Review: A Fascinating Mean Girl Kleptomaniac
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 20, 2013
This novella is a prequel to Aprilynne Pike's novel Life After Theft. I bought it after hearing Aprilynne speak at RT Booklovers Convention, and decided to read this first to see if I wanted to read Life After Theft. While one reviewer recommends reading Life After Theft first, I think you could read them in either order. Here, we meet Kimberlee Schaffer, who seems to have everything a girl could want. Except she's not happy. She's a compulsive kleptomaniac, and seemingly never met a rule she didn't want to break. Her parents are rich, but more than their money, she wants their attention. Barring that, she turns her compulsion into an OCD haven filled with all the stuff she's taken. Kimberlee isn't happy, but she is feisty, and her fierce attitude, combined with an edge of yearning for happiness, is what makes her a fascinating heroine. She calls herself pathetic, and yet even though I probably wasn't supposed to like her, I was still rooting for her. This is a snappy, fast read that ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, one that certainly worked on me and got me to read Life After Theft afterward. Pike takes the theme of the poor little rich girl and turns her into a headstrong antiheroine who, even if you don't feel sorry for her as the second half of the novella takes a dark turn, you can't help but want to see what she does next.