Review: The Sham by Ellen Allen

*I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*

Synopsis:

When love leads to death, be careful who you trust…

Eighteen-year-old Emily Heath would love to leave her dead-end town, known locally as "The Sham", with her boyfriend, Jack, but he's very, very sick; his body is failing and his brain is shutting down. He's also in hiding, under suspicion of murder. Six months' ago, strange signs were painted across town in a dialect no one has spoken for decades and one of Emily's classmates washed up in the local floods. 

Emily has never trusted her instincts and now they're pulling her towards Jack, who the police think is a sham himself, someone else entirely. As the town wakes to discover new signs plastered across its walls, Emily must decide who and what she trusts, and fast: local vigilantes are hunting Jack; the floods, the police, and her parents are blocking her path; and the town doesn’t need another dead body.

WARNING: THIS BOOK IS UNSUITABLE FOR YOUNGER TEENAGE READERS. IT DEPICTS ADULT SITUATIONS, MURDER SCENES, CONVERSATIONS ABOUT SEX AND PROFANITY.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: The idea for this book came to me in a nightmare... It was so vivid that I imagined I was 17 again, at school, in the same group of 4 friends that I used to hang around with. We were involved in a murder and cover-up. I started writing partly as a way to get it out of my head and then the characters turned into real people... and Emily and Jack were born.

As some of the early reviewers have stated, it is quite extreme in chapter one, and necessarily so. This is the incident that sets up the whole book; something awful happens that sets off a train of events for the characters. This book is a mystery in two ways in that we're: 1) trying to find out who killed Emily's classmate; and 2) trying to work out who Jack is. I hope you enjoy it!

My Rating: 2.5/5 stars

I was really trying to like this book, and I feel really bad that I didn't. The synopsis makes it sound so good, that's why I said yes to reviewing this book.

I didn't hate everything about this book. I did find that the mysteries were really well written. I never knew what was going to happen. Also, the creepy/dark/scary theme was well written, because I was pretty disturbed/on edge throughout this entire book.

I wasn't a giant fan of the characters and found I was lacking in rooting for any of the characters. I wasn't emotional over any of the characters nor cared about them.

Maybe it's just me, maybe I just need to re-read this book some time. But, as of now, this is how I felt toward this book. I do want to re-read this book in the future though.