Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Unbecoming: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Unbecoming: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Unbecoming: A Novel
    Audiobook13 hours

    Unbecoming: A Novel

    Written by Rebecca Scherm

    Narrated by Catherine Taber

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    EDGAR AWARD NOMINEE FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL

    On the grubby outskirts of Paris, Grace restores bric-a-brac, mends teapots, re-sets gems. She calls herself Julie, says she's from California, and slips back to a rented room at night. Regularly, furtively, she checks the hometown paper on the Internet. Home is Garland, Tennessee, and there, two young men have just been paroled. One, she married; the other, she's in love with. Both were jailed for a crime that Grace herself planned in exacting detail. The heist went bad-but not before she was on a plane to Prague with a stolen canvas rolled in her bag. And so, in Paris, begins a cat-and-mouse waiting game as Grace's web of deception and lies unravels--and she becomes another young woman entirely.

    Unbecoming is an intricately plotted and psychologically nuanced heist novel that turns on suspense and slippery identity. With echoes of Alfred Hitchcock and Patricia Highsmith, Rebecca Scherm's mesmerizing debut is sure to entrance fans of Gillian Flynn, Marisha Pessl, and Donna Tartt.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJan 22, 2015
    ISBN9780698188891
    Unavailable
    Unbecoming: A Novel
    Author

    Rebecca Scherm

    REBECCA SCHERM holds an MFA from the Helen Zell Writers Program at the University of Michigan, where she currently teaches. Her work has appeared in Subtropics, The Hairpin, Hobart, and Fiction Writers Review.

    Related to Unbecoming

    Related audiobooks

    Psychological Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Book Club

      Aug 16, 2023

      Book Club
      5 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      Aug 16, 2023

      Book Club
      5 min read

    • Article

      Politics, Princesses, And High-flying Drama

      Jul 21, 2023

      It can be difficult to classify a book which has a cow's rear end on the back cover and, on the front cover, a ruminating cow's front end with a road sign pointing to the mustlive-in towns of Darling and Shaka's Rock. Is the book speculation, literat

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Best Recent Crime And Thriller Writing – Review Roundup

      Oct 30, 2022

      The past casts its tendrils over the present for Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec, a man who had “chosen to spend his adult life tracking killers, looking into the minds of madmen”, when a young man he saved from a life of abuse

      3 min read

    • Article

      Kiwi Whodunnit

      Dec 11, 2022

      A creepy old hotel, a young woman coming home to reckon with her past, two missing girls who look spookily alike. That is the basis for Waikato author Nikki Crutchley’s latest crime mystery. She takes us to the fictional New Zealand town of Everly, w

      2 min read

    • Article

      Slanted & enchanted

      May 30, 2021

      MIRRORLAND, by Carole Johnstone (HarperCollins, $32.99), is the imaginary place identical twins Cat and El have created in the basement of the strange house near Edinburgh they share with their neurotic mother and frightening grandfather. They have m

      3 min read

    • Article

      FOR YOUNG & OLD

      Aug 11, 2023

      By MAUD VENTURA HUTCHINSON HEINEMANN Like unreliable narrators? Well, this one’s a doozy. Our deeply dippy protagonist is a French teacher obsessed with her high-flying husband, who is never named. Her children, her job and even her lovers are all p

      3 min read

    • Article

      Little Girl Lost

      Mar 21, 2021

      Little Girl Lost
      2 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Apr 16, 2021

      Books
      4 min read

    • Article

      Deon Meyer On His New Novel

      Dec 23, 2021

      Someone shot warrant-officer Milo April at the Cape Town Waterfront. In cold blood. In broad daylight. And maybe a senior officer of the South African Police Service ordered the execution. And maybe it’s connected to the mysterious letters warrant-of

      1 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Jan 20, 2020

      Theresa’s former husband Theo has been little but a shadow in her life: he’s spent the past two decades in an institution. Now that he’s dead, she finds herself unsure how to mourn for a man she’s tried so hard to put behind her. But going through a

      4 min read

    • Article

      For March, 3 Romances That Fight For Love

      Mar 19, 2019

      True love finds a way amid food trucks, ice skates and ... knife throwing? In other words, March is just another month in Romancelandia, and we've got three stories of people fighting hard for love.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Books That Hook

