In Her Skin

by Kim Savage

Fifteen-year-old con artist Jo Chastain takes on her biggest heist yet impersonating a missing girl. Life on the streets of Boston these past few years hasn t been easy, and she hopes to cash in on a little safety, some security. She finds her opportunity with the Lovecrafts, a wealthy family tied to the unsolved disappearance of Vivienne Weir, who vanished when she was nine.

• ISBN10: 0374308004
• ISBN13: 9780374308001
• Publish Date: 17 April 2018
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 14 November 2023
• Imprint: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr)
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[katie]

This book is dark, and twisty, and perfectly horrifying. I had started to put the pieces together before the end, so the reveal wasn't as shocking as big reveals typically are for me. In Her Skin is a great book that I would recommend to anyone who wants to feel like they don't know which character to root for, or what exactly is going on between the lines. My only complaint is that there isn't more after the ending (and yes I know that's vague but I don't want to hide this review because of spoilers). As soon as I finished this book, I read like three middle grade books in a row because I knew they wouldn't be this dark, so just fyi- it's VERY DARK.

Full review to come at http://kaitgoodwin.com/books!

Enjoy!

[liz089]

It was an okay read. It read a bit weird for me, because she wrote it to her, saying "you" all the time. Found it a bit confusing sometimes.
This novel also reminded me a lot of Here Lies Daniel Tate.. and to be honest I liked that one a lot more.
Yes this one was interesting... but also a bit weird and some things happened that made not much sense to me, like it was not logical and I have no idea why they did what they did. That is still an issue after finishing this novel. Some things are not explained at all.. and that kind of bothers me XD Seems too rushed or something ?

If you want an exciting thrilling novel about someone trying to con itself into a missing person's family.. I would suggest Here Lies Daniel Tate. Much more fun !

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 3.5 Stars

I knew from the synopsis, that this was going to be a darker, grittier read, but wow! This was quite a twisted tale of a con that didn't got exactly go according to plan.

•Pro: Savage's writing in her last book was quite beautiful, but the style she employed here was very different, and perfectly fit this story being told from Jo's point of view. She was not refined or polished, and the writing reflected that, which I thought did a fantastic job of painting a complete picture of this young woman.

•Pro: Savage made an interesting choice of having Jo speak directly to Temple throughout the narration. It was different and really captured Jo's almost obsessive fascination with her.

•Pro: The book is divided into three parts - Vivi, Temple, Jo. I liked the way Savage set the focus in those parts, and it was a good way to partition the story.

•Con: This is just me, but I like breaks when I read. The Vivi section took up the majority of the book, and it did so as one continuous chunk. Though this was not something that bothered me, I have read enough reviews to know there are readers, who do not like the "telling versus showing" style. We spend a lot of time in Jo's head, but I feel it was a good choice because of the nature of this story.

•Pro: Jo was so damaged and broken, and Savage magnificently painted this picture. It helped me have some sympathy towards her BUT

•Con: There were like zero likable characters in this book. The plot was strong enough to keep me interested, but as a character driven reader, I sort of need a likable characters in a book to make it next level for me. There was one character I sort of liked, Wolf, but he had very little page time.

•Pro: The strongest thing about this book was the story. The whole concept of Jo slipping into the missing girl's skin and assuming her life had me captivated. Even the way it all started. How she picked her mark, did the research, and planned it all out. It was morbidly fascinating.

•Pro: I was surprised by the path this story took. The power struggle was interesting, and as the truth was slowly revealed, I found myself shaking my head in bewilderment.

Overall: A dark and twisted tale of a broken girl, who in a bid for survival, slowly loses pieces of herself.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

[chymerra]

I enjoyed reading In Her Skin. There are very few novels that will keep me guessing about what exactly is going on. This book did. I did have a small issue following the book at first because of how it was written. It is almost entirely in 2nd person. But once I got used to it, it made for a very interesting read.

In Her Skin is set in Boston, MA. It is always interesting to see a city that you grew up near featured in books. I don’t know about you guys, but I tend to be critical. In Her Skin nailed Boston’s Back Bay area on the head. I could find nothing wrong. No inconsistencies, nothing. That made me like the book even more.

