Envy (Empty Coffin #1)

Envy, sadly, didn’t captivate me.

Envy takes third-person omniscient to the extreme. The book followed so many characters that I had trouble remembering them all and keeping their names straight. I understand what Olsen was trying to do in getting all the side-stories to come together in the end to provide a clear picture, but it just didn’t do that for me. I got bored and distracted by all the side-stories constantly wondering when I was actually going to find out anything about Katelyn’s death.

The mystery wasn’t all that captivating in and of itself either. First of all, I found almost everything unconvincing since they ruled the girl’s death an accident due to espresso machine. Maybe I know nothing and some people really do make coffee in their bedrooms or bathrooms, but it just seemed completely absurd to me. Another thing that didn’t really work for me was The Accident. It was constantly being built up and built up and then it just seemed to amount to very little.

Another thing that bothered me was the fact that it’s classified as YA but despite the fact that it has quite a few teenaged characters it often felt more Adult. Characters were often talking about the sex lives of the adults in town and their secret behind-closed-doors lives. It didn’t really work for me.

The Nutshell: My opinions are my own, so someone else might not have the same issues as I did, but I still have to say that I won’t be recommending Envy.

Miss

Great read!

First Impressions: I’ve read other books written by Gregg Olsen so I was excited to find out that he was coming out with Envy, his very first Young Adult book. I have always loved how this author uses real life crimes and turns them into incredible stories. What makes most books so good, is if they have the ability to connect the reader to the story and the characters. By basing his books off of things that have actually happened, his stories always end up hooking me right in.

First 50 Pages: The first few chapters held me captive. Seriously? What author would do a better job at weaving together true crime, mystery, and paranormal fantasy into a fast paced young adult novel than Gregg Olsen? I loved it right from the beginning and it only got better as the book progressed.

Characters & Plot Points: I loved the true crime and mystery elements in this book. They are something that you don’t typically find in any young adult books. I think it was a smart idea the author had to add in the paranormal elements as well. This book reminded me an updated, more theatrical version of The Hardy Boys, without the boys. That’s the best I can explain it. It is a true, good old mystery novel that I hope will get more teens to enjoy the mystery genre.

As for the characters, while I found some of them rather obnoxious, it is a bit scary that Gregg Olsen is able to channel in a teenage girl so well. When it comes to male authors, sometimes they can do a less than superb job at creating believable female characters. Not in this book though, since I think the author did an amazing job with each of the characters, especially Starla. She is the reason I would never wish to go back in time to high school. What a great villain she makes!

Envy is refreshingly bold with its themes, especially cyber bullying. It’s one of those topics that are just starting to work its way out of the closet, even though its been victimizing people for years. One thing I will say is that I wish this book had been a bit more graphic, so that it would have been able to really drive the author’s points home. I hope to see more of that in the next novel.

Final Thoughts: Overall, this was an enjoyable read. I’ve always loved this author’s style of writing and his use of true crime weaved into fiction. I can’t wait to read the second book in this new, addictive series!

I think that it was a great book and you should read it because it has some real world expereinces in it as well as the over all story.