      Sep 11, 2020

      Books That Hook
      2 min read

    • Article

      Great Read

      Jan 25, 2024

      Great Read
      7 min read

    • Article

      TV& Books Special

      Apr 14, 2022

      TV& Books Special
      1 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      Nov 3, 2021

      When Ed and Rachel arrive at their daughter Gemma’s graduation, they have no idea how their lives are about to change. In front of hundreds of shocked onlookers, Gemma is shot by an unknown assailant. As the police try to work out if it’s a terror at

      1 min read

    • Article

      Florida, Full of Dread

      Jun 14, 2018

      Florida, Full of Dread
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Horror Of An Un-lost Love

      Aug 20, 2018

      ZOMBIES, AN ISLAND LOCALE AND AN elusive spouse—Laura van den Berg’s new novel The Third Hotel contains all of the ingredients for a classic work of horror. But van den Berg is up to so much more than that, so she has no trouble pointing a big neon s

      2 min read

    • Article

      On The Shelf

      Jul 23, 2019

      Like A Love Story by Abdi Nazemian is set in 1989 New York City as three diverse teen friends come of age and come to terms with the AIDS crisis. Reza is a closeted Iranian immigrant fearful of having his sexuality discovered by his traditional famil

      2 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      Jan 29, 2020

      This powerful story explores the dangerous journey taken by people trying to cross illegally from Mexico to the US. A mother and son flee their home after a cartel massacre, becoming migrants on the run. Their journey is as emotional and harrowing as

      1 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      Jul 21, 2021

      Book Club
      5 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      Jan 19, 2022

      by Jenny O’Brien (£8.99, PB, HarperCollins) Fans of DI Gaby Darin will be delighted to return to north Wales for the fifth book in this popular series. When Hannah Thomas returns from a spa trip with her friend to find her fiancé dead and her diabeti

      2 min read

    • Article

      Film Preview

      Aug 1, 2022

      Film Preview
      1 min read

    • Article

      MYSTERY & SUSPENSE

      Feb 17, 2023

      By JOANNA NADIN Mantle It’s 1988 and 17-year-old Jason wants more from life than small-town poverty in Cornwall and an abusive drunk for a father. When a group of posh 20-somethings come to stay for a beach holiday, he gets a glimpse of his dream li

      3 min read

    Reviews for Unbecoming

    3.5/5

    138 ratings18 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      This book has been compared to Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley, but I thought it was so much better. This book is what The Talented Mr. Ripley should have been. In both books, the main character is something of an anti-hero, longing to have a life that's not theirs so desperately that they'll do anything to achieve it. The difference in the two stories is that Rebecca Scherm actually managed to make her character relatable. When reading The Talented Mr. Ripley, I never felt any particular sympathy for Ripley because I couldn't understand his motivations. Although Grace wasn't always (or ever, really) someone I'd like to be friends with, I ached for the absence of both affluence and affection in her childhood. This made her drive to preserve a life where she had those things at any cost far more understandable.

