Please Ignore Vera Dietz

by A.S. King

[Angie]

Please Ignore Vera Dietz was an interesting read and definitely different than other YA novels I've read, but I didn't fully connect with it, and in fact, became completely disconnected at the end. Vera's friend Charlie has recently died, although he had been dead to her for months before. The story alternates between the present with Vera being haunted by hundreds of Charlie ghosts, and the events leading up to their falling out and his death. There is an air of mystery here, since we don't know how Charlie died at first, and he was blamed for something completely horrendous. But Charlie didn't do whatever it was, and the only one who knows that is Vera, and she's letting her anger at him keep her from clearing his name.

What a premise, right? It's great, but I don't think it all came together was well as it could have. I did really enjoy Please Ignore Vera Dietz up until almost the end. I liked Vera and I enjoyed her narrative a lot. I also liked how there were chapters mixed in from her father, Charlie, and the Pagoda. Vera is just trying to get through the rest of high school, save money for college, and generally stay under the radar. But the truth about what happened to her best friend is steady catching up with her. Should she tell? Does it even matter since it's been nine months? Can she let go of her hurt to tell the truth? I desperately wanted to know what happened, and that's what drove me to keep flipping pages. Unfortunately, that ending just did not work for me.

It's clear that something truly awful happened the night Charlie died, and hints are dropped throughout Vera's story. In the beginning, all we know is that it involved animals, which had me super nervous, and once we're told what happens, I expected to be extremely upset. Well, I wasn't, because I was preoccupied with one question that was never addressed. I'm not going to spoil anything, but Charlie tells Vera what's going to happen and asks for her help. Even though she's beyond mad at him, she'd rather be safe than sorry, so she arrives at the location. Vera points out that it's around 7PM and the place doesn't close until 8PM. The doors are still unlocked even though the sign says closed (probably flipped by the evil doer) and the person responsible is setting up for what they're going to do. How in the world is this even happening, if the place is suppose to be open for business?! Where is the owner or any of the employees? Why didn't this person wait until after hours?! It doesn't make sense, and felt like a huge oversight. I also just had trouble believing that they would go that far, but we are told that they're "crazy" several times, so maybe that was motivation enough? Not for me.

In the end, I liked Please Ignore Vera Dietz, but that ending lost me completely. I was waiting for a punch in the gut when it came to Charlie, and nothing really happened. He tells us how he died (probably), and reveals to Vera what led up to this disaster, but it all felt disconnected to me. I'm sure things like this happen every day, everywhere, but I didn't believe it in this case. I still liked the story for other reasons, particularly how Vera is dealing (or not) with everything, but the Charlie mystery fell flat.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.