Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Review-Hanging By A Thread by Sophie Littlefield

Summer is the best part of the year in Winston, California, and the Fourth of July is the highlight of the season. But the perfect town Clare remembers has changed, and everyone is praying that this summer will be different from the last two—that this year's Fourth of July festival won't see one of their own vanish without a trace, leaving no leads and no suspects. The media are in a frenzy predicting a third disappearance, but the town depends on tourist dollars, so the residents of Winston are trying desperately to pretend nothing's wrong.

And they're not the only ones hiding something.

Clare, a seamstress who redesigns vintage clothing, has been blessed—or perhaps cursed—with a gift: she can see people's pasts when she touches their clothes. When she stumbles across a denim jacket that once belonged to Amanda Stavros, last year's Fourth of July victim, Clare sees her perfect town begin to come apart at the seams.

In a town where appearance means everything, how deep beneath the surface will Clare dig to uncover a murderer?

First off lets get the technicalities out of the way. I was given this book as an ARC through Netgalley to review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated in any way for them.

Review:

Hanging by a thread centers around a young woman named Clare who has recently moved back to her hometown of Winston. Clare like most girls has a passion for fashion and has always enjoyed deconstructing and reconstructing vintage clothes. Unlike most girls Clare can read fabric. Each piece tells a story and Clare enjoys figuring them out until she comes across a worn leather jacket that holds the answer to a crime nobody in town wants to talk about.

Premise sounds great right? Well let me tell you it is. But.....(yup there's a But)it did have a few flaws. Rather than go into this super long rant I'm just going to break it down in crayon and share The good, The bad and The So-So of Hanging by a Thread.

The Good

The Plot - I really dig the concept of this book its refreshing and certainly unique. I can imagine how extremely fun it would be to have this gift even if Clare doesn't always seem like she does.

Clare's Nana - I just loved her character and I found the family dynamic interesting.

The History - I felt Sophie Littlefield did a great job expanding on not only the characters backgrounds but also the towns history as well.

Jack - As far as rebellious bad-boys go Jack definitely fit the bill to a T and gave the readers someone to swoon over.

The Bad

To much detail - Every time Clare made clothes I felt like I was watching Project Runway. Most of those scenes could of been chopped down considerably and not lost the integrity of the story.

The So-So

Clare - While Clares gift was interesting her character just fell flat for me. I can't really pinpoint one reason either just overall her character just left little to be desired. It is a shame considering she's the main female protagonist.

Final Thoughts
Overall I really dug this story but at times it did feel like a bad episode of Scooby-Doo gone wrong. Will I read this book again? Yes,most likely. If your looking for a unique twist on the paranormal genre and love a good mystery then suggest picking Hanging by a Thread up and giving it a shot. I will be rating Hanging By A Thread ★★★.

Want to Learn more about this Book or Author? Check out the links below:
Learn More about the Author: Here
Follow Sophie Littlefield on Facebook: Here
Become a Fan on Goodreads: Here
Follow Sophie Littlefield on Twitter: Here