Emma Cook

You Can’t Hurt Me by Emma Cook had a good premise, but the story did not live up to it. I tried, but I was unable to get into the story. The writing did not pull me in. I found the writing style to be awkward. The characters were flat (as thin as crepes). The author did not take the time to develop the main characters (Anna, Eva, and Nate). We never really get to know Anna, the protagonist, which I found frustrating since the story is told from her point of view. I had questions about show more Anna, and they were never answered. I wanted to know why Anna was obsessed with Eva and Nate. I was also curious as to why Anna wanted to be the ghostwriter for the memoir. We are told little about Eva beyond her appearance, her condition, occupation, and habits. The story lacked suspense (it was dull). The twist could be seen a mile away (you can predict it from the beginning of the book). The pacing is slow (the snails in my garden move faster). The story lacked suspense. I expected a build up of tension or a feeling of danger but neither of these happened. The mystery could be solved early in the book which made the big “aha” moment a letdown. I liked that the action picked up in the latter portion of the book, but some of the things that were happening did not make sense. The ending was a letdown. As you can tell, I struggled to complete You Can’t Hurt Me. This is not the engaging physical thriller that I was hoping for when I picked up the book. show less