Lit Fest: D'Amato, Hellmann, Keller shine at Grace Place.Farewell to Stephen White's Alan Gregory.The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias.It takes fourth place on the Lit Lunchbox ranking. So while I would definitely recommend Sister and plan to read Garrett’s other books, I wouldn’t call it Edgar-worthy. The other nominated books are more complex and more thought-provoking. Like A Sister is a quick, fun read, primarily a plot-driven who-done-it. How does it compare to the three other nominees? Again, I’m struck by the wide variety in this year’s crop. I also didn’t find the violence particularly believable. Agreed – I was suspicious of the bad guy from the start. Not-so-good: Movie critic Roger Ebert once wrote that if there’s no real reason for a particular character, he’s probably the villain. Plus, nice use of social media to illustrate the past. There are well-drawn characters, plenty of knots to unravel, and a sympathetic protagonist. What’s good: Garrett does an excellent job of using Lena’s investigation to explore her relationships with friends and family, which adds depth to the zippy story. But who did it? And why? She finds out that her sister was more than she thought, and that some people you trust are not trustworthy. In some ways, it’s not a surprise that Desiree was “ found dead in lingerie in Bronx with cocaine and no shoes.” But the easy answer doesn’t seem so easy to Lena, who has a lot of questions. While Lena has done her best to distance herself from Mel, Desiree has lived a hard-partying life in the public eye. Plot summary: Columbia grad student Lena Scott shares a father – wealthy hip-hop magnate Mel Pierce – with her half-sister, Desiree Pierce. Author Kellye Garrett has the life experience to write knowledgably about the entertainment industry and the writing credentials to back it up, with two previous award-winning books (which I fully intend to read!) Like A Sister takes a common trope – rich girl reality TV star comes to a bad end – and gives it a new twist.
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