REVIEW: Truly, Madly, Deadly by Hannah Jayne

REVIEW: Truly, Madly, Deadly by Hannah Jayne

Truly, Madly, Deadly by Hannah Jayne
Sourcebooks Fire, 2013
[Goodreads] [Amazon]

They Said It Was An Accident…

Sawyer Dodd is a star athlete, a straight-A student, and the envy of every other girl who wants to date Kevin Anderson. When Kevin dies in a tragic car crash, Sawyer is stunned. Then she opens her locker to find a note:

You’re welcome.

Someone saw what he did to her. Someone knows that Sawyer and Kevin weren’t the perfect couple they seemed to be. And that someone—a killer—is now shadowing Sawyer’s every move…

Truly, Madly, Deadly was a book I was really excited to read. It sounded like a creepy, intense thriller that would leave me on the edge of my seat, and the added bonus of a mystery stalker just further fueled my excitement. And while this book certainly had the atmosphere down pat, the book still left a bit to be desired, although I can say I did enjoy it overall.

First of all, this book strongly reminded me of two others that I’d read previously: Breaking Beautiful by Jennifer Shaw Wolf and Phantom by Laura DeLuca. Sawyer reminded me of the leading ladies in both books, which I think was part of the problem with this book for me personally. Elements from both books were used throughout – Sawyer is a singer, like Rebecca from Phantom, people are dropping dead mysteriously all around her just like in Phantom, and – most notably – her dead boyfriend, Kevin, was abusive, just like the dead boyfriend in Breaking Beautiful. There is also a massive similarity with one of them in terms of the climax of Truly, Madly, Deadly, which I’ll say no more about because I don’t want to spoil anyone. However, I want to be clear that I’m not trying to say that anything was copied – these are plot tropes that are used in many books throughout time – it’s just that those books were ones that stuck with me (both were 4-star reads), so I couldn’t help but notice how things about them overlapped. Most likely, if you’ve not read either of the books mentioned, you wouldn’t have that problem. But I did, so wanted to just be up-front about my reasonings, which definitely factored into my overall rating. Obviously, your mileage may vary.

One thing I want to give major props on, though, is the overall style of writing in this book. It was tense, eerie, and kept me glued to my Kindle and eagerly turning the pages. While I was fairly certain at about the halfway mark who the stalker was, there were plenty of times when I started thinking that perhaps I’d gotten in wrong. You could really feel Sawyer’s confusion, her fear, and the way she couldn’t figure out what was going on. While I didn’t love her seemingly instantaneous connection to Cooper, I did find their banter and the gentle way he handled her quite nice to read. It added a nice break from the action and chaos surrounding her; while I enjoy trying to solve mysteries and looking for clues, sometimes it’s equally as fun to not have that mystery overwhelm you, too.

All in all, I definitely enjoyed Truly, Madly, Deadly. For those who like mysteries and whodunnits, this one is definitely a good one. While I did feel that some things could have been handled better – including the reasoning behind the ultimate “villain” – this was still a really fun and enjoyable way to spend a few hours. If you’re looking for a fast, quick, and eerie read with a wonderfully creepy vibe, definitely check this one out!