Did Not Finish - Love Lies Beneath by Ellen Hopkins

Title: Love Lies Beneath
Author: Ellen Hopkins
ISBN: 9781476743653
No. of Pages: 320
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Origins: Atria Books
Release Date: 21 July 2015

Synopsis:

“Tara is gorgeous, affluent, and forty. She lives in an impeccably restored Russian Hill mansion in San Francisco. Once a widow, twice divorced, she’s a woman with a past she prefers keeping to herself.

Enter Cavin Lattimore. He’s handsome, kind, charming, and the surgeon assigned to Tara following a ski accident in Lake Tahoe. In the weeks it takes her to recover, Cavin sweeps her off her feet and their relationship blossoms into something Tara had never imagined possible. But then she begins to notice some strange things: a van parked outside her home at odd times, a break-in, threatening text messages and emails. She also starts to notice cracks in Cavin’s seemingly perfect personality, like the suppressed rage his conniving teenage son brings out in him, and the discovery that Cavin hired a detective to investigate her immediately after they met.

Now on crutches and housebound, Tara finds herself dependent on the new man in her life—perhaps too much so. She’s handling rocky relationships with her sister and best friend, who are envious of her glamour and freedom; her prickly brother-in-law, who is intimidated by her wealth and power; and her estranged mother. However perfect Tara’s life appears, things are beginning to get messy.”

I love Ellen’s YA novels. They are so powerful and almost always tackle difficult topics. I was hoping her adult novels would be equally compelling. I found that this one was not so. Instead, I felt like I was reading a rehash of Fatal Attraction/Sleeping With the Enemy but with a main character who is utterly selfish and oblivious to other people’s problems. This may have one hell of an ending. I didn’t care enough to find out if it did.

10 Comments

Courtney on July 9, 2015 at 7:03 AM

I am the same way when I just can’t get into a book.

Michelle on July 9, 2015 at 4:20 PM

This is a relatively new phenomenon for me. I used to finish everything I started, even as recently as a few months ago. So, it still takes me a lot to say I don’t want to finish a story.
Reply

Suzi Q, The Book Dame on July 8, 2015 at 6:41 AM

Unlikeable characters can go either way for me. Usually I don’t do well with them except in those rare occurrences where it makes the book better. ie: Gone Girl and Bones of You I didn’t like a single character, but liked the read.

Michelle on July 9, 2015 at 4:18 PM

Sometimes, unlikable characters are the point of the story. No one is supposed to like Amy or Nick in Gone Girl. That’s what makes that story so much fun. I felt that in the Hopkins novel, one was supposed to feel sorry for her when things started going downhill. The fact that I wanted the boyfriend to be all stalker extraordinaire says a lot about my feelings about her, as I’m pretty sure that is not what Hopkins intended.
Reply

Brandie on July 7, 2015 at 3:28 PM

This is going to sound horrible, but I’m glad to see you weren’t a fan of this one. Because now I don’t feel bad that I couldn’t get into it. I tried to, but was put off pretty immediately by the main character and how awful she was. Glad I didn’t force myself to keep reading.

Michelle on July 9, 2015 at 4:14 PM

Whew. I’m glad I’m not the only one. I love nasty characters, but I did not like her. I really wanted something bad to happen to her. I think this means I am an evil person.
Reply

Amanda on July 7, 2015 at 2:13 PM

This “Besides, when I start cheering for bad things to happen to the main character, that’s probably not a good sign” made me really laugh out loud. I’m so glad its not just me. I totally take that as a sign to put a book away!

Michelle on July 7, 2015 at 2:23 PM

LOL! I know. That probably should have been my first clue, right? I do so love a bad book though. It’s always a tough choice.
Reply

Ti on July 7, 2015 at 11:17 AM

Good for you. I see no reason to continue on with a book that isn’t working for you. I nearly always divorce a book after 50 pages unless it’s for book club or I promised an author or publisher to review it.

Michelle on July 7, 2015 at 1:29 PM

I am still getting used to the idea of DNFing books. There is a perverse part of me that wants to keep reading just to see how bad it really gets. Then there is the thought that maybe it will get really, really good. Most of that stems from reading so many classics when I was younger. Those always require reading to the very end because they almost always take that long to set up the story and develop the characters. I don’t mind that, and if I weren’t SO far behind in review copies, I probably would continue with it. The book is a FAST read, so I know I could have skimmed the whole thing. I just have too many other books demanding my attention to want to continue with a plot that is so familiar. Besides, when I start cheering for bad things to happen to the main character, that’s probably not a good sign.
Reply

I read and respond to each and every comment, so please let me know what you are thinking! Cancel reply

Courtney on July 9, 2015 at 7:03 AM

I am the same way when I just can’t get into a book.
- Michelle on July 9, 2015 at 4:20 PM
  
  This is a relatively new phenomenon for me. I used to finish everything I started, even as recently as a few months ago. So, it still takes me a lot to say I don’t want to finish a story.
Suzi Q, The Book Dame on July 8, 2015 at 6:41 AM

Unlikeable characters can go either way for me. Usually I don’t do well with them except in those rare occurrences where it makes the book better. ie: Gone Girl and Bones of You I didn’t like a single character, but liked the read.
- Michelle on July 9, 2015 at 4:18 PM
  
  Sometimes, unlikable characters are the point of the story. No one is supposed to like Amy or Nick in Gone Girl. That’s what makes that story so much fun. I felt that in the Hopkins novel, one was supposed to feel sorry for her when things started going downhill. The fact that I wanted the boyfriend to be all stalker extraordinaire says a lot about my feelings about her, as I’m pretty sure that is not what Hopkins intended.
Brandie on July 7, 2015 at 3:28 PM

This is going to sound horrible, but I’m glad to see you weren’t a fan of this one. Because now I don’t feel bad that I couldn’t get into it. I tried to, but was put off pretty immediately by the main character and how awful she was. Glad I didn’t force myself to keep reading.
- Michelle on July 9, 2015 at 4:14 PM
  
  Whew. I’m glad I’m not the only one. I love nasty characters, but I did not like her. I really wanted something bad to happen to her. I think this means I am an evil person.
Amanda on July 7, 2015 at 2:13 PM

This “Besides, when I start cheering for bad things to happen to the main character, that’s probably not a good sign” made me really laugh out loud. I’m so glad its not just me. I totally take that as a sign to put a book away!
- Michelle on July 7, 2015 at 2:23 PM
  
  LOL! I know. That probably should have been my first clue, right? I do so love a bad book though. It’s always a tough choice.
Ti on July 7, 2015 at 11:17 AM

Good for you. I see no reason to continue on with a book that isn’t working for you. I nearly always divorce a book after 50 pages unless it’s for book club or I promised an author or publisher to review it.
- Michelle on July 7, 2015 at 1:29 PM
  
  I am still getting used to the idea of DNFing books. There is a perverse part of me that wants to keep reading just to see how bad it really gets. Then there is the thought that maybe it will get really, really good. Most of that stems from reading so many classics when I was younger. Those always require reading to the very end because they almost always take that long to set up the story and develop the characters. I don’t mind that, and if I weren’t SO far behind in review copies, I probably would continue with it. The book is a FAST read, so I know I could have skimmed the whole thing. I just have too many other books demanding my attention to want to continue with a plot that is so familiar. Besides, when I start cheering for bad things to happen to the main character, that’s probably not a good sign.