Customer Reviews

Crimes of the Sarahs

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I was really looking forward to reading this book, I enjoyed Lost It and I was thrilled to see that another book by the author was already out.

At first I was concerned that a book about four Sarahs would confuse me, but that rarely happened, except when it did. I had a hard time remembering who Sarah C and Sarah B were, not because they were similar, but because they were only talked about when they were important to the plot.

The main idea of the book is that Sarah T desperately wants to remain friends with Sarah A. Sarah A is the typical Mean Girl, she acts like your friend but she's more than willing to stab you in the back if it helps her out. And through out the book Sarah T recognizes that, but does nothing about it. She remains friends with Sarah A even after multiple attacks from Sarah A.

I mean, we're talking about the protagonist of a contemporary teen lit novel, she's supposed to have a backbone, right? Or at least gain one through are the twenty some-odd chapters. But, Sarah T doesn't have a backbone by the last page and I was highly disappointed by that. Yes, she says she's doing the right thing by remaining by her friend but Sarah A wasn't a real friend.

Maybe I'm missing the point of the book though.

I still managed to finish the book, because Kristen Tracy is a great author, I just don't agree with the way the book ended or how the book attempted to cover so many topics. I'm still looking forward to Tracy's next book and if you haven't already I really do recommend Lost It, that was fabulous book. Crimes of the Sarahs just didn't measure up.

Not a decent or thought-provoking read. The characters don't seem to really develop, and Sarah T's (the narrator) personality begins to get quite tedious about half-way through. As a girl of similar age, I don't see most of the interactions between the Sarahs to be realistic. The prose is very simplistic, and is better suited towards tweens younger than the characters, which always bothers me.

This book is quite different from what I've read for a while.

This difference can either be a good thing or bad, and as of this point, I'm not too sure what it is for me. Although, I would say this: it's a bit refreshing. There's no romance. No love story for the main character (Sarah T) to end up happily ever after with. Generally, the Young Adult crowd will not like that, but I find it oddly reassuring. It's like this: just because in the books you've read before where the protagonist always ends up with a boyfriend/girlfriend, doesn't mean that's true in real life. In reality, you're probably going to be single for quite some time. In reality, you're probably going to solve your problems yourself and not because some wise guy helped you out. Yes, it's quite a sad reality. But anyway--I like that Sarah T can solve her own problems without the guy, as is the case with all other books. This novel puts much more emphasis on family, friendship and the difference between right and wrong.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about crime. Thievery, actually. It's not a coincidence. I picked up this book because of the title and blurb and I was wondering whether it might offer me any insight on this particular topic. It's definitely an interesting topic. And while there hasn't been much insight, it has made me re-think my life of crime. When I say that, I don't really mean a lifetime of crime. Honestly, I've stolen a couple of times before (three times, actually) but I'm not proud of it. I hardly remember the "moment" or the consequences, but that's because there weren't any. I like that this book balances out the acts of crime and consequences because these two things just go together. When you commit the crime, you don't think about the aftermath. You just do it. You think you're invincible. I like to think that for most people, stealing is a phase you go through, like the Barbie/dolls phase. You take something once or twice, but eventually you realize that there's really nothing to stealing. And it slowly just gets drowned out among other interesting things. At least, that's the case for me. For those others who are kleptomaniacs or have some other psychological reasoning for stealing--well, I try not to think about them too much. I don't understand why they do the things they do. But then again, I don't understand a lot of things.

Basically, this has just been a book that takes me back to my younger days. It's not terribly exciting, but I do love the distinct qualities of all the Sarahs. It gets especially clear in the dialogue, which is a strong point of this author's. She has a clear voice, and she is trying to approach a serious topic.

Meet Sarahs Aberdeen, Babbitt, Cody, and Trestle. They are the only members of the hottest clique in Kalamazoo: the Sarahs. Well, there used to be another, but she was kicked out because she just wasn't good enough. The Sarahs are all best friends; they do everything with each other, from volunteering to gossip. All they need is each other; at least, that's the way it should be. But the Sarahs have a unique hobby: petty thievery. With one shoplifting attempt gone wrong, the relationship among the Sarahs starts to deteriorate and spin out of control. Each of the Sarahs, especially Sarah T, is willing to do anything to stay a part of this club, but how far will they go?

Crimes of the Sarahs was not what I expected it to be, and that's not necessarily a good thing. I expected this novel to be solely about the crimes of these four friends, but it turned out to be mostly about the individual journey of Sarah T as she comes to terms with how she and her friends have changed. It seemed to me that halfway through the book, the story changed entirely except for the setting. I didn't really like this, and when I finished reading, I felt confused as to what the point of the story was. For soon-to-be-seniors in high school, the Sarahs acted quite immature at some times, and I felt that some of the family problems each Sarah had were just included at the last minute. Overall, I was disappointed with the story.

If you are looking for a fun book to read to entertainment, I would not recommend Crimes of the Sarahs. It did not live up to my expectations and was not as enjoyable and effective as it could've been in conveying its message.

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