      The pacing of this story is one aspect which did remind me very much of The Talented Mr. Ripley. The tension didn't make me want to rush through the book, desperate to find out what happened next, but there was a nice, slow simmer of curiosity throughout. I do sometimes enjoy more fast-paced books, but the pacing of this book was just right for this story and it was fascinating watching how everything played out. I also have to commend this book for starring a fantastic female anti-hero, which is something I would love to see more of. Despite the fact that I thought this blew The Talented Mr. Ripley out of the water, I would recommend this to fans of that book based on the similarities and also to anyone who likes mysteries with a slow build of tension and/or complex female characters.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey.
    • 3/5
      Fraud and deception are at the crux of Rebecca Scherm’s audacious debut novel, Unbecoming. Grace hails from the tiny, inconsequential town of Garland, Tennessee, though when we first encounter her she’s employed at Zanuso et Filles, an establishment in Paris, where she repairs antiques and jewelry, and where she’s known as Julie from California. The various stages that end with Grace from Tennessee transformed into Julie from California are the subject of numerous and lengthy flashbacks that take us many miles and many years from Grace’s lonely and penurious Tennessee childhood and adolescence, to Grace on the run in Central Europe, brutally robbed of a suitcase full of money, and with nothing to fall back on but guts, daring and an uncanny ability to reinvent herself. Grace’s close childhood cronies are her friend, lover and eventual husband Riley, and Riley’s buddy Allston (or Alls). There are the usual scrapes and mishaps of the childhood and teen years, but the serious trouble starts while they are sharing a house together in Garland and feeling the pinch of independent living. It is Grace who hatches a plan to steal artefacts from the Josephus Wynne Historic Estate, convincing her friends that slack security and an abundance of undocumented hundred-year-old relics sitting on open shelves and desks throughout the building will make the job a breeze. Eventually Grace comes to recognize the plan as folly, and gets out of town before of the robbery—to attend an art history course in Prague—but not before she takes with her the most valuable artefact of all, which she stole ahead of schedule with the help of Alls. In Grace’s absence the boys go through with the plan, it all goes wrong, and they are arrested, convicted and sentenced to several years in prison. Grace’s fear, living as Julie in Paris, is that once released, they will track her down and exact revenge for what she believes they perceive as her double cross. Grace’s story is something of a whirlwind, but one that proceeds in fits and starts. Scherm’s account of Grace’s early life goes into minute detail—her affection for Riley’s family, her lack of emotional connection with her own family, her education, her eventual betrayal of all she holds dear. Grace is certainly interesting and the time we spend with her is warranted. The problem is that most of the other characters are not as interesting, and we spend a lot of time with them as well. It is also a book that occupies that uncomfortable middle ground, the no-man’s land midway between two genres, literary and suspense. Scherm’s novel is neither one nor the other, but incorporates elements of both, which sometimes makes for an uneasy mix. Make no mistake though, Unbecoming is an impressive novel, more so when one considers it is the author’s first. It is an inspired entertainment, if a bit long-winded. But when a writer is this poised and talented, can there be any doubt that with her next book she will find a way to strike that delicate balance?
    • 2/5
      slow, predictable, boring. not my kind of book. thank you
    • 3/5
      I liked how this novel developed. There was one point where I had an aha moment, and realized that many of my assumptions were incorrect.

    • 4/5
      fiction/psychological thriller/suspense. reviewed from UNCORRECTED ADVANCE READER'S COPY.

