Complicit: A Novel

When I read a book and absolutely fall in love with it, I’m one of those that will then run to Amazon and purchase every book by the same author. Such is the case with Stephanie Kuehn; I recently read Charm and Strange and loved it so much I immediately bought the rest of her books. The moment they arrived I dove right in and started reading Complicit and finished it within 24 hours. I loved Charm and Strange so I knew that Complicit had a lot to live up to but luckily I wasn’t disappointed at all. In fact, I think I loved Complicit even more than Charm and Strange which I wouldn’t have thought possible! Jamie Henry and his sister, Cate, come from a very sad upbringing. When they were young, Henry and Cate witnessed the violent murder of their mother. Both children were left with emotional scars from their childhood but luckily they we’re adopted by a loving couple who’d lost their own children. Jamie has very few memories of his life with their mother and no memory of the night she died. Jamie also suffers from a loss of feeling in his hands during stressful situations and has even suffered blackouts. Cate initially adjusted well to their adopted life but as she grew older she went from being the “good girl” to severely acting out, eventually setting fire to a neighbor’s horse barn and seriously injuring someone. Several years have gone by and Jamie is finally in a good place with his life; he’s doing well in school, started dating a really sweet girl, and gets along well with his adopted parents. Then he finds out Cate is being released from the juvenile detention center and suddenly his world begins crashing around him. He begins getting strange, cryptic phone calls from Cate which makes Jamie think she really is crazy. He doesn’t want to let her back into his life but a part of him does want to hear what she has to say because Cate is suddenly promising to tell him the truth about their past, a past that Jamie’s never been able to remember. Oh boy, this book really snuck up on me! It didn’t take long for me to figure out one of the plot points, in fact I thought it was pretty obvious what was going on and how it all would end. This didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the novel though, it usually doesn’t when I figure out the ending early on because I still like to see it all play out. I’ve now come to believe that Kuehn is a mastermind when it comes to storytelling and the art of the mind**** because what I thought I’d so easily figured out turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg! This was seriously one of the craziest endings I’ve ever read, just when I thought my mind couldn’t be blown anymore another bomb would get dropped and I loved every second of it!! I wonder now if Kuehn wrote the first plot point to be slightly obvious on purpose, luring her readers into a false sense of “I’ve got this all figured out” so that when the truth finally gets revealed we’re completely blindsided. I don’t know but I think she’s brilliant and I’d love to ask her :) Complicit is one hell of a psychological thriller and houses one of the most complex, creepy and original characters I’ve ever read about. Once all the bits started coming together I was literally on the edge of my seat and didn’t move a muscle until I’d finished the book. I couldn’t believe what I was reading; the brilliance of how Kuehn strung it all together was amazing! I actually had to go back and re-read a few chapters just to make sure what I read was really what I read. Wow, does that last sentence even make sense? Probably not, but if you read this book you’ll totally understand what I’m saying ;) So please, if you love psychological thrillers then read this book! If you pride yourself on being one of those readers who always figures out the plot twist before the author wants you to, then read this book! Stephanie Kuehn is quickly becoming my new favorite author and I can't wait to read her books for years to come!

Complicit by Stephanie Kuehn, is the kind of dark read I would have loved during my teenage years! My head would've been clean and clear of all other mind bending reads and I wouldn't have been jaded by all the completely dark stuff I have read. Don't get me wrong I thoroughly enjoyed this book, there was a dark and deep sense of foreboding the entire time I read it! Jamie, is in high school and apart from having to deal with the general issues an adolescent normally deals with, he has the dark cloud of what his sister did hanging over him. After his sister, Catie, burned down a horse barn, and was then sentenced to 30 months in juvenile detention, Jamie's life went downhill. The friend that he did have deserted him, he stopped getting invitations, he became the outcast. Everything takes a turn for the worst, when Catie is released and she starts making threatening calls to Jamie. And that's about all I can say, without spoiling the entire book! The book is told from Jamie's POV, Jamie is a damaged soul, his and Catie's mother died when he was only 6 years old and out of the two of them, he's the worn that handled it the worst. He sees a psychologist to help him deal with it, but he still has problems... While reading this book I was immediately suspicious of every situation, which is how I always am when reading a mind-fuck. I was on the look out, and I had two theories which started fading into one at about 60% and then became one at 80% and I was correct. Funny enough it didn't take away my enjoyment of the story but what happened from 80% onward was absolutely mind blowing... for me. Complicit, was an absolutely enjoyable and well thought out mind bender. This book was good, although I did feel like the ending needed a bit more work because that's just how I am, I like detail.

