Roberta Writes – Halloween Book Festival: Everett by Jenifer Ruff

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Everett is the first book in the Brooke Walton series. Brooke Walton brings a completely new meaning to the concept of a serial killer.

What Amazon says

From Amazon bestselling author Jenifer Ruff—a dark suspense thriller featuring a fascinating, twisted protagonist. The Brooke Walton series will make you wonder just how well you know your friends, neighbors, and classmates. Fans of James Patterson, Karin Slaughter, Hannibal Lecter, the Dexter series, and Gone Girl will be hooked.
At Everett, perfection has a dark side…. Brooke is a highly-motivated coed at prestigious Everett College. She is determined to graduate number one in her class, get accepted at a top medical school, and become a surgeon. Everything is going according to plan, although she’s not sure what to do about Ethan, an attractive guy who would like to be more than friends. Her classmates and professors are captivated by her achievements and appearance, with the exception of one student. Only Jessica, a wealthy socialite, senses Brooke might not be all she appears. But Jessica has her own problems, fueled by too many prescription pills, energy drinks, and a huge case of snobbery. She’s too busy looking down her nose when she should be watching her back. What happens in a historic blizzard will settle their differences once and for all.

My review

Brooke Walton is a brilliant and focused student. She starts her first semester at Everett College after transferring from a smaller and less high profile college subsequent to a traumatic event she witnessed.

I found this story to be darkly fascinating. Brooke is a perfect student, obsessed with her studies and achieving her goals to the exclusion of anything else. She has total control over her body, pushing herself to the limit with her long-distance runs and tough yoga classes, and also total control over her mind. Nothing can distract her, not even the good-looking and wealthy Ethan who is so captivated by her good looks and independence of spirit, that he can’t appreciate the implications any of her strange and rather disturbing disclosures and traits.

Of course, such perfection must have a flaw and Brooke’s is a total lack of empathy or feeling of any kind and an ability to rationalise any situation to the outcome which suited her best. The book is written in such a way that the reader is almost convinced that Brooke is right in her thinking and you almost find yourself routing for her despite it becoming more and more obvious that what you see with Brooke is definitely not what you get.

Ethan is rather typical of a boy who has grown up in a wealthy home and attended preppy schools where he has been taught to always do the right thing and to stand up for the underdog. It is totally impossible for Ethan to begin to imagine how someone like Brooke thinks and feels. Brooke is so different from anything he has ever experienced in his sheltered life that he is completely bowled over by her. The fact that she does not respond to him in the typical way most of the girls he knows do makes her all the more attractive and interesting. Ethan is determined that Brooke is the girl for him.

Jessica is a typical spoiled society girl whose father has bought her a place at Everett college despite her demonstrating clearly on numerous occasions that she is entirely unsuited to such an academically intense environment. All Jessica can think about is what sort of impression she is making on other people and what she looks like. The pressure to maintain her flawless image results in her becoming addicted to a mix of diet pills, alcohol and antidepressants. Obviously, this makes her the complete antithesis to Brooke, who she hates on sight. Unfortunately, Brooke could never understand how completely indifferent someone like Jessica is to anyone and everything outside her own area of influence and existence and so she perceives a threat where there is none.

How will Brooke react to imagined threat posed by Jessica? How will she continue to hide her strange behaviour from Ethan? Can anyone see beyond the carefully developed image of the perfect student?

I enjoyed this book a great deal and have already bought book 2 in the series as I want to see how Brooke continues to fool everyone around her and achieve her set objectives.

Amazon Purchase Link here: https://www.amazon.com/Everett-Jenifer-Ruff/dp/1954447116

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Published by robertawrites235681907

I am a writer of young adult fiction and poetry

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33 thoughts on “Roberta Writes – Halloween Book Festival: Everett by Jenifer Ruff”

  11. I remember considering this book in the past, uncertain if I would enjoy it, given how the MC is portrayed. Your review is very insightful, and makes me think perhaps I should take a chance on it. That cover is certainly eye catching!

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