Allow me to repeat that - this book is so flawlessly executed that I cannot love it, because it drives home the tragedy of the death of the titular character. And nothing will change that, which is the tragedy of the book, and makes the execution of the book so flawless. I cannot give the book five stars because I did not love it, because in the end - from the outset - the character that was the most beautiful, most captivating, most perfect in her imperfection is dead. McCreight repeatedly uses the phrase from multiple perspectives that the world is a little darker for Amelia's death, and her writing backs that up demonstratively. The author did a fantastic job here, and it's ultimately why I can't give the book five stars. Amelia is so perfectly written, so captivating a character, that her death is more tragic for unraveling who she was. Why, then, am I only giving it four stars? Perhaps the most beautiful and most damning aspect of this novel is Amelia herself, who is perhaps more the protagonist than her mother who is trying to reconstruct the events surrounding Amelia's death. Most characters - the ones deepest to the narrative - are well fleshed out, and motives and methods are believable.

The book is well written and uncommon in its approach and execution, and perhaps perfectly executed for the unusual blend of storytelling methods. Told through blog posts, texts, Facebook updates, and Kate and Amelia’s own stories, Reconstructing Amelia is terrific thriller with twists and turns and a wonderful can’t-put-it-down addictiveness that’s just right for summer reading.A unique and unusual mystery told through a combination of 'normal' third person POV as well as the various modern means of communication (text message, Facebook status) to unravel what really did happen to the titular character, Amelia.

Most disturbing for Kate is her growing certainty, after putting the clues together, that a secret from her own past, one she kept hidden from Amelia, was the trigger for Amelia’s tragic death. References to a secret all girls club, The Magpies, a group known for their cruel hazing and bullying, seem to hold the key to the secret of Amelia’s last days. Yet it also confirmed what Kate believed in her heart: her beautiful fifteen-year old, a gifted writer and bright spirit, would never have committed suicide.ĭetermined to get at the truth, Kate starts sifting through the detritus of her daughter’s social life – old texts, emails, Facebook updates, and a chilling, anonymous blog that dishes hateful gossip about the students and teachers at Amelia’s school, Grace Hall.

Still deeply grieving the suicide of her daughter Amelia who jumped off her school’s roof, the incoming text seemed like a sick joke.

Reconstruction amelia