Maddie's Books

Okay, Vicious Little Darlings was definitely a weird book. I personally didn't find it as scary or disturbing as some of the other reviewers did (probably because I've read so much worse by other authors), but it certainly still had it's fair share of creepiness (especially for a Young Adult novel). The story revolves around three first-years at an all woman's college- Sarah (the narrator), Agnes, and Maddy. Sarah was just an okay character. At the beginning of the novel, I really liked her spunky personality and opinionated views. But by the end, I was starting to get sick of her fast. The girl is full of contradictions. She doesn't believe in love... but yet, falls deeply madly for a guy after only meeting him once or twice, to the point where she feels lost with every moment that he's gone. This would settle okay with me after a while, if she then didn't LATER let him walk away from her, simply because Maddy told her to, and they got in a minor argument. It also bothers me a bit that Katherine Easer didn't let you know what else happened to Reed after the argument. Basically, Sarah tries to get in contact with him again, but he doesn't answer his door all day, respond to her email, and all of his numbers seem to be disconnected. For a while, I thought this had something to do with Maddy and Agnes, but Easer really never fills in that tidbit. I could understand if he didn't want to talk to Sarah again, but it doesn't seem like he would go to such lengths to do so. Anyway, speaking of Maddy and Agnes, these two characters were much more interesting than Sarah. Maddy's your classic beautiful, innocent girl that everyone can't help but love. And then you have Agnes (my personal favorite of the three), who is quite the opposite: dark, mysterious, and completely in love with Maddy. I really wish the story would have focused a little bit more on Agnes, instead of giving you so much information on Sarah and Maddy.

But, characters aside, I'm not even going to go very far into the plot. You can get a good idea of it from the other reviews and the book description itself. Basically, it's all about these three girls and how things start to get weird after they move into their own house (especially between Maddy and Agnes). Overall, I found the plot to be very strange. But... not in a bad way. Quite honestly, I loved this book until the end. I thought the first 250 pages were great- they were interesting, creepy, and just really pulled you in. After that, I could kind of predict how it was going to turn out (Maddy lies constantly throughout the book- but when she tells Sarah that Agnes did something horrible to her, Sarah mostly believes her and agrees to help Maddy get revenge right away- if Sarah were smarter, she would have at least talked to Agnes first. It would have probably made the ending a lot happier). The ending itself I didn't like, either. The climax was a whole ten pages, and then it was over. I feel as if Easer should have done something to make this not such an immediate ending- whether it would be starting the climax earlier or writing more of a conclusion- this book just needed a little more. I felt it a little unfair to read the whole thing only for such a short climax and short conclusion afterward. The way the end actually turned out was a kind of disappointment to me, as well. Someone obviously dies (that shouldn't be much of a spoiler if you've read the book description), but the character that does, I felt should have lived, instead of giving their life for someone else's. But, that's probably my own personal preference.

I don't really even know what to say in reaction to this book. It's a quick and easy read, that was great as it went along, but left me feeling disappointed at the end. When I finished reading it, I felt as if I had wasted my time. But, looking back on it now, I don't think I really regret reading the whole thing. If the ending had been different, I would have definitely given this novel 4-5 stars (probably only 4, as I reserve 5 stars for those books that really are amazing). I'm not sure if I would recommend it to others or not. I suppose if it sounds interesting and you're okay with a twisted conclusion, then go ahead and read it. But, I would definitely suggest borrowing it from a friend or library, instead of blowing sixteen dollars on it. Also, as a quick side note, you should be aware that Vicious Little Darlings deals with a little more supernatural ideas than it lets onto at the beginning- there are gypsies, Maddy believes she's physic, and at one point Sarah and Maddy believe that they've talked to the dead. I personally have never been one for supernatural books, but this one added just enough in that I could deal with it. But, if that kind of thing seriously bothers you, then be aware of it before you start. Anyway, as much as I hated the ending, I still believe that Katherine Easer is a good writer (I'm picky about writing, but I didn't have much of a problem with her style), so I'll probably pick up anything else she writes out of pure curiosity.