it wasn't. The story was predictable with a capital P. Seriously, there was no mystery surrounding 'whodunit' - it was glaringly obvious from the first time the character is introduced.  Oh, and the characters - ugh! They were awful, like the kind of awful that you don't want to root for at all.  The story dragged on forever, which made the length of the book ridiculously long. I kept wondering, what happened to the editor?  Overall, the story was lackluster and I honestly wished that I had DNFed it from the start.  This book was just not for me.

Of course, other bloggers really seem to enjoy it. So, maybe you will, too. Here's the link to the TLC Book Tour schedule for: The American Girl

Thank you to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book!