Genuine Fraud

by E. Lockhart

Hardcover, 2017

Status

Available

Call number

813.6

Genres

Young Adult

All Topics

Fiction

Collection

Franklin Blvd.

Publication

Delacorte Press (2017), 288 pages

Description

Suspense. Thriller. Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML:"A brilliant, twisty thriller�I loved it!" �KAREN M. MCMANUS, bestselling author of One of Us is Lying From the author of We Were Liars, which John Green called "utterly unforgettable," comes a mind-bending, New York Times bestselling thriller told in reverse. "Compulsively readable." �Entertainment Weekly "An addictive and shocking feminist thriller." �Lena Dunham Imogen lives at the Playa Grande Resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. She spends her days working out in the hotel gym and telling other guests how she was forced out of Stanford. But Imogen isn't really Imogen. She's Jule. And she's on the run from something. Or someone. Which means . . . where is the real Imogen? Rewind: Jule and Imogen are the closest of friends. Obsessed with each other, even. Imogen is an orphan, an heiress; she and Jule spend a summer together in a house on Martha's Vineyard, sharing secrets they'd never reveal to another soul. But that was months ago. Where is Immie now? And why is Jule using her name? "You will devour it." �Gayle Forman, bestselling author of If I Stay"Fans of E. Lockhart's We Were Liars will love this . . . and definitely won't see the ending coming." �HelloGiggles.com "Tangled secrets, diabolical lies and, ultimately, a mind-blowing outcome are crafted with the plotted precision we expect (and love!) from E. Lockhart." �Justine Magazine "Moves at a breakneck speed." �Marie Claire "As with E. Lockhart's previous novel, the best-selling "We Were Liars," [readers] will likely finish the last page and flip right back to the beginning to search for clues they missed." �Chicago Tribune.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member foggidawn

When we first meet international woman of mystery Jule West Williams, she's on the run, though we don't know why. Nor do we know how she got involved with Imogen, or Paolo. We don't know about London, or Puerto Rico, or Martha's Vineyard. As the story spools backward, both revealing and concealing

recent events in Jule's life, it always seems as if she's just a step ahead of us. Will we ever find out who she really is?

This fast-paced and well-crafted thriller is perfect for fans of Bond, Bourne, and Catch Me If You Can . Some things I saw coming, while others were a complete surprise. I'm not sure I completely buy the ending, but my quibbles are not serious enough to discourage you from reading it. If you liked We Were Liars, I think it's safe to say that you'll like this one, too.

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LibraryThing member busylizzie2

This psychological thriller is likely to appeal most to its Young Adult audience, or rather to readers unfamiliar with the work of Patricia Highsmith.
Otherwise, although well-written and fast-moving, it borrows so much from a certain Highsmith novel that it is somewhat lacking in suspense. The

device of telling the story in reverse does allow some element of mystery over the main character’s back story, and works well on the whole, though it loses a bit of momentum towards the end when some chapters cover shorter periods of time. There was also an amusing twist in the interpretation of events adopted by law enforcement.
Overall though, like its anti-heroine, the book lacked a really convincing identity of its own.

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LibraryThing member ShellyPYA

Told through flashbacks, best friends Jule and Imogen are orphaned outcasts who will do almost anything to attain a happy, wealthy life.

LibraryThing member Twink

E. Lockhart had a New York Times bestseller with her 2014 YA novel, We Were Liars. Her latest book is Genuine Fraud.

Lockhart starts her book with the ending. Jule is alone in a Baja resort, enjoying life - doing whatever she want when she wants. Then a woman appears, asking Jule about herself. Jule

gives her name is Imogen. But the appearance of this woman triggers fight or flight response in Jule. Why? Is she in hiding or on the run? Who is she - Jule or Imogen?

And it is that last question that drives the book.

"If only she could go back in time, Jule felt, she would be a better person. Or a different person. She would be more herself. Or maybe less herself. She didn't know which, because she didn't any longer know what shape her own self was, or whether there was really no Jule at all, bu only a series of selves she presented for different contexts. Were all people like that, with no true self? Or was it only Jule?"

Lockhart's timeline as I mentioned, starts with the ending and weaves it way back to the beginning. I was curious to find out about Imogen. Who is she and why is Jule pretending to be her? Who is Jule really? Initially I was quite intrigued, but as the book progressed, I found myself growing somewhat bored with Jule's repetitive deceptions. What is truth and what is fiction are inextricably intertwined. I also found myself predicting what the beginning (end) would reveal. Turns out I was right - and slightly disappointed. I think I was perhaps expecting a twist such as the one in We Were Liars.