I bought this book a while back after reading some pretty great reviews on it. I had heard it was a "scary" book, and that made it even more intriguing to me. I just want to reiterate before I go on, not all books are for all people. I really had a hard time getting into this book. I don't usually trudge through books...I mean I really don't, BUT I had heard so many great things about this book, I kept reading to see what all the hype was about. I am sad to say it took till almost the middle of the book when I was finally like, "Oh, here it goes". Jamie and Cate's story was messed up. I don't know how else to put it other than "messed up". Damaged maybe? Cate seems to be a vengeful girl taking advantage of other and having a fiery temper. Jamie, seems kind of normal at the beginning other than his hands going dead all the time. Something to do with trauma. When the story unravels I understand why Jamie is the way he is, but I DID NOT see the ending coming. That was a great surprise. I wish I would have LOVED this one but I didn't. The ending was FANTASTIC...but I still never connected with any of the characters. The writing was beautiful, and interesting to read. I can see where the author was going with this, but unfortunately I didn't connect until the end....and then it was over. It's an interesting psychological mind trip, I can tell you that. I liked it well enough to finish, so that is a good thing. I loved the end of the book. I loved the writing. I just didn't love that I personally couldn't connect with the book.

Holy wow. All the stars for this book. All of them. I read this book in two days, which is something I don't often do so that says a lot. Also, holy wow! This book is immensely disturbing. I don't think I'll be able to stop thinking about this one for a very long time. While I loved Charm & Strange for all its quirky weirdness and poignancy, Complicit is a sucker-punch that's going to leave my head spinning for a good long while. I strongly recommend this book to fans of Barry Lyga's I Hunt Killers. It has the similar element of edgy creepiness and a generous dollop of WTF'ery. I'm just going to put all of Kuehn's forthcoming titles on pre-order from now on. She's definitely one of my favourite authors!

Kuehn attempts to play with the reader's mind slowly unfurling the relationship between siblings, Jamie & Kate. However, the ending was not as surprising as many think it was. Kuehn left clues throughout the book. Decent read, but not a thriller.

Such a great plot twist, this book amazed me, and it'd make a great movie. The author really captured the mindset of the characters and kept you wanting more. I 100% recommend this book

I knew the twist before even starting Complicit. No, I wasn't spoiled on it. Just, what else could it have been based on the description? That didn't stop me from reading it, obviously, because I wanted to know how things got to this starting point. Jamie's older sister has just been released from jail after setting fire to a barn, killing a bunch of horses, and severely injuring another girl. Now, she's on her way back to town for Jamie. He knows something is up and wants answers, but he also doesn't want to see Cate, but he has to because reasons. It's all very repetitive with so much back-and-forth and rehashing the same events. I just wanted to know the truth! I mean, I knew the truth, but not the why and how. Well, Complicit doesn't really give that to us at all. By the time Jamie learns the truth, it's all over. I understood some of how Jamie and Cate got to where they are now, but I was still left with plenty of questions. The story feels incomplete, but not in a way that keeps you wondering. More of in a way that the author was purposely trying to just be vague and edgy. However, it doesn't work because it doesn't make sense. Particularly that last page. There's no way Jamie would have discarded this object, even if he couldn't remember how he got it or why he had it. He'd been looking for something like it for the entire book, so he should have be curious rather than dismissive. It was just a big miss.

Seldom have I read a book I just couldn't out down. This one's a real page-turner. I read it on vacation in Paris and couldn't leave the apartment all day. My husband and I were both impressed at the psychological depth. And that ending...