      This is a quiet suspense novel with complex characters and unraveling secrets (some of them quite dark).
    • 5/5
      This book was really fascinating in that I was totally sucked in from the beginning and don't really know why. Gracie is a girl unloved by her own family who finds one of her own and also steals. One factor in this book's attraction was the reader - Catherine Tabor who was outstanding. I went immediately to find more by Rebecca Scherm only to discover that this was her first and her second isn't published yet. Sigh.
    • 4/5
      Grace is a 23 year old ex-pat living in Paris who is employed restoring delicate antiques of questionable origin. Soon after she left her small town of Garland, Tennessee for Europe, Grace's husband and friend are arrested for an art theft, which the reader soon discovers Grace designed. As the story begins, Grace's husband and his friend are due to be paroled and Grace is terrified that they will find her and reveal her role in the crime. Grace's attempts to overcome her past and become a new person are threatened as her past lies and schemes are slowly revealed.I thought this was an interesting book about a rather antisocial young woman who is willing to lie and manipulate others for her own benefit. Despite her duplicitous personality, I found that I liked Grace and wanted her to get away with her crimes. I particularly enjoyed how art history and antique dealing was described and a theme of the story. Although it wasn't as suspenseful as I would have liked, the author did a good job of developing Grace's character.
    • 4/5
      Who are you, really? Can a person be both good and bad? Can someone love you as you really are? These are the issues at the core of this good novel. As usual, I liked it because the characters are well developed and complex. And, it was a good story that kept me wondering what would happen next and how it would all end up.Grace and Riley have been together since they were 12. They secretly marry at 18, and seem like the perfect couple and part of a happy family. But trouble (inevitably) comes along. Grace falls hard for Riley's best friend, Alls. And they have serious money problems. They begin "joking" about robbing a musuem....As the story opens, Grace is poor and living in Paris. Riley and Alls are in jail. She fears they will come for her...but why? What really happened? As the story evolves, we can see Grace change from a young girl eager to please everyone she meets to a haunted young woman doing what it takes to survive. The process is mesmerizing.
    • 2/5
      This was not really my kind of book to begin with (I got a copy from Penguin's Early Reviewers program), but I did not end up enjoying it much at all. The characters were unsympathetic and at times incomprehensible; the timeline was stretched in the wrong places. I kept reading it waiting for the Gillian Flynn/Patricia Highsmith tone I was promised, and it wasn't there.
    • 4/5
      The best lies were the simplest and made the most sense, in the mind and in the mouth. Those lies were the easiest to swallow. Page 1The life you think you live, the life you want to live, and the life you actually live are sometimes stretched as far apart from one another that they are barely an identifiable beacon to each other. The question is what do we do to fill those larger than life gaps in between our lives? Grace has filled that yawning emptiness with lies that roll off her tongue smoother than water. The person she is and the person she portrays are as different as night and day, to the point where she no longer even recognizes the truth anymore. Try as she might to escape the crime that becomes the unravelling of the image she has tried her whole life to protect, the past will catch up to her - it is just matter of which version of the past will it be. Rebecca Scherm's debut novel of the destructive nature of our need to be something we are not, our desperate longing to be accepted and the poisonous repercussions of lust denied are all wrapped up in the story of Grace's life as she moves from small town America to the complex metropolitan of Paris. What happens between who she was to who she becomes is fascinating and perfectly complimented with the world of arts, antiques, forgery and reproductions. A page-turning mystery about the dance of deception we tell ourselves and ultimately inflict upon the people in our lives, Unbecoming is a thoroughly engaging read for anyone who has felt tempted, caught, trapped, and succumbed to the lies we tell ourselves and those around us. Recommended.
    • 5/5
      A very nicely done first novel about a young group of friends living in a small town in Tennessee. This group has ambitions that exceed those boundaries but the bad thing is that in order to accomplish their goals criminal activities are the easiest way to that end. The central focus is a plot to take art items from a local historical museum to sell. Relationships are frayed as the plot devolves into disaster. Then we follow their interesting relationships and lives during their post plot days. Compelling Reading.
    • 3/5
      Unbecoming is Rebecca Scherm's debut novel.Unbecoming opens in Paris with our protagonist Grace (known as Julie now) living under the radar, afraid that her past will catch up with her. Her past is her husband Riley and his friend Alls. They committed a robbery back in hometown Garland,Tennessee that Grace planned - and got caught. They're about to be paroled.Scherm's prose are detailed. Grace's feeling and thoughts are seemingly explored in depth - but are they really? Grace is a work in progress, much like the antiques she lovingly repairs. She changes who she is and how she acts according to her current situation, what she wants or needs. As such, she is a distinctly unreliable narrator.Schrerm tells her story in past and present narratives from Grace. In the past, we slowly learn about Grace's life up until the moment the time of the robbery. In the present we wait with Grace to see if her past catches up with her.In addition to being an unreliable narrator, I found Grace to be distinctly unlikable. Is that because I know what has happened and what's underneath the veneer? Perhaps. Her