I found the timeline used a bit confusing. But it did mirror Jule's mind. Lockhart's descriptions of that mind's inner workings were quite chilling....

"Her mind was cinematic. She looked superb in the light from the streetlamps. After the fight, her cheeks were flushed. Bruises were forming underneath her clothes, but her hair looked excellent. And oh, her clothes were so very flattering. Yes, it was true that she was criminally violent. Brutal, even. But that was her job and she was uniquely qualified for it, so it was sexy."

Genuine Fraud echoes some actual cases and some other mystery works of fiction - The Talented Mr. Ripley comes to mind. But at the end Genuine Fraud was just an okay read for me.

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LibraryThing member dcoward

I really enjoyed this book, which had strong and unconventional anti-heroines. The book actually reminded me a bit of Gone Girl.

LibraryThing member ethel55

Although the book begins with a young woman being discovered at a resort in Cabo San Lucas, it quickly changes structure and the subsequent chapters begin to tell the story in reverse. Jule, Imogen and other characters could be right out of any of Lockhart's books--many are rich types like the sort

in We Were Liars. What makes this so readable, is how clues are dropped in each section--fore (or back) shadowing what is to come. You really have to read it yourself to fully appreciate the timeline, but it's an engaging read, both horrifying and mesmerizing at once.

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LibraryThing member Lindsay_W

Best to set aside a weekend to Genuine Fraud this so you can read right through and keep track of the timeline and the characters. I liked the book, but I get the criticism that Lockhart borrows too much from The Talented Mr. Ripley. I doubt that many of this book’s YA audience will have read

Highsmith’s book or were even born when Matt Damon swung an oar on a boat off the coast of Italy, so it won’t be a deal breaker for them.

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LibraryThing member ecataldi

For a teen read this book had lots of twists and turns and murder. I dug it. The story is kind of like the movie, Memento, it humps around in time, but mostly it moves backward, towards the truth. Jule is a chameleon, she can be whoever you need her to be and she's strong and smart. Imogen is a

spoiled heiress who never questions anything. Together they have an unusual friendship, one that makes more and more sense as the story progresses. It's a story of deception, entitlement, smarts, money, lies, and eventually... the truth. The audiobook was a solid listen. A good follow up novel from the teen author of the smash bestseller, We Were Liars.

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LibraryThing member olegalCA

** I was given an advanced reading copy of this book by a friend - I assume the friend was encouraged to review it honestly in exchange for said book. **

Loved it! It is told backwards a la Megan Miranda's "All the Missing Girls" and it really works.

LibraryThing member enemyanniemae

A teen book in the image of The Talented Mr. Ripley. Well done, but already done (although I did like Lockhart's villain/hero way more than Highsmith's sociopathic character).

LibraryThing member seasonsoflove

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

This is the tale of Imogen. And Jule. Who may be who they say they are. Or maybe not. Who you may be able to trust. Or maybe not.

Once this book gets

going, it is a good read. There are a lot of twists and turns that caught me unawares, which is always enjoyable for me.

Unfortunately, this book takes quite a while to get going. I found it slow moving and very confusing in the beginning, and the confusion did not abate as much as I would have liked as the story progressed. The idea of a story being told backwards is a very clever one, but the way Lockhart handles it makes for a lot of flipping back and forth trying to figure out what is going on.

I had such high hopes for this book, because I loved We Were Liars. That's the reason I kept reading, but this was not the followup from Lockhart I was so hoping for. The last half of the book bumps the rating up to 3 stars for me, but I wouldn't blame people who didn't keep reading past the first half.

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LibraryThing member lindamamak

Not as good as We were Liars, not a good mytery

LibraryThing member cathishaw

This book will keep you guessing right to the end. The protagonist is not a lovable character. And what you might think is happening, may not be. Or it might. It’s hard to tell.

This was a mystery, suspense that had so many twists and turns it was impossible to guess what would happen next. And it

all revolved around Imogen and Jules. When the truth is exposed, it will blow your mind.

A very different book. Definitely worth the read!

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LibraryThing member courtneygiraldo

So I think I was like the only person in the world who didn't loooooove E. Lockhart's (pen name for American author Emily Jenkins) previous novel, We Were Liars. I wanted to, I really did, but it just wasn't wow for me. I wanted to give her another chance (and was admittedly drawn in by the

gorgeous cover) so I picked up Genuine Fraud in the hopes that I would be converted, after all the hype surrounding her books.

