Monday, February 11, 2013

Book Review: Elegantly Wasted by C. Elizabeth Vescio

Elegantly Wasted by C. Elizabeth Vescio


Publisher: Luna Station Press
Pages: 322 (Paperback)
Published: July 30, 2012
Source: Purchased (Kindle edition)
ISBN-13: 9781938697
Genre: Action
Series: Wasted Series
Author: Twitter | Blog

First Sentence: All the events of my life had boiled down to a single choice.

Favorite Line: "There is no spoon, motherfucker."


“Just because I kill people, doesn’t mean I’m a bad person...”

On the eve of her high school graduation, proper socialite Francesca “Frankie” Fairholm rebelled against her elitist and controlling family to pursue the dark lifestyle of a contract killer for the enigmatic Osiris Corporation. Years later, with her training complete, she believes she's doomed to the life of a sociopathic lone gun until a botched hit brings two unlikely allies, her cousins Addison and Katharine.

Using Katharine’s etiquette school, Elegance, Inc., as a front, the trio weave through Frankie’s dark underworld, carrying out contracts, drinking too much wine, and trying not to get each other killed.

Trouble follows the team home when the death of the cruel Fairholm matriarch reveals more than they ever wanted to know about their family. As the funeral preparations play out, the trio begin to realize there is much more to their employer than meets the eye and their family connections run deeper than they ever imagined.


Goodreads Overview
An inventive story with characters you can relate to. Great character development - was able to watch the story unfold in my mind. Very nice first book from Cara Vescio.


Thoughts
What would you do if you were presented with a choice that could change your whole life? Francesca Fairholm (known to everyone as Frankie) is given such an opportunity where she could leave behind her entire life and become someone new. This chance allows her to completely turn her back on her ridiculously controlling family and become a contract killer in a secret organization. But she doesn't leave her family behind for long. Suddenly, she's thrown into the killing business with her two cousins Addison and Katherine and it becomes a family affair.

If I tried to say everything I liked about this book, it would take much more than a simple blog post. The plot is inventive, the story fresh and exciting. I was drawn in from the very first page and it was a fun ride straight to the end. The beginning of the story throws us right into the middle of the action where the three cousins are at a funeral. Then, the audience is transported back to Frankie's high school graduation. A lot of the story is told through flashbacks, flipping back and forth between the past and the present action. Vescio does a great job with keeping the story understandable. I think the fact that the story is written in first person helps with that. Think of it this way: if Grosse Pointe Blank had been a novel told in first person, it would have been exactly like Elegantly Wasted.

We really get a sense of Frankie's voice. Although all the characters were all brilliant, Frankie really shines. I think that Frankie's experience in OSIRIS really teaches her about who she is. A lot of the story is about family and the lengths at which we'll go for those to which we're bonded. Speaking of family, I'm going to admit that when I started reading the book, I didn't actually read the synopsis, so when Addie and Kat end up involved with the contract killing through Elegance Inc, Katharine's etiquette school, I was thrown for a loop. Even the reveal wasn't supposed to be a huge twist, considering it's in the synopsis, I was so into the story that it was a huge shock. That's really just a testament to Cara's writing style. She is very creative and is such a good storyteller that she just brings you in.

I gave Elegantly Wasted 5 STARS on Goodreads for a wildly inventive plot, dark humor, and brilliant character development. I really enjoyed all of the pop culture reference throughout the book as well.

And there's going to be a sequel! I can't wait!

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