Project Athena | Reviews

How To Get Away With Evil (Carmi)

Author: enyaclancy

Reviewer: Read-aholic2006

Genre: Supernatural/Mystery

The main character, Adley Morgenstern, is the killer of her friend Annabeth Landers, but she has no memory of the crime. But what she does know is that she can't let anyone find out about what she did. This storyline is very intriguing. The fluent plot development is appropriate, as it usually typifies the crime genre and keeps readers on their toes.

The characters are well-developed, particularly Adley's recklessness and Jessi's curiosity. Ivy, a minor character, is also described vividly, adding to the mystery of the story. The alternating perspectives between Adley and Jessi add depth to the plot, and the tension between them creates a sense of intrigue.

The mystery surrounding the poem found in Annabeth's phone case is an interesting addition to the story, leaving readers wondering if it will serve as a clue to aid the investigation.

The narration is flooded with vivid imagery as the writer illustrates the characters' clothing, their emotions, their relationships, and their surroundings. However, although I appreciate all these minor details, they sometimes cause the storytelling aspect of the book to be drowned out by this constant delineation. Unless such information is significant to the plot, then there is no need for the writer to mention when the MC's older brother received his car or describe each character's countenance.

Now, in the prologue, the writer avoids using a gender-specific pronoun to refer to the killer so she does not reveal his or her identity, which is understandable. Therefore she uses the more vague pronoun "they", but this makes it sound as though there is more than just one killer and since it's also grammatically incorrect to use "they" as a singular pronoun, I suggest the writer replace it with "the faceless figure" or "the person". Although, this may not even be necessary because readers are already given a heads-up that the killer is Adley, so there's no need to conceal her identity... unless there is some sort of plot twist?

The author's use of long sentences in some paragraphs can make the text difficult to read. These paragraphs could be reconstructed into separate sentences to improve readability.

Mrs. Landers nodded with a small smile, and before Ethan or I could, Jessi entered the old, white building with a clock on the outside of it and big, bright red doors that opened to a musty-smelling room, filled with rows of chipped, wooden benches and stained-glass windows.

The excerpt above could be edited as follows:

Mrs. Landers nodded, a faint smile on her lips. However, before Ethan or I could step into the old white building, Jessi slipped past us and entered its musty interior. The church hall was filled with rows of chipped wooden benches and its walls were embedded with large stained-glass windows.

The writer's imaginative mindset is brought to the stage by one of her creations—a new investigative technique that is used to assist the police in identifying any possible suspects. It involves the persons of interest smearing their blood onto a special paper that exposes the color of their conscience: The darker your blood, the more guilty you are. However, since this unusual method only determines how guilty you are instead of pinpointing what you're guilty of, it is unreliable. Hence it's also unrealistic unless the writer is able to explain the science behind the "magic" to support this system.

The sudden transition in Chapter 5 could have been smoother, and the author should work on making scene transitions more seamless. One moment, Adley is having a conversation with Jessi and in the next, she has a random flashback of Ethan and her sitting on the roof of her shed—then suddenly, she's torn from her reverie and has a face-to-face encounter with a physical (or phantom) male who embodies the little devil on her shoulder.

Overall, the story is an enjoyable read with compelling characters and an intriguing plot. The minor issues mentioned above do not significantly detract from the overall reading experience. I would rate this book 3 out of 5 stars and recommend it to readers interested in crime, mysteries, psychological thrillers, and modern sci-fi elements.