This was the first book that was published before The Exceptions, of which I recieved from the publisher. After falling in love with “The  “Exceptions” I just had to see it from Melody’s point of view. While it is okay to read Johnny’s side first (The Exceptions), which I am actually glad I did, the ending of Melody’s version, was breathlessly beautiful…So very realistic and very emotional. The ending of this book (The Girl She Used to Be) actually makes me wish I had read this one first, seeing how it left off, (SPOILER)SPOILER)SPOILER) where Melody buys a wedding band, because she forever holds her heart for Johnny, even though they may never see eachother again. (SPOILER ENDED)

 
The author did an outstanding job keeping this story very realistic, and the giving the characters so much lifely depths. This is a story of a girl at the age of six, who witnessed a murder while out with her family at their favorite Italian restaurant, ran by Mafia boss Tony Bovaro. Johnny, who was 10 and totally enchanted by the little girl, watched as she fled the scene with her family. When approached by the police at the time of the incident, he was tricked into spilling everything he saw, even  right down to the plates on the car.

 The family  was forced to testify against the Bovaro’s in court but wouldn’t admit to a thing as to not draw attention from the dangerous family and then were immediately put into the Witness Protection Program. The Bovaro’s left them alone afterwards, seeing them as not a threat. Many years later, when the Bovaro’s were ordered to a huge court hearing where many families would be called upon to testify once again for another members failure, they wanted no loose ends, and planned to terminate the families. All of them. By then, Johnny was an adult, and always dreamt of the girl since the day he first saw her. He refused to let the family be killed, and would go behind his family and instead of “putting them down” he would watch over her, and lie to the family that they could not be found. But, having corrupted FBI men on their sides, they knew were to find the family every time they were relocated. Father became suspicious of Johnny’s defiance, and ordered a cousin to do the deed. Johnny still stands tall and protects the girl at all costs. Melody has no idea who this man is that keeps rescuing her, but his presence makes her feel safe. I felt so sad for her and Johnny through out the entire book. I wanted them to be together, I wanted him to run out and hug her everytime he saw her. This book totally had my mind involved.

This story is full of so much raw emotion, plot turns, and unexpected heart wrenching moments. Melody is a fierce woman who has been through so much tragedy. she refuses to go down without a fight. She remains strong and vigilant and thinks for herself even through the backstabbing and deceiving people continuously try to fool her. She turns the pages, and before any one realizes, they have been played by her.  I did not put this book down once, I ate it up in one sitting! I sat there totally thrilled with every turning page, wishing for the best and survival of Melody and melting at Johnny’s loving covertly hero ways. Johnny is a gallant, warm-hearted, undercover hero, and fights to be better and different from his own family. I tried to write this as best as I can without spoiling. But take it from me, if you love a little romance with your crime thrills. It was the perfect dose of love to go with this crime thrilling-page-turner. I could recommend this to both, male and female and I am sure they would enjoy this.

The Book: The Girl She Used to Be

Author: David Cristofano

Format: Paperback

Genre: Thriller/Romance-ish

Publication Year:  2009

Word Count/Page Count: ~ 64,000 Words/256 Pages

Stars: Three out of Five

Where it Came From: Borders’ going-out-of-business sale

“Viewer” Rating: PG-13 (for minor cursing, sexual innuendo, violence, and a couple of almost-sex scenes)

The Review:

The Girl She Used to Be is the story of Melody Grace McCartney—or May Adams, or Karen Smith, or Anne Johnson, depending on the year and the particular identity she’s been forced to adopt—a twenty-six-year-old woman who has been in the Federal Witness Protection Program for the past two decades. She is sick of always running, never being able to make connections with people, and never really knowing her own identity. So when a member of the same Mafia family whose actions sent her into WITSEC to begin with shows up in her life, Melody stops running and turns to stare danger right in the eyes.

