Novel Review: This is W.A.R. by Lisa Roecker and Laura Roecker

Rating (Out of 5): ~2.5-3

Genre: YA Contemporary Suspense

Publisher: Soho Teen

Publish Date: July 2nd, 2013
Spoilers: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

This is W.A.R. begins with a victim who can no longer speak for herself, and whose murder blossoms into a call-to-arms. Enter four very different girls, four very different motives to avenge Willa Ames-Rowan, and only one rule to start: Destroy James Gregory and his family at any cost. Willa's initials spell the secret rallying cry that spurs the foursome to pool their considerable resources and deliver their particular brand of vigilante justice. Innocence is lost, battles are won—and the pursuit of the truth ultimately threatens to destroy them all.

Something Specific:

Quotes:

• "Without pain there would be no anger, and without anger there would be no courage.” (Hardback, pg. 97)
•  “‘Once you open it, you can’t close it.’” (Hardback, pg. 244)

The Cover:

I rather like this cover. It's pretty, and it fits well with the story. My only real problem with it is that I feel it should have a more suspenseful or murder-esque feel to it, like there should be a hand on the girls head--but then again, that might give too much away, even if that part of the story is given away right from the beginning. Overall, though, I like it.

Review:

This was a pretty mediocre read, I’m sad to say. I was expecting it to be better, and very much hoping so. It sounded good, it started good, and there were a couple of very good parts, but there were also a lot of rather boring ones. I just had a very hard time keeping my attention on the book, and wanting to keep reading.

This is told in four different perspectives, in five different parts (the last two are the same perspective). (Actually, I guess there’re five perspectives, since the prologue and epilogue are in a different perspective. Whatever.) The story centers on Willa Ames-Rowan's death, who killed her, and how the four main girls want justice to be served to the person who did it.

The girls were interesting, and the story was interesting. I had a pretty good idea of who did it by the end, but how it was done kept me curious to the very end, and that part was nicely done. The suspense, the curiosity, that kept the story going nicely, and the setup for it was well done as well. I wasn’t sure about the ending at first, but it's grown on me now, and I’m pretty okay with it at the moment. I kind of would have liked everyone/thing to have gone down as well, because they don’t deserve to still be up and pretending to be happy, but I guess I can accept it. I guess.

My biggest problem, I guess, was that I just didn’t really connect with the characters, any of them. They were interesting, as I said, and they were well done, their reasons were understandable, their lives were intriguing. I just didn’t connect, or care, I guess. None of it was keeping me wanting to read. That’s probably just me, though, because everything else was good. 

I liked the book, but it ended up being just mediocre for me, I guess.


 Thank you so much to Soho Teen and I Heart Daily for sending me a copy!