life with Riley and the love they have seems like it should be enough, but again - is it real on Grace's part?Scherm is also quite detailed about the work Grace does repairing antiques and collectibles. I quite liked the descriptions and specifics as I love to haunt antique shops and flea markets. Grace has a keen eye for valuable things versus forgeries in objects, but does that include hereself?The 'heist' part of the plot was not as prominent as the publisher's blurb would lead you to believe, but for me, it wasn't the main focus of the book - instead it's more of a character study. I was intrigued by Grace (Julie)."Grace hated lying, got no joy from it, and this was how she knew she wasn't pathological.""Grace could only have one friend at a time. Any more and it became harder to keep track of how they knew her, what she had told the, which pieces went where."I thought the title was very clever. Unbecoming can be taken a number of ways - both as unflattering but also as a change of persona- becoming someone else. Viking has put together a great book club kit with some great 'behind the scenes' articles from Scherm that will give you more insight into this book.
    • 2/5
      This is a novel that I tried very hard to like, but in the end I just couldn't. Unbecoming comes wrapped up in all sorts of "hints" and "echoes": Hitchcock (well, one of his movies is mentioned a couple of times), Highsmith (I do see the connection between Tom Ripley and Grace), and Gillian Flynn, who's currently flavor of the month. Perhaps I should've heeded my inner alarm when I saw Flynn's name because I couldn't get past the first twenty-five pages of Gone Girl. I didn't pay attention; however, and I had to force myself to finish this book.Unbecoming is also labeled a "heist novel," but it isn't really. The robbery is alluded to many times, but it's never really talked about in any detail until the end of the book. Instead almost the entire novel is a very slow and meticulous look into the metamorphosis of Grace. Grace, who started out as a lonely but very likable child looking to be loved, to be a part of a family. As the years pass, she becomes enmeshed in the life of her chosen family, becoming chameleon-like in an attempt to be accepted. Most of Grace's attempts to belong involve some sort of lying or deception, and although I'm the farthest thing from being an ultra-conservative moralist, I just couldn't empathize with her. Neither could I empathize with Riley, since he came from a family with a bit of money and he coasted through his life without really thinking about anything very much-- especially consequences. The only character I could muster up some empathy for was Alls, the boy with the father everyone in town whispered about, the boy who had no money and had to work for every single thing he had. I could empathize with Alls, but I never grew to like him.The incredibly slow pace of the novel and its characters were killers for me, but there were things I liked about Unbecoming. For me the book came to life whenever Scherm described the work Grace did to restore items in the shop in Paris. Both the items she worked on and Grace herself seemed to glow, and I swiftly began to look forward to these scenes. I also appreciated the very intricate plotting of the book, which was skillful even if I didn't like the story. Grace is also one of the most nuanced characters I've encountered in a long time. It's just a shame that I didn't like her and grew tired of her slow unveiling.All in all, Unbecoming just wasn't my cup of tea, but that certainly doesn't mean that it can't be yours.
    • 4/5
      Everyone who gets the chance to reinvent themselves thinks this time will be different - I will look prettier, be smarter, be more popular and yet we always come back to where we began. Grace, codename Julie, is working as an antique restorer in an underpaid and less than glamorous shop that gives her the one thing she needs - a place to hide. Once in a place far away she was the perfect young girl who dated the most popular boy in school. They were the golden couple and along with Riley's friend, Alls they were inseparable until the robbery. Life was perfect until they all got a little too greedy and the boys went to jail. Now, they are out and Grace's life is about the change again. We want to feel sorry for Grace/Julie and her fate. She doesn't seem like a bad person, just misguided but that is not the whole story. A modern day version of "To Catch a Thief", "Wild" and "The Bourne Identity", this debut by Rebeccca Scherm has great heart and insight into what goes into reinventing yourself and how you can never really escape your past lives. My thanks to the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy.
    • 4/5
      Alfred Hitchcock would have snapped up the rights to this novel if he were still alive. Everything he loved is on the menu: one word title; iconic locales (Paris, New York, Garland,Tennesee); setting (the art world); enigmatic female main character (Grace--even her name has the right flavour) with dysfunctional childhood; conflict (Grace and some male friends plot the theft of a local painting--only she takes off for Paris with the painting) and jeopardy (one of them, her ex-boyfriend, is out of jail and looking for her).But it’s not a bad thing that ol’ misogynistic Hitch isn’t around. Don’t get me wrong: the witty banter and quotidian ephemera between slices of noir drama have not yet been equaled, in my opinion. That perfect prototype, The 39 Steps, set the standard for all that followed. But after all the heart-stopping edits, sexually fraught dialogue and intense close-ups, there isn’t an entry in Hitchcock’s visual lexicon for Grace other than bad. There’s a reason his best films were in black and white.Rebecca Scherm has accomplished that nearly impossible feat: she has successfully realized a female morally ambiguous character minus the abnormal psychology. Neither demon nor angel--too often the only choices for female leads--Grace is actually an ordinary person making not unreasonable decisions as life unfurls its options.Scherm’s research into jewelry produces Antique Road Show style exposition of objets d’art I found fascinating and also helpful in understanding Grace. An unsettling, engrossing read! Will definitely read more of Rebecca Scherm’s work. Highly recommended to all.