I really alternated between liking and not liking this book, which is why it got 3 stars—a nice middle ground for a book that had me ying-yanging back and forth like that sling-shot ride that they have in some coastal towns. So let me break it down for you.

What I Liked:

>The emotion.

I was really impressed with the emotional depth that Cristofano managed to convey in such a short book. Melody’s emotions, thoughts, and feelings rang (for the most part) completely true. And, what’s more, they evoked empathy from the reader, which is a challenge in and of itself.

>The author-character compatibility.

I always have some misgivings at first when I see a guy’s name on the cover of a book from a female POV. I’m not trying to be sexist—I’ve just read too many bad books where a male has attempted (and failed miserably) at adopting a female persona for a book’s narration. Not so in this case. Cristofano handled Melody’s emotional and intellectual character with delicate grace. By the end, I was convinced that I’d had a glimpse, albeit a small one, into the head of someone who’d actually been in witness protection.

>The pacing. (Mostly).

While I don’t know if this book is actually classified as a thriller (all I can find is classification as a romance, which I disagree with. See explanation under “What I Didn’t Like”), I was hooked and finished the book in two days.

What I Didn’t Like:

>The love story. Now, I’m not anti-romance by any streak of the imagination. I like a good guy-meets-girl story as much as the next fanatic reader. What I don’t like is underdeveloped guy-meets-girl-and-hours/a day-later-they’re-in-love-and-convinced-that-they’re-soul-mates storylines. Call me old-fashioned, but that’s not love. That’s infatuation. And lust. I won’t say anymore and spoil too much of the plot.

>The portrayal of law enforcement

I won’t give too much away, but because the book is in first-person POV, the WITSEC marshals get a pretty bad beating on the pages of Melody’s mind. Since the book was preoccupied with redemption and discovering new truth, I felt that her perceptions of them should have been explored a little more.

>Character depth.

The only character that the reader was really allowed the opportunity to know was Melody. We don’t even get much depth into Jonathan, the Mafioso-slash-love interest.

>Not long enough.

This doesn’t need much explanation. The ending felt rushed and, although I believe it tied up all the loose ends nicely, drawing it out a bit more would have been more emotionally cathartic for the reader. The entire book was leading up to this one, single confrontation, which occurred over the space of ten, maybe fifteen pages. That was disappointing.

The Bottom Line:

Yes, I would recommend this book to my friends.

Titled  The Best Reviews Money Can Buy, the article by David Streitfeld tells the story of Todd Rutherford.  Entrepreneurial Rutherford, struggling as a cog in the PR marketing machine for a self-publishing company, found it extremely difficult to entice reviewers to review the books… and even harder to get the kind of stellar reviews the authors wanted.  The solution?  Create a company to pay readers to review positively.  Actually reading the book?  Not required.

Disturbingly, Rutherford’s company made tons of money, as much as $28,000 in one month, according to the Times article.   But an unhappy author posted “loud, angry accusation” on several consumer websites about Rutherford, and the next thing you know, Amazon took down his reviews and Google  suspended his advertising.  Another service he launched – to get authors to review each other’s works – was not successful.  He’s trying the review business again, but with no payment to the reviewers.  Good luck with that.

This is the 226th post on Literary Lunchbox.  The vast majority are book reviews.  Not a single one has been paid for.  Not a one has been done as a favor.  Many are middling reviews, a few are scathing, and I think you can tell when I really, really love a book.  It should be pretty clear that I’ve read every book I reviewed, cover to cover.  I don’t hand out stars or give numerical ratings on my blog because books are a little more complicated than that.

Recently, however, I did a review of David Cristofano‘s new book, The Exceptions.  I had previously read and liked his debut novel, and I got a notice by email from his publisher that the new one was out.   I replied by email to say thank you for letting me know, I’ll be sure to read it!  I put it on hold at the library and went on my merry way.