So was I?

Yes..ish

Ok so hear me out, this book had a lot of unique characteristics that once I got used to, I really enjoyed. The story of Jule is told...backwards.

Weird right?

So the book opens with Chapter 19; Jule is in a posh resort in Mexico and is obviously hiding out (from what/who? we don't know) and has been "made" by a detective. She flees the resort, hiding out in the slums of Mexico, trying to figure out her next move. Each chapter takes us back a few weeks, each chapter ending up where the previous one has begun. Are you following me? So the mystery of the novel is figuring out the "where it all went wrong" because it's very obvious, something is terribly wrong. Jule is a chameleon, you're never really sure what you're getting with her, or where her story will end up taking you. Jules backstory definitely took a much different turn than I was anticipating. If a Singe White Female storyline is your jam- I think you would find this entertaining. I will say it would not have been nearly as entertaining if read backwards to forwards- the whole point of the mystery would have been lost.

Overall I would recommend this one, it was a very unique reading/storytelling experience. The mystery was intriguing, kept me riveted and eager for more. There is no neat, wrapped nicely with a bow ending, (So if you are the kind of reader who needs everything finished up and over by the end, this one isn't for you) but was satisfying and fitting.

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LibraryThing member heike6

I can't believe it doesn't come out until September and I've already read the ARC! Hopefully before publishing, they'll make it a little bit easier to follow in the first few chapters; I kept having to flip back and forth to figure out where I was in the story. Other than that, I really liked how

it went backwards and filled in details along the way. And just like the last book, I didn't see the end coming.

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LibraryThing member startwithgivens

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I think it is my favorite E. Lockhart book to date. I loved the way the story was told, almost in reverse, and coming full circle at the end. I was surprised by the ending, but not too much. I knew which pieces were going to connect, but I wasn't sure exactly how

that was going to go. I found the book incredibly difficult to put down, well-written, and exciting. It was also a fairly quick read, so that was also great.

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LibraryThing member BillieBook

It's well-written but I liked it better when it was called The Talented Mr. Ripley.

EDITED: Okay. I just knocked a star off because I've now had time to think about the plot and it is so wildly implausible. By her own admission, Jule does not look that much like Imogene and, yet, she's been able to

masquerade as her for how long? In this day and age, with airport security being what it is? She murders multiple people and gets away with it? No one investigates Brooke's death, even though the wounds from being whacked in the head with a lion statue and those from falling and hitting one's head on some rocks wouldn't be the same. And Jule manages to get the drop on a highly-trained cop and get her gun away from her? Nope. Nope. Nope-ity nope nope nope.I am all for suspension of disbelief, but I want an author to make some effort to make even the most convoluted and implausible plot seem, well, plausible. The events of this book might have been possible 15 years ago, but not now—at least not in the way they're written. But, credit to e. lockhart for telling this impossible tale in a way that swept me along in spite of the occasional headshaking huh? wha? and my absolute dislike of EVERY. SINGLE. CHARACTER.

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LibraryThing member thelibraryladies

I mentioned a book on this blog this summer called “The Talented Mr. Ripley”. It’s a deeply unsettling thriller about a man named Tom Ripley who befriends a wealthy playboy, only to kill him and take on his identity. It’s super messed up and a very fun read, and I think that many of the

more recent psychopaths as protagonists characters owe a lot to Patricia Highsmith, who created the character. So when I started to read “Genuine Fraud” by E. Lockhart, it didn’t take long for me to pick up on the fact that this book is a genderbent version of that story. Throw in a little bit of timeline tweaking that starts at the end for good measure, and you have the newest novel from the author of “We Were Liars”, with more coastal scenes and protagonists that you aren’t sure that you can really trust.

I do like it when YA authors experiment with structure and plotting, so to see that it started at the end was a great way to start this book. We start with Jule, who has taken on the identity of her best friend Imogen, a flighty heiress who was as aimless as she was charming. We don’t know what happened to Imogen, only that she is dead, and Jule is pretending to be her. Just as it seems she’s about to be arrested for some sort of crime (fraud? something worse?), we go backwards in time. And then we go further backwards. As we go back more and more, the pieces start to come into place, not only about who Jule is, who Imogen was, how they found each other, and how everything went wrong… plus the collateral damage along the way. We kind of get a sense for Jule and who she is, but she is definitely the definition of unreliable. Things that are said about her may not be the truth, and certainly things she tells other people probably aren’t. The backwards structure was a really neat way to get some of the facts, foreshadowing to events that happened before the moment that you are reading about. You forge thoughts and attitudes towards characters, but then as you shift backwards through the story your attitude changes and you see them in completely new ways. The more I see this device, the more I come to appreciate it, to be sure. It also made it so that I had a hard time putting this book down, needing to take any down time to keep going to find out what happened. It was such a fast and engrossing read that I consumed most of it in one sitting, and then stayed up probably far too late, battling sleep, just to see how it all turned out. There is no denying that the pacing and the little smattering of clues throughout the pages made this a very fun read.

