Review: Fool Me Twice by Carrie Aarons

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I struggled with this book. I had a hard time connecting and responding to the characters. This is a book about love, friendship, forgiveness, and loss. Before starting her freshman year of college, Henley’s best friend dies of cancer. But before she passes, she gives Henley a bucket list to complete.

1.     Dye her hair

2.     Have sex

3.     Camp out in a tent

4.     Go bungee jumping

5.     Get revenge on Lincoln Kolb

Back in high school, Lincoln broke up with her best friend (Catherine) after finding out she had cancer. Henley has never forgotten how devastated Catherine was and is dead-set on getting revenge on Lincoln.  But something happens that she never would have seen coming. She begins to develop feelings for him.

Like mentioned previously, I struggled with this book. It had a cohesive story, and the writing was fine, but I necessarily didn’t connect to it. This could all be a case of “right book, wrong time”, to be honest. I’ve read some other reviews, and it looks like most people enjoyed it.

The characters were fine. I enjoyed Henley’s POV more than Lincoln’s. At times, Lincoln came off a little immature and too insensitive for my liking.

And a part of me wishes, that the connection between Henley and Catherine would have been explored. Their connection as more about telling rather than showing. The whole book is centered around Henley trying to get revenge on the guy who broke her best friend’s heart. So, it has to be believable that Henley and Catherine had such a deep relationship. But unfortunately, I felt that was lacking.

Final Analysis

Fool Me Twice works from a narrative standpoint; however, it still feels like it is missing something and doesn’t fully realize the character’s relationships.