The next day, a follow-up email.  Send me your snail mail address and I will send you a complimentary copy.  I thought about this carefully before I replied.  Thoughts included:

1. Really?  You noticed my blog?
2. But will getting the book for free influence my review?
3. Still, how is this different than getting an Advanced Reading Copy at a conference?
4. And how is this different from the books that are sent to reviewers who work for traditional media outlets, such as the Chicago Tribune and the New York Times?

I provided my mailing address.  The book came.  I read it and enjoyed it, and my review reflected that, but there was no gushing.  If I had been disappointed by The Exceptions, I would have said so.   There’s a line between right and wrong, and I don’t think I crossed it.

There is no doubt that the publishing industry is in flux.  Everything’s changing.  But for authors to buy positive reviews is just out-and-out unethical, and the practice of buying and selling reviews is diminishing the value of everybody’s reviews.  And that makes me pretty discouraged.

So, listen to your friends.  Find reviewers that you trust.  And consider doing some reviews yourself… on Amazon, on Goodreads, or even start your own blog. Because the more people who really love books share the love, the less opportunity there is for hacks and scammers!

Title:  

Author:  David Cristofano

Genre:  Fiction

Published:  August 2012 – Grand Central Publishing

Hardcover: 480 pages

Synopsis:  No loose ends. It’s the Bovaro family motto. As part of the Bovaro clan, one of the most powerful and respected families in organized crime, Jonathan knows what he must do: take out Melody Grace McCartney, the woman whose testimony can lock up his father and disgrace his entire family. The only problem: he can’t bring himself to do it.

Had Jonathan kept his silence, Melody and her parents would never have been identified and lured into the Witness Protection Program, able to run but never to hide. So he keeps her safe the only way he knows how-by vowing to clean up his own mess while acting as her shield.

But as he watches her take on another new identity in yet another new town, becoming a beautiful but broken woman, Jonathan can’t get her out of his mind . . . or his heart. From the streets of Little Italy to a refuge that promises a fresh start, Jonathan will be forced to choose between the life he’s always known, the destiny his family has carved out for him, and a future unlike anything he’s ever imagined.

My take:  I read David Cristofano’s first novel, The Girl She Used to Be, a few years ago. When I finished reading it my hope was that there would someday be a sequel. I really liked Melody Grace McCartney’s story.

Well, Cristofano followed his debut with a sequel of sorts – it’s Jonathan Bovaro’s version of Melody’s story. The same story as seen through Jonathan’s eyes.

Cristofano paced The Exceptions just as he did TGSUTB – which means I didn’t want to stop reading. Maybe it’s because a few years have passed since I read the original story but, even though I knew the plot, I found it compelling, gripping, and thrilling. Seriously, my heart was pounding several times while reading. I don’t read many thrillers but when I do, I want them to make me feel the way I did reading this book.

I don’t want to reveal any more of the plot than the synopsis has. If you loved the first novel I think you’ll love The Exceptions. If you haven’t read The Girl She Used to Be, maybe read that first.

Disclosure:  I received a review galley from the publisher via NetGalley. See sidebar for disclosure policy.

The story arcs overlap in time without being perfectly aligned.  Melody’s story begins as she is being moved, once again, into a new life by the US Marshalls.  Twenty years ago, she and her parents had witnessed a murder, stumbling upon paterfamilias Tony Bovaro as he guts aptly-named Jimmy the Rat in a restaurant kitchen.  The Bovaros had found the McCartney family once, killing Melody’s parents in a grocery store parking lot.   The Girl She Used to Be takes a sharp turn when Melody wakes in her dumpy hotel room with a “knife” to her throat… held by Jonathan Bovaro.  He’s been watching her for years, and has a plan to keep her safe.  A bad plan, but a plan.

As those who read Melody’s story know, ****SPOILER ALERT*** the end of The Girl She Used to Be had the star-crossed lovers separated, with Melody given a brand-new start, with nobody chasing her, because Jonathan has confessed to killing her.  She loves him, but they can never be together.

