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There are currently 35 member reviews
for He Started It
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Ruthie A. (Jersey City, NJ)
What is Happening??!!
This book really grabbed me by the throat! It is part road trip, part family drama, part mystery, and part psychological thriller! The writing is very fast paced, never lags at any point, and the story kept me up well past my bedtime!
The author slowly lets the reader get to know the characters, their past, and the present scenario that is unfolding. The sibling are all very secretive and their recreation of a childhood road-trip brings all their baggage to the forefront - not fun when you are all stuck in the same car. There are multiple twists and turns, all leading to a crazy "what just happened?" ending. Really fun and well crafted!
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Mary G. (Greensboro, GA)
One Crazy Ride!
Wow. I just finished reading "He Started It" by Samantha Downing and it was a wild and crazy ride from start to finish. The estranged Morgan siblings are tasked by their recently deceased grandfather to recreate a road trip he took them on when they were children, as a condition for inheriting his estate. The story is told by the third child, Beth, and she parses out the history of the original trip—in one surprising and demented snippet after another—while also narrating the current trip, which isn't much more sane than the original. This is definitely a family that should stay far, far away from one another.
As each new snippet was revealed I was caught completely off guard each and every time. It was hard to put this book down. I still feel emotionally spent but it was so worth it!
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Laura C. (Tulsa, OK)
Just Wow!!
From the beginning to the end I kept asking myself what am I reading???!!! At first I thought this is a road trip book and something must happen along the way, but then you actually read the book. It took me just over a day to read this book and at just under 400 pages it's not that short of a read. It's a fast ride across the country with Portia, Eddie, and Beth. I loved every minute of it and all the twists and turns it took.
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Portia A. (Monroe Township, NJ)
The shortest review I ever wrote...
Wow!
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Sandi W. Illinois
Surprise...
From page one I started enjoying this book. It is a book of secrets, told through a family trip. And a trip it is, not a vacation.
A family of three sibling, plus spouses, take a cross country trip, one they took as children. Then they took the trip with their Grandfather and things did not turn out well. Now they are re-stepping the same path, although mandated, to be included in their Grandfather's generous will. As they travel, they become a smaller group and many secrets are revealed.
Of the four siblings and others you begin to pick your favorites. Then you follow them with expectations. By the end of the book your alliances may have changed.
This book reads really well. It is smooth and easy to read. My only objection was the ending. It seemed very abrupt and not a good closure. I believe this portion could have been done better.
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Sylvia T. (Rancho Mirage, CA)
The Dysfunctional Family
Siblings Beth, Portia, and Eddie Morgan, the sole survivors of an extremely dysfunctional family with violent, even criminal tendencies, reunite for a road trip. The at-first likable Beth tells the story, sharing truly odd details about the others that draws us to her, an intimacy that slowly dissolves with revelations of Beth's own unstable self. The siblings wealthy grandfather has died, and to collect their inheritance, they must re-create the cross-country trip they took together as children after grandpa abducted them from their parents. Childhood issues resurface and it gets nasty quickly, but they drive on fueled by their greed, with a black truck in pursuit. It's difficult to relate more without endangering a chillingly dark reading experience or spoiling the shocking conclusion. Suffice to say that the family's obsession with the game of Risk has conditioned each of them to betray one another as easily as they once conquered continents on the game board.
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Sue P. (Albuquerque, NM)
He Started It
If you are planning a family road trip anytime soon you may wish to reconsider...
This all-over-the-map, insane, scary, funny story of a family fulfilling their Grandfather's wish to recreate a long-ago road trip in order to claim their inheritance will turn you upside down.
Then, it grabs you and insists that you stick it out until the ending. And what an ending it is!
You think you have family problems? Hop in the car with Eddie, Beth and Portia and take it for a spin.
This was a fun, fast, shocking read!
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