    • 4/5
      A PLEASURE AND A CALLING by Phil Hogan is one dark, twisted and creepy exploration of a man's obsession; a psychological suspense thriller, written cleverly, with dark humor, keeping you hooked until the end. William Heming, a real estate agent in the lovely and charming middle-class English village, with keys to every home he has ever sold or rented. All kinds of keys which gives him the entrance to many secret lives. He likes watching, observing, and wants to know everything about the people who live behind closed doors. He takes a few things and he may leave some surprises – whatever his twisted mind feels necessary for his overall plan. He acts as a protector, and as a God-like character, seeking to reward some and punish others. What makes the man behind the keys and chilling behavior? His past? He was forced to leave boarding school with a hint of foul play, a mystery, leading a man to live a chilling double life. Is he a killer? The novel flashes back and forth from present day to his youth, as he becomes the broker of his real estate firm. There is a back history of missing children, attack at boarding school, and now the constant invading of other lives in the town. I listened to the audible book narrated by Michael Page, delivering a chilling performance. A PLEASURE AND A CALLING, a psychological thriller which will intrigue you, and draw you into a world of obsession. (nice cover). As a former Realtor, for years, cannot image doing something like this, as so intrusive; however, Heming, enjoys the wicked thrill, living a double life with engaging twists and turns for a combination of literary, crime, mystery, and psychological thriller. Change your locks! Looking forward to reading more from this intriguing author.
    • 5/5
      Contemporary, Suspense, Some Romantic ElementsGarland, Tennessee and Paris, FranceGrace restores bric-a-brac, resets gems and mends teapots on the outskirts of Paris. The first lie that Grace told Hanna was her name. Grace now calls herself Julie and tells people she is from California. At night she goes back to her rented room. She is really from Garland, Tennessee. It is also where two young men have just been paroled. She is married to one and in love with the other. They both went to prison for a crime that Grace planned in great detail. Now a game of cat-and-mouse begins as all of Grace’s lies start to unravel.This is a book that weaves a tale so intricately twisted that it keeps readers wondering just what is going to happen next and where it will end up. The characters are complex and flawed and make for a story that is riveting. Just as readers think they know where this one is headed it takes another twist and readers are back to wondering just where this is headed and now it will end. It switches back and forth from the past to the present but in such a way that the reader is never lost and it fills in all the little details that makes for a fascinating story. At the end all the threads are neatly tied up to give the reader a very satisfying end. It is also a story that will have them thinking about it long after they have finished the book.Received a review copy
    • 4/5
      Sometimes a book’s marketing campaign can do more harm than good. “The Unbecoming,” by Rebecca Scherm, is a case in point. The marketing blurb suggests this novel “is a breathtaking debut with echoes of Alfred Hitchcock and Patricia Highsmith” and continues by saying that it is “sure to entrance fans of Gillian Flynn, Marisha Pessi, and Donna Tartt.” That’s obscenely extravagant praise! If it were true, it could propel a book toward the bestseller list, but if it were not, readers might lash back after their expectations have been dashed and the book would fail even if it were really good. This book did not remind me of Hitchcock, Highsmith, Flynn, Pessi, or Tartt, but it is still a standout book with a mesmerizing story that deserves to be read. I liked it quiet a lot—in fact, I’m actually enthusiastic about it. It’s a book about identity, lies, lust, and betrayal. It unfolds within the suspenseful story of an art heist. We learn what leads up to the heist and what happened after the heist goes wrong. The heist involves four young people barely out of their teens: one woman, Grace; her long time boyfriend, Riley; and two of his best friends, Alls and Greg. The story is told entirely from Grace’s point of view. It is her story. It is her unbecoming. So, what does unbecoming mean within the context of this novel? Naturally, on one hand, it is a story of how Grace develops from a likeable young teen into an unbecoming young adult. But perhaps more to the point: this novel is the opposite of a coming-of-age tale. It’s a novel that “charts an unbecoming-of-age” saga. And that’s what makes it so utterly fascinating and intellectually satisfying! It tracks the main character’s complex unbecoming with keen attention to subtle shifts in character and identity. How and why this character morphs into different people is wholly realistic. For the first time in my life I felt like I really had insight into the creation and psyche of a first-class deceitful person. The book helped me understand this tiny corner of the human condition.What I liked was the author’s careful plotting and adept skill at psychological nuance. The author devotes lots of time building character and tracing character change, but she also succeeded in adding sufficient suspense and tension to keep the reader entranced. I was, at all times, engaged in the plot, wanting to find out what would happen next. Isn’t that’s the sure sign of a good thriller? What makes this thriller different is more focus on psychological details than thrilling plot elements. I suspect that readers who gravitate toward popular fiction will criticize this book for not spending enough energy on being a thriller. On the other hand, literary readers will delight in the book’s psychological and emotional depth. No matter which type of fiction the reader prefers, all should enjoy the intriguing story and the author’s confident and highly skilled prose.