In The Exceptions, the story has a longer arc, beginning with the murder and the reason why Jonathan’s spent most of his adult life trying to shield Melody, and ending after he has flipped on his family, been WITSECed himself, and then more-or-less abducted by an FBI agent.  For what purpose, I refuse to say.

Thus does Cristofano masterfully maintain suspense despite telling the same story twice!   Gimmicky?  Sure.  A gimmick I wish I’d thought of.

Both books stand on their own, no problem. And I had a super-fun, although time-consuming, couple of days wherein I compared the Exceptions to the Girl.  Conversations between Melody and Jonathon are dizzying when you see the same words spoken, but the internal perspective presented varies.   My strong recommendation is to read them in order.  The twist at the end of The Exceptions will be a lot more twist-y if you’ve already read Girl.

You know when you go to a romantic movie because you want to walk out all warm and fuzzy and see someone’s life work out?  And then it doesn’t and you’re not sure if you should be pissed off or bummed out or just frustrated like a teenager whose parents walked in three minutes too soon?

That’s The Girl She Used to Be.  Melody and her parents witnessed a Mafia hit when she was six years old and their lives ended.  They survived (for awhile), but they entered Witness Protection.  In a fit of teenage snit over a boy, Melody ratted out her parents to a local paper and 29 hours later they were dead.  So she is relocated over and over and over, but this time alone.  The story begins with her ending one identity, making up a threat, and starting another out of ennui.  But then she meets a son of the Mafia family when he breaks into her motel room while her agent walks along the beach and everything turns on its head.  She’s tired of running and living a lie and feeling insecure.  This guy is in love with her after shadowing her for years, wants to save her by taking her into the heart of his family under his protection, and, to top it all off, is gorgeous and well-mannered.  Go figure.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.  Nicholas Sparks.  Stephanie Meyer.  It’s all about some handsome guy whose whole world revolves around us, around a woman, the woman who is telling the story.  And we eat it up because we want to be that girl with the guy who is tough on the exterior, but soft inside.  Who kicks the ass of the rest of the world, but wants to protect us and kiss us and bring us to climaxes we did not even dream were possible and this just by giving us the look.  Or flashing his abs.  It’s our version of a doe-eyed centerfold.   It’s a little uncomfortable to realize how appealing that story line is, but ok.

Here’s the brutal part.  After pages and pages of Melody whining about her lost life and then pages and pages of her forgetting about the death of her parents as she luxuriates in the pampering that can be bought by Mafia money and the feeling of security from being attached to the baddest bad ass in the room, she ends up alone.  Like, forever alone.   Virgin Queen alone.

So thumbs up for the premise and the first half of the book.  I could have even forgiven the whining if, after following the conventions of romance, the happy caricatures ended up together.  That’s the problem with genre.  When you try to bust it, you risk alienating your audience. Would Pride and Prejudice have been such a hit if Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy didn’t end up together?  No way, Jose.  I don’t read romance to have a literary experience.  Or to close the cover feeling worse than when I opened it.  Geez.

As with  a hangover, the best cure for a bad ending is to start reading again.  My fingers are crossed.

Finished 4/23/12

I’m embarrassed to admit that I actually finished this book. My excuse is that I was filled with sick curiosity. The only redeeming component of the novel is the believable writing around the main character’s, Melody’s, emotions. Even the novel’s premise is good: what it is like for a woman to be in the Witness Protection Program. Unfortunately, the majority of the story becomes a cheeseball romance. Of course Melody is beautiful, smart, and tough. Of course she falls in love with her “captor.” Of course he is chivalrous and trying to become a good man. And all the pledges to never-ending fidelity left me feeling that Cristofano forcibly inserted his own value judgements.

Gwenamon says: Lame

Melody Grace McCartney was only six when her desire for a special breakfast changed their lives forever, when the family witnessed a mob murder. Persuaded to give evidence by the promise of protection, the McCartneys entered into a nomadic existence that ended for the parents in a hail of bullets.  Since then, Melody’s been on her own, moving on when restlessness and vague anxiety spur her to do so.

