Something about Sophie by Mary Kay McComas

In Something About Sophie, Sophie is summoned to the death bed of a man she doesn't know. However, she arrives too late and doesn't hear the secret he needed to tell her. With the help of Dr. Drew McCarren, she digs into her past and uncovers secrets that could destroy the whole town.

I mostly enjoyed this book, but something didn't click for me. I thought parts of it were really good, but other parts were just okay. The story was definitely suspenseful and that was good. The long buried secrets kept me turning the pages until the ever end. I really wanted to know what the fuss was about. I also liked the relationship between Sophie and Jesse and the budding romance between Sophie and Drew. However, the touching softer parts didn't seem to jive with the harsh murders and violence in the rest of the story. One of them was too extreme, but I'm not sure which.

One thing I really disliked was the author's use the dreaded "z" (instead of an "s") in some spellings when Sophie was talking to Mike, the teenage character. (Example: skillz, page 39) I understand that it's the "in" thing, but I don't understand using it in conversation. I could understand it if she was leaving him a note, but how would he know that she was using a "z" instead of an "s" when speaking?   I'm confuzed.

I really didn't like Sophie that much. She jumped to conclusions (wrong ones at that) so often it got annoying. While I liked the romance part of the story, I didn't get the love-at-first-sight thing. I just don't think it happens like that. Of the other characters, I really liked Drew, Jesse and Mike. I don't often like teenage characters, but Mike was cool. He was so wise beyond his years.

I don't often comment about the cover of books. However, I can't help wondering about this one. While the cover is likeable, I can't figure out what it has to do with the story. There was some descriptions and discussions about the rivers, but I don't remember them (or any body of water) being a key element.

I'd probably still recommend this one even though there were things about the story I didn't like. There's a quote from Nora Roberts on the front of this edition. Perhaps her fans would like this type of book.

This edition of the book contains a P.S. section at the back of the book. It contains "insights, interviews & more...". It's definitely worth the read.

For more information about this book, please visit the HarperCollins website.

For more information about the author and her other works, please visit Mary Kay McComas's website.

I'd like to thank those nice people at HarperCollins/William Morrow for this review copy.

Something About Sophie by Mary Kay McComas, HarperCollins, ©2013. ISBN 9780062084804(Trade paperback), 296p.