Review: A house... A history... A horror... Belinda Frisch's BETTER LEFT BURIED uncovers a coming-of-age not to be forgotten
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 18, 2014
With hints of foreboding and a realistic perspective on some of life's everyday villains, Belinda Frisch maintained my interest throughout her contemporary coming-of-age horror novel. As their parents, differing interests, and the end of their senior year of high school began to push Harmony and Brea apart, it turned out more was at stake than teenage hurt feelings. Harmony hid from her social worker and therapist that she was living with an older man, while Harmony's mother continued to visit with random men in the evenings for money. Brea was bullied at school, because a popular girl's ex-boyfriend showed an interest in dating Brea.But, Brea wasn't even supposed to be friends with Harmony, according to Brea's mother. "Harmony is holding you back," she claimed. As if Brea would abandon her best friend, regardless of Harmony's drug habits, suicidal tendencies, and imperfect family. Who Brea's mother did approve of was Jackson, the son of a wealthy property developer. The joke is on you, Mom, because Jackson was the first clue to a fifteen-year-old secret that was literally haunting Harmony and Brea to death.Research. The key to any buried secret is research. The key to ruining the lives of everyone you know is at the end of- Now, that would be telling!Belinda Frisch injected her prose with expertly-crafted emotional content. The narrative came alive from both girls' POV, whether they felt similar emotion in the same scene, were in different locations, or were together, but in emotional opposition. The author also applied the element of physical abuse, fear of losing one's home and family, and supernatural terrors to amp up the suspense in stairstep levels.I did not penalize this book down from five stars because of its underage drug, sex, or alcohol content. Belinda Frisch was attempting a realistic setting, and, having lived in low-income housing, I know what such areas can be like. My major concern about BETTER LEFT BURIED was the excess of misplaced modifiers, which made sorting out some of the she/her sentences frustrating, during scenes with multiple female characters. A handful of other editing problems may be found, but do not detract from the text. Usually, I wouldn't mark an entire star off for editing, but I'm also including all of the times I felt the novel could have benefited from additional paragraphs of backstory, clarification, and a few instances of extra "normal" moments to help flesh out some rushed spots.* This honest and professional review was written in exchange for a free copy of the eBook. Please feel free to contact me with requests for book and product reviews, as long as you are accepting of "honesty" - the policy which has helped me rise to be a Top Amazon Reviewer very quickly.