The plot of In Her Skin was very interesting but I did find some fault with it. Jo Chastain, a homeless grifter who is sick of living on the streets. She has researched the disappearance of Vivienne Weir. She was going to assume the identity of Vivienne, live with the family who had guardianship over her and live in comfort for the rest of her life. Or so she thought. Almost immediately, she realizes that there is something off about the Lovelaces and their daughter, Temple. She also realizes that the secrets that this family has could kill her.

I had a lot of pity for Jo throughout the story. She wasn’t homeless by choice. After her mother’s pimp (and Jo’s abuser) murders her mother, Jo is forced to run to Boston to escape him. She lived for 2 years in a homeless community. She had been taught, from an early age, how to con people. It was the only thing that she knew how to do and she did it well. Her decision to take on Vivi’s identity was done out of desperation. As was all her actions after she walked into the police station. She didn’t realize how dangerous her situation was until midway through the book.

Temple scared me. Not going to get into that part of the story but I don’t know how Jo could sleep in the same bed as her. Considering that Jo had an off feeling about her. One thing I have learned from reading thrillers…..always trust your feelings about certain characters. Because they will always be right!!

As creepy as this sounds, Jo was sexually attracted to Temple. Even thinking about that gives me the heebie-jeebies. I don’t know if their “relationship” ever went to the next step. The author was very vague about that. She was even more vague about Jo and sex in the book. There was the understanding that Jo and her on/off addict teen prostitute boyfriend, Wolf. Sex didn’t factor into the storyline and you know what, I loved it.

There are triggers that appear in the book. There is child sexual abuse, rape, teen prostitution and drug use. The author did a great job of introducing each subject in a way that wouldn’t overwhelm the reader. There was a lot left unsaid but enough revealed that you could fill in with your imagination.

The end of the book almost anti-climatic. I didn’t know how I felt about it. I actually almost felt let down with the events leading up to it.

Pros of In Her Skin:

A) Set in Boston

B) Great Suspense

C) Great Main Character

Cons of In Her Skin:

A) written in 2nd person the whole book

B) Temple

C) The end of the book

I would give In Her Skin an Older Teen rating. There is language, mild violence, and vague sexual references/situations. I wouldn’t recommend anyone under the age of 16 to read In Her Skin.

As stated above, there are triggers in this book. They consist of child sexual abuse, rape, teen prostitution and drug use. The author is never explicit while describing those triggers but a warning is needed.

I would reread In Her Skin. I would recommend it to family and friends with a warning about the triggers.

I would like to thank Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux (BYR), Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review In Her Skin.

All opinions stated in this review of In Her Skin are mine.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

[cornerfolds]

Read more of my reviews at Cornerfolds.com!

*Review to come!*

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight


Well, well, this was a deliciously messed up book! And I am going to give you a list of reasons why you too would like this book! (Because look, reviews for mystery/thrillers are hard, because spoilers, and you definitely want to go into this one blind!)

• It's a quick, addictive read. I read it in just a couple hours, in one sitting in fact. It isn't even super short (nor is it long, but it's just... regular) but I flew through it, so eager I was to figure out what was going on. The mystery definitely kept me turning the pages, is what I am saying.



• I definitely did not see most of the twists coming, yay! I love when this happens, and frankly, it doesn't happen nearly enough so kudos to the author for keeping me on my toes.



• I somehow was convinced to feel for, and even kind of like the con artist main character. I mean, I knew from the start that Jo was going to be doing some really crappy, manipulative shit to a family who had lost their damn kid.... and yet still, she was somehow not wholly unlikable? It's impressive, really.



• This story, these characters, are such messes! In a good way- the kind of mess that keeps you reading, the kind of mess that you can't look away from. If you're looking for a darker sort of mystery with some people who need a moral overhaul, look no further, friends!

Bottom Line: If you like your books darker, if you're down with characters who are not entirely likable, and if you like your mysteries with a side of "holy crap", In Her Skin is one you definitely don't want to miss!

*Copy provided for review