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Dec 11, 2012

Exposure (Twisted Lit #2) by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes review

Exposure cover
Double, double, toil and trouble. Sometimes, the quest for high school royalty can be deadly! 

In this emotionally-charged twist on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a self-conscious shutterbug named Skye Kingston navigates a treacherous school year in Alaska fraught with unspoken secrets and tragic twists of fate. Along the way she encounters three strangely prophetic BFFs; one social-climbing, sociopathic cheerleader; and a heart-stopping hottie named Craig McKenzie: the man who would be Prom King. 


Can Skye save the boy she loves — and herself — before they get caught in the crosshairs?


From Goodreads


Skye has mostly coasted through high school on the fringe of every social group. She knows who to talk to & who to avoid in order to make as few waves as possible. Having spent the majority of her high school years in the art room's darkroom developing photos the "old way" while pining after her could-have-been-her-boyfriend acquaintance Craig, Skye never really got to know much about anything outside of her own little world.

All of that changes when she is suddenly thrust into the middle of a tragic accident. While not directly involved, she knows the truth about what happened that night at the party. Even worse, she knows that she should do something about it, but her paralyzing fear of doing the wrong thing prevents her from not only doing what's right, but doing what could have saved them all.

We all know I am a big fan of retellings. See my previous love of Jackson Pearce or Stacey Jay's work. This one is another great book to add to that list. While it says "Twisted Lit #2" that's just a loose relation for the other books. Kind of like Jackson Pearce's. If you've read the other books, great, you'll have a more in depth understanding of the relationships. If you haven't read the other books, no biggie, it's not necessary at all!

These women have done a fabulous job in updating the story of Macbeth for the new generation. They seamlessly blended the language of Shakespeare with modern vocabulary. This book strikes a fine balance between the story we all know (and some of us love) and the one that they are presently telling.

The characters are terrific updates to the classical characters. My personal favorites are the three native Alaskan girls as the three witches. I also loved how these characters seemed to embody the original characters not just in their behavior, but in their speech and physicality as well.

The tempo of the book is just right so that you can fully appreciate the work that went into creating this multi-faceted dream of a Shakespearean retelling. I never felt like it was too wordy or that not enough was going on, so it was a fairly quick and enjoyable read.

Please give it a shot! I'll have my review of Tempestuous (Twisted Lit #1) up in a few days. I can't wait to tell you about that one too!

2 comments:

The Insouciant Sophisticate said...

I really liked Tempestuous but I'm not very familiar with The Tempest so I'm wondering if I'll like Exposure more since I do know Macbeth. It sure sounds good!

loreleimarsh said...

I was more familiar with The Tempest, so I saved Tempestuous for last. I was less familiar with Macbeth, but I still liked it. You should totally give it a shot. It's got the obvious shoutouts (Out, damned spot!) and more low-key references.