But the problem that I had with it is that it is most certainly borrowing a lot from “The Talented Mr. Ripley”. I’m sure that it’s meant to be an homage to this classic story of obsessive friendship, identity theft, and murder, but there were a number of parallels that felt more like lifting plot points instead of honoring them. The close friend who has always been suspicious of the interloper. The lover who is being played like a harp. The parent who reaches out because their child has ditched responsibility in favor of carelessness. An incident in a boat with an OAR (my God, this basically played out the same way in “Ripley” as it did here). The list goes on. For the target audience, that isn’t going to really make much of a difference. For them Imogen won’t be Dickie Greenleaf and Jule won’t be Tom Ripley, but in my mind I couldn’t separate the characters in this book from the ones that they appear to be modeled after. I think that perhaps if it had been made a bit more clear that this was, in fact, a genderbent retelling with a different structure I would have been more thrilled by it, but instead it was frustrating because I would always be thinking ‘well that was just what Highsmith did’.

All that said, it’s undeniable that “Genuine Fraud” was an entertaining read. Definitely the kind of book that will keep you guessing and keep you completely obsessed with it. I would be curious to see if Lockhart will be following it up with other stories about Jule. After all, since this is an homage to Tom Ripley, it’s important to note that he had a whole series dedicated to him and his exploits. I’d probably read more about Jule, just as I’ve always meant to with regards to Tom Ripley.

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LibraryThing member MeganAngela

When it comes to reading, if you mix YA with the thriller genre, I am so there! So it was no surprise that I was drawn to a book with Single White Female vibes about a weird, obsessive friendship between two young women. Especially when it is written by the author of one of the most hyped YA

thrillers of the last few years. But as much as I wanted to love this book, I just wasn't all that "thrilled" by it (say thriller again!).

The premise and the writing are both solid and I love the Memento-like way the book is written. The characters, while unlikable, are compelling and realistic. All huge checks in the positives column. I feel like this is the perfect easy read to sit down with and read on the beach or by a snowy window (which is where I've been reading it) and can easily be tackled in a weekend.

The issues I have arise during the concluding third of the novel. The biggest problem with writing a book in flashback is that you already know the twists and major plot points for the most part, so all of the lead up material that you'd typically read at the beginning of the novel is now at the end and it has to be impeccable. Otherwise, you end up feeling confused and let down by the initial catalyst and character motivations.

With every chapter that I counted down, I expected to come across some great revelation that explained exactly why things had happened as they did, but that revelation never really came. Or, at least, it didn't come in a way that gave me a real "a-ha" moment. And since I don't think this novel would have worked as well if it had been told in your typical chronological order, I can only say that, for me, Genuine Fraud felt sort of like, well, a fraud. Or, as the old phrase goes, WHERE'S THE BEEF?

It really isn't a bad book, but as a seasoned reader of thrillers, Genuine Fraud was really just a Genuine Meh. 3 out of 5 stars.

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LibraryThing member Jessika.C

This book started off really interesting. It doesn’t take long to figure out that the story is being told in a backwards chronological order and it should not have worked for me. I don’t like flashbacks in written form because I get lost easily. Give me a flashback moment on a TV show or movie

and I’ll devour it but when it comes to books I like the narrative to be more linear than looping back. But this did work.

For a while.

Once I began to really delve back to where Jule became friends with Imogene I started having more questions and doubts about her story. I realized how horrible of a person Jule was and I understood that it was her way of survival but she wasn’t even smart about it? Most of it was pure dumb luck. I don’t know how she got away with half of what she did with no one questioning her about them yet she runs away in a blaze of glory. I’m purposefully being vague in case someone wants to read this awful story but it ended up not working for me.

The setting ended up sucking, the plot was a simple mystery told backwards that could have been easily solved within minutes, there wasn’t a single interesting character, a nonexistent romance, and a vengeful couple of people that literally made a peep and then never heard from again.

