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Adventures in Coding

Chris Minnick and Eva Holland

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Book

Learn to code the fun way with nine real projects for true beginners Adventures in Coding is written...

iMPC

Music and Entertainment

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App

Turn your iPad into an MPC with more than 1,200 samples, 50 editable programs, 80 editable...

Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff: A Novel

Sean Penn

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Book

“An almost literally up-to-the-minute fever dream of a novel.” —Bill Maher From legendary...

satire

Virtues Reflection Cards

Lifestyle and Health & Fitness

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App

Virtues Reflection Cards VIRTUES are the essence of who we are. They are the content of our...

Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Before He Finds Her in Books

Feb 8, 2018

In 1991, Ramsey Miller holds a huge block party for his neighborhood. Then, the story goes, he drunkenly and angrily murdered his wife and young daughter.

However, that's not exactly the case: his daughter got away, via the Witness Protection Program, and is living in a small town in West Virginia. Renamed Melanie, she lives with her father's close friend and his wife; it's a cautious life, as her father was never found. However, as she nears 18, Melanie is tired of this life of secrets and hiding. Finding herself pregnant, she decides she doesn't want this life for her own child, so she heads back to her hometown to find her father herself.

The book weaves in Melanie's current life and discoveries with narrative of Ramsey's life leading up to the days of the block party, allowing us to figure out what happened along with Melanie.

This novel started out really well, and for a while, I was thinking it was going to be one of my favorites read so far this year. However, it soon petered out a bit, and the more I thought about it, I liked it less. There are just some odd plot holes that doesn't really make sense and leave you wondering. Further, even accounting for her upbringing, Melanie as a main character is so "blah" and doesn't stand up for herself, thereby making it very hard to root for her. I really found myself pulling for Ramsey at many points. Lots of potential, but doesn't really follow through.