Review: Dismantled, by Jennifer McMahon

I'm going to be quick about this: I didn't like Dismantled. If you look on Amazon, it has several great reviews by other readers, but frankly, I don't understand why they were so enthralled.

The main plot of the novel surrounds Tess and Henry, a separated couple with a creepy daughter, Emma, who hears voices and sees an invisible person she calls Danner, who does naughty things. Tess and Henry, who used to be part of a group of self-righteous college students intent on dismantling pieces of society they thought were wrong, are hiding a non-secret; one of the other members of the group, Suz, was accidentally killed during the group's final summer together, and the other members covered it up. McMahon spends 422 pages covering the unraveling of the secret, and a side plot of further deception by another former group member.

My complaints are as follows:

1. All the characters are entirely unlikable. From Tess and Henry to their daughter and her horrid friend, not one of the characters remotely resembles a protagonist to me. I had no one to root for. Even the girl wasn't endearing or intelligent.

2. The plot was obvious. Since we already know the basic story, with 400 pages to go there are only so many things that can happen, right from the start. Surprise, it involved a love triangle. Again, not terribly creative. The side deception was slightly interesting, but really, it wasn't very convincing.

3. You could cut this book in *half* and it would be a lot better. I'm not one to be critical of a novel's length unless it's unnecessary, which in this case, it is. Events are re-hashed and beaten with a stick.

4. It's just not very creative. A love triangle, a dead girl, a cover up, and trickery/blackmail. I'm not saying that a book involving those plot points can't be good, but it needs something different to spice it up. Emma's voices and visions weren't enough. Part of the problem could perhaps be traced to the author's overuse of troubled young female leads.

As I said, many people seem to have liked this novel, according to Amazon reviews. The author has had reasonable success. I, however, did not.

Rating: one star. Uninspiring, lackluster characters in an overdrawn, tired plot.