Review & Excerpt : Lovesick by Spencer Seidel

Lovesick by Spencer Seidel

 A teenage boy is found on Portland Maine’s Eastern Promenade Trail holding the dead body of his best friend and the murder weapon. Forensic psychologist Lisa Boyers is called in to interview the disturbed young man, and her jailhouse interviews reveal more about her troubled, violent past than she bargained for.

Excerpt:

He spent the better part of the trip apologizing to her mother after slapping her so hard at the stove that evening after dinner that she needed stitches for her upper lip, which had split wide open and wouldn’t stop bleeding. It wasn’t her father’s pathetic groveling apologies that bothered Lisa so much. It was the fact that he was doing it so that her mother wouldn’t tell anyone what really happened. He wasn’t sorry at all for hitting her. She’d deserved it. And her mother never had told anyone.
Lisa wouldn’t understand the awful significance of those memories for years, how they’d shape her and guide her right into the arms of boys like Jeff Keegan. She’d made the mistake of losing her virginity to him, not intentionally as it turned out, in a closet at a party.

Review:

Lovesick was an interesting read. Although I found some aspects of the book to be slightly predictable, there was still a bit of mystery and I enjoyed it.

There are basically two main characters in this book. There is Paul, the murder suspect, and Lisa, the psychologist assigned to him. It bounces back and forth between the two every couple of chapters, so there are two separate story lines as well, although they do have a lot in common. I definitely enjoyed Paul’s story more than Lisa’s, and found some of Lisa’s parts a little boring. This may be in large part due to my YA bias.

I think the book does a good job of touching on the mindset of victims of abusive relationships. I found myself having the same thoughts about the characters as I have in real life about people involved in these situations, so it was very believable.

I wish it had ended differently, more of happy ending, but I don’t think there could have ever been a happy ending in store for Paul. It was a tragedy from the very first page, but that didn’t stop me from hoping.

Overall, Lovesick is a fast paced and enjoyable read. There is just enough mystery to keep you flipping through the pages, and characters that are believably flawed. A good read!

3.5 out of 5 Stars

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Visit the next stop on the Lovesick blog tour: http://www.ourlifeupstate.com/