I was not a fan.

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LibraryThing member ilonita50

AAAAA, WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT!

The book is set very clever by the way a reader learns goes through the plot, every chapter brings it one step prior to what I have read just now. Still I would suggest for you not to cheat while reading.

Genuine Fraud is about a broken personality who has no real

sense of what she is doing, she has, however, a wish to be belong and be loved, needed and every time facing denial she goes off and tries to prove them wrong in the most brutal way, so they have no chance to change. I could say this is not entirely A youth read as some may get wrong ideas in one's mind. This is twisted mystery, where one drama escalates to another one and nothing is solved. The book hold so many unanswered topics that it kills to read any further.

I picked up the book because of the high popularity and cover intrigues me.
I read through the book until I reached a point I don't care what it is about, I had prior read a review which said it was so interesting and after the last page the reader went straight to the very first page to reread again, and that was the only thing that kept me reading further. But, my own thoughts did not reach this stage at all - kind of wasted reading time.

The main character Jules has witnessed her parents death and being taken by the same person, her mental stage and whatsoever is under question in my opinion, she is jealous to mostly everyone and doesn't approve her best friend having relationships with all the guys. She creates double stories and hides her truth self at all times, to everyone and about everything her stories, as a compulsive lair don't match. For those who start to question her, they must go..

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LibraryThing member DKnight0918

Such a page turner. I read the majority of it in one sitting. At first I was not sure about the way the story was told backwards but as I kept reading it grew on me. I really enjoyed this book.

LibraryThing member titania86

Jule West-Williams is running from something. She affects a British accent, wears wigs, steals passports, and pays for everything with cash. Jule seems pretty comfortable staying at a Mexican resort until a woman strikes up a conversation. Suddenly, that woman (who turns out to be a cop) is

following her even when she thought she was stealthy. What is she running from and who is chasing her?

Genuine Fraud is one of the most unique teen thrillers that I've read. So many fall into the same tropes (a teen having an affair with a teacher, a love triangle, a new friend to be jealous of, etc etc.) that they blend together in my mind. This one doesn't fall into any of those tropes and stands apart from those thrillers. The book is told backwards. It took a bit to get used to and figure out what was happening in what order. I spent way too long looking at the dates trying to figure out the pattern, which is that each chapter backs up one month. Once I got it, the story flowed more freely for me.

Jule is a bit of an enigma for most of the book. She imagines herself as a bad ass secret agent, but we don't know her situation until the end. Her view is completely clouded by her fantasies, making her narrative completely unreliable. My view of her changed as the novel traveled backwards in time. At the beginning of the novel, Jule seems to be some sort of heiress with unlimited funds for resorts, luxuries, disguises, and payoffs. Then the police are following her and my mind races with possibilities. Her true origin is much less glamorous. I love how the story reveals the mystery, introduces characters, and uncovers twists and turns bit by bit.

Genuine Fraud is a surprising book that seems more adult than its YA marketing. The cover makes it seem like some sort of fluffy contemporary romance. Everyone involved is college age and I think it might have been better received as an adult thriller. There's a missing heiress, her jealous boyfriend, and Jule somehow fitting into it all. As thrillers go, this one surprised me and kept me guessing all the way to the end. It's a short book that only took me a day to read and it's definitely worth your time.

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LibraryThing member AmalieTurner

I probably didn't do myself any favors by reading this book when I did. I have been reading a lot of adult fiction thrillers and by comparison, this book just can't measure up. I gave it a low rating for several reasons. One, because I haven't read YA in a while and this felt very much like a teen

book. I love YA but I don't always want a novel that feels like it was written for a teen reader. Two, the reverse chronology was weird at first. I was confused at several points in the story as who characters were and where in the timeline I was. After a while it evens out and is easier to understand to to start it was very odd. I really wasn't into this book at all until about halfway through when it kind of started to pick up and get a darker feeling to the narrative. It just felt disjointed and confused and like the novel was having an identity crisis. Three, I didn't enjoy any of the characters and did not feel connected to any of them. I honestly didn't really care what happened to any of them. If it didn't read so quickly I doubt I would have finished this book at all. I LOVED We Were Liars and I knew almost nothing about this book except that it was written by E. Lockhart. I was very sad to feel so disappointed in this book. I wanted a great new YA book to suggest to friends but this is not it for me.

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LibraryThing member Jonez

I just couldn’t get past page 70. Glad I got this one from the Library. Maybe I will revisit this one later.

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