The Herd by Andrea Bartz left a lot to be desired. The novel follows two sisters, Hana and Katie, as they struggle to figure out what happened to their friend, Elenore. They attempt to do this while keeping their own secrets, and while trying to work together around things that are hard for them.
Let's start with the characters. None of them were likeable. Katie seemed whiny and continually complained about why she could not write a book she had been working on. It became dull. Hana and her best friend, Mikki, seemed all over the place, and they were not interesting. They too continued to continually discuss something that they couldn't talk about. Elenore, before she disappears, was also a little to pretentious, and she had zero reasons for some of it. There is a moment, when the book starts off, and there is graffiti in the "bathroom." The graffiti says "Ugly Cunts" and Elenore hates the words, but it is never explained why she hates it so vehemently. This is just one of the things in the books that seemed unrealistic and unnecessary.
The secrets that everyone is keeping never seem to be that drastic, or really that interesting. In fact, Katie's secret was borderline boring. I wanted something juicy, and I got a rotten peach. Then, when I found out the secret Hana and Mikki were keeping, I felt the same. And then at the end of the book, when everything had been settled and figured out, I was done. I feel like I read this book for no reason, and I am upset that all of the positive reviews led me to waste my money on it.
I honestly hate giving bad reviews, especially when a book sounds so amazing, like this one did. However, I hated that I spent my money on this. I don't recommend this novel. It was not as well-developed as I thought it would be.
Let's start with the characters. None of them were likeable. Katie seemed whiny and continually complained about why she could not write a book she had been working on. It became dull. Hana and her best friend, Mikki, seemed all over the place, and they were not interesting. They too continued to continually discuss something that they couldn't talk about. Elenore, before she disappears, was also a little to pretentious, and she had zero reasons for some of it. There is a moment, when the book starts off, and there is graffiti in the "bathroom." The graffiti says "Ugly Cunts" and Elenore hates the words, but it is never explained why she hates it so vehemently. This is just one of the things in the books that seemed unrealistic and unnecessary.
The secrets that everyone is keeping never seem to be that drastic, or really that interesting. In fact, Katie's secret was borderline boring. I wanted something juicy, and I got a rotten peach. Then, when I found out the secret Hana and Mikki were keeping, I felt the same. And then at the end of the book, when everything had been settled and figured out, I was done. I feel like I read this book for no reason, and I am upset that all of the positive reviews led me to waste my money on it.
I honestly hate giving bad reviews, especially when a book sounds so amazing, like this one did. However, I hated that I spent my money on this. I don't recommend this novel. It was not as well-developed as I thought it would be.
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