Eileen Cook

UPDATE: Dec. 15: Coming back to this way later, but: I've settled on a 3 star rating. It was entertaining, well-written, and suspenseful at times, but my 2 points I wrote about earlier are still things I can't forget about. However, despite the middle rating, I WOULD recommend this book!

Oct. 7: Not going to rate this just yet...my thoughts are super conflicted. My initial impulse is 4 stars in one way and 3 another; however, there is a major aspect of this novel that is pissing me off and I need to mull it over.

UPDATE/ Oct. 9: My feelings are still a little mixed on this, so I'm going to attempt to sort out my thoughts in a bit of a review here. The following part will contain >>>MAJOR SPOILERS
The initial plot of was very interesting: a girl, Jill, wakes up in the hospital and finds she cannot remember the past six weeks of her life, including an overseas trip to Italy with her best friend Simone. But worse, Simone is dead. Apparently, Jill drove a car (by accident? She can't remember) over a ledge and Simone died. The US and Italian media are all over this story, and people seem quick to blame Jill for everything.

I think the strongest part of "With Malice" was its ability to keep me hooked; I read the entire book in less two days. Every chapters reveals or hints at a little something new without giving away too much information. Although some of the investigative parts felt a tad cheesy (the cliche Italian men, Anna having a VERY CONVENIENT hacker friend), I thought the pace was good and that the mystery revealed itself smoothly.

Alright, so here's where things get a bit rough. I'm going to divide this into 2 points:

1. Earlier on in the book, Jill reveals that she had a blog. This is how she describes her blog to Dr. Weeks:
"I'm into a bunch of social justice issues. I plan to go into law. I used to write about about that stuff, feminism and things from a teen perspective."
Later, Jill further describes more to Anna as they talk about the online troll:
"He would make fun of anything that I wrote about, the stuff that was important to me [...] At first I started the blog because I wanted to have something to put on my college applications, but the more I learned about that stuff, the more it mattered to me."

Jill uses to word "stuff" three time to describe the issues the cared so deeply about. We also don't get ANY more info about what specifically she wrote about, other than "a bunch of social justice issues" and "feminism". This felt SO lazy to me, especially considering the fact that the blog and the mean troll comments have such a bigger impact in the ending of the story.
I think if we had gotten to read a blog post or two (inserted into the chapters that have the interviews and transcripts) that Jill has written, they would have strengthened our understanding of Jill and what exactly she was interested in. Jill wasn't exactly a super memorable character, and I fully believe reading about what she was passionate about would have really helped establish her within the narrative.
Lastly, Cook really missed an opportunity to write about some of these "social justice issues" and feminism. This book revolves mainly around two girls (one white and wealthy, one black and poor), plus their friendship, online bullies, media portrayal, and some other issues which could have been expanded upon (more on this at the end of 2.)

2. This is the part that really gets me. Again, Jill and Simone's friendship is key in this book. They have been friends for years, always together and having fun and sharing everything with each other. Jill says that even though they have had little fights (like in all friendships) the two of them have made it through. They are Batman and Robin, PB & J, etc.
At the climax of the book, it is revealed that Simone was the one who had posted so many mean and awful comments on Jill's blog. Simone tells Jill that Jill doesn't get it and shouldn't be writing about feminist things because Jill is armed with her daddy's credit card and plans to go to Yale. Jill retorts that Simone is insecure, and their friendship only worked because Jill was always there to clap for everything Simone did. Within this argument, I think both girl revealed things that annoyed them about the other, and they both have a couple right and wrong points.

So then the accident with the knife happens, and Jill loads Simone into the car to rush her to the hospital, and THIS is what I can't get: on the way there, Simone starts saying things like, "Let's see what everyone thinks of you now." and "You better believe your family is going to pay for me to be better than fine." Simone makes it clear that she is not going to let this ever go away.
Jill realizes that, and sees a faint smile on Simone's face.
Jill thinks: "I had no doubt that it was going to cost me, and not just money. Simone would bring it up over and over. She'd act like it was just a joke, but it would have that undercurrent, that bad taste in the background. She would mention it when she wanted something. She wouldn't have to ask; she would just hint around until I gave her what she wanted."

I just couldn't understand this. From the very beginning, their friendship is built up as this really solid and real relationship, with the only major problem being the Nico situation that happens in Italy. How does Simone suddenly turn into this awful, blackmailing person against her best friend?
I also didn't WANT to understand this, because it just seemed such counterproductive move to the narrative.
"With Malice" has recurring themes about feminism and the relationships between women. There is Jill and Simone; Jill and her mother (and step-mother); Jill and Anna; and Jill and her psychiatrist. I can't figure out if Eileen Cook was trying to show the difference between healthy relationships (Jill & Dr. Weeks & Anna) and unhealthy ones (Jill & Simone). If she was, then there was not enough done to illustrate the poor parts of the Jill/Simone one. Literally from the first couple pages up until the revelation about who the blog troll was, Jill and Simone are made out to be the very best of friends, with only Nico being a major bump in the road.

Again, I think "With Malice" just really missed a great chance to have a really solid narrative on feminism and women's relationships. This book DOES pass the Bechdel Test, which is always nice to see.

So. To wrap things up, I thought the story was very engaging, and finding out what happened was fun to read about. I just feel conflicted about the themes of "With Malice" and I don't know entirely what I've taken away from it. I would love to hear some other's thoughts about this book!


… (más)

* I got this book for review for my honest thoughts*

I was really impressed with this book. I was not the biggest fan of with malice, but this book was actually a super gripping mystery that kept me turning the page. I really enjoyed the concept of this book and also the setting of london. I also like the romantic sub plot and also the main character was super compelling to read from. I thought the character was super interesting to read from and was hard to put the book down. This book ending was a bit openish but overall i really enjoyed this read.… (más)

* I got this book for review for my honest thoughts*

I was really impressed with this book. I was not the biggest fan of with malice, but this book was actually a super gripping mystery that kept me turning the page. I really enjoyed the concept of this book and also the setting of london. I also like the romantic sub plot and also the main character was super compelling to read from. I thought the character was super interesting to read from and was hard to put the book down. This book ending was a bit openish but overall i really enjoyed this read.… (más)