Title: I Love You More
Author: Jennifer Murphy
Publisher: Doubleday
Publication Date: June 2014
Genre: Adult Fiction/Mystery, Thriller
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Synopsis can be found here.
I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Review:
Picasso is eleven years old but even she is old enough to know what is happening. What her mother is doing with those two other women. The women that claim to be her daddy’s wives. Secrets whispered into phones, meetings away, the word murder whispered.
Mesmerizing. Told from alternating views, I Love You More is a murder mystery thriller coming of age story that left me so satisfied, I immediately started recommending it to people on Goodreads.
Picasso Lane loves her father, even though he has secrets. She loves her mother, even though she is plotting something with these two other strangers. Picasso is easy to like. Intelligent and whip quick, Picasso is a strong voice, observant, clever and slightly quirky. I love her love of spelling and words, her relationships with her parents, her observations about adults and what they really mean even though they say something else. She stole the book for me. Her vulnerability and adolescent voice flows over the page easily and while sometimes she does sound older than she actually is, I never thought her character faltered. Between the main plot of murder, Picasso talks about her school days, the boy she likes, her challenges making friends. The richness and simplicity of her everyday life, how she navigates school waters and girl cliques, was refreshing giving Picasso more color and life. Through these every day events I got to know her character more and adore her.
The wives voice was a wonderful contrast to Picasso. They had me mesmerized every time they took over, a dark chorus like in a Greek tragedy. Moving and haunting, the wives were all prey and predators.
Kyle, the detective who investigates, is a breath of fresh air. He is a totally separate voice that brings the reader back to reality, to common ground, to remembering that there was a murder. And someone did it. He’s kind and normal which is a welcome relief to the wive’s voices and the young Picasso. I was hoping he would find the murderer, and hoping he wouldn’t.
We even get a chapter with Oliver, the man himself. And that does not disappoint.
Captivating and fun, I Love You More is a well written story to take with you this summer. The murder does take place at a beach house. What better place to read this novel!?
Rating 8 Cookie Worthy
Kimberly majored in Songwriting and currently works full time in the music industry. When she's not listening to music, knitting or writing, you can find her outside reading her favorite genres: Young Adult, Adult Fiction, Mystery, and Romance.
What? Cookies! I need to read this one right now.
You’d like it. It’s fast paced and a good book that keeps you on your toes. I really enjoyed it.
What a different kind of mystery and I like that it’s told as a coming of age story!
Lovely review 🙂
this is the first I’ve come across this book and your review caught my interest 🙂 Thanks so much!
Good review, really. 🙂
This young girl character in this story really does seem to come off the pages with your description of the book. It would be one I would consider since I know this much about it now.
Sounds like an interesting mystery book
This sounds like an excellent mystery! The review is so interesting that I’m heading over to get a copy now!