Imagine her surprise when she finds out, from the man deputized to find and kill her, that he’s been following her movements for years… knows her intimately… and has a plan to save her.  Add in his abs of steel, intelligence, and numerous scars to show he’s been hurt, too, and who wouldn’t fall in love?

More romantic suspense than mystery, The Girl She Used to Be packs plenty of action and nail-biting tension into its pages, with a resolution that has a strong Gift of the Magi-like quality.  Overall, I liked it.  Melody has a certain sass and determination.  Jonathan – or Little Johnny as the family call him – has an air of quiet desperation and determination.  As I was reading it, it occurred to me that it would make a great date movie.  It’s just the right scope, the characters are just the right age, it has lots of tension, romance and action, and you’re filled with hope even as you are certain the lovers are doomed.  And sure enough, on David Cristofano’s web site is the news that the movie rights have been sold to the same folks who made The Notebook (book by Nicholas Sparks) and My Sister’s Keeper (author Jodi Picoult).

Still, the book doesn’t quite come up to the standard I set for a mystery.  As a result, The Girl She Used to Be lands smack in the midlist of the Literary Lunchbox Edgar Awards.  Congrats to winner Stefanie Pintoff for In the Shadow of Gotham… if the Edgar judges follow my lead, she’ll be picking up her award on April 29th!  Here’s the final line-up:

1. In the Shadow of Gotham – Stefanie Pintoff
2. Starvation Lake – Bryan Gruley
3. The Girl She Used to Be – David Cristofano
4. A Bad Day for Sorry – Sophie Littlefield
5. Blackwater Rising – Attica Locke
6. The Weight of Silence – Heather Gudenkauf

Author:  David Cristofano

Published:  March 19, 2009

Page Count:  256

Genre:  Fiction

My Rating:  3/5

When Melody Grace McCartney was six years old, she and her parents witnessed an act of violence so brutal that it changed their lives forever. The federal government lured them into the Witness Protection Program with the promise of safety, and they went gratefully. But the program took Melody’s name, her home, her innocence, and, ultimately, her family. She’s been May Adams, Karen Smith, Anne Johnson, and countless others–everyone but the one person she longs to be: herself. So when the feds spirit her off to begin yet another new life in another town, she’s stunned when a man confronts her and calls her by her real name. Jonathan Bovaro, the mafioso sent to hunt her down, knows her, the real her, and it’s a dangerous thrill that Melody can’t resist. He’s insistent that she’s just a pawn in the government’s war against the Bovaro family. But can she trust her life and her identity to this vicious stranger whose acts of violence are legendary?

I have really mixed feelings about The Girl She Used to Be.  Generally speaking, I did enjoy the book.  I found it fast-paced and interesting, I had a difficult time putting it down, and I thought the writing was pretty good.  However, the story itself was so completely implausible that it made it very hard to actually enjoy or get involved with the story at all.  Let me try to explain further.

First, the good.  Cristofano has created an intriguing premise and carried that premise through with many plot twists and interesting situations for the characters to explore.  He also created an extremely believable main character with Melody – despite the fact that she seems to not “know who she really is” I felt like the reader got a clear impression of her from the very beginning of the book, and that only solidified throughout.  She was interesting, complex, very realistic, and totally believable.  I definitely empathized with her and hoped for things to work out for her in the end.  I didn’t love all the decisions she made, but that only made her more realistic to me – in real life, we all make stupid decisions and then have to deal with the repercussions of those decisions.

Now here’s the bad part.  The premise of the story itself is so difficult for me to believe that I could never get fully invested in the story.  I mean, okay, she’s part of the Witness Protection Program but can never keep it quiet long enough to stay put, I get that, but WHY OH WHY does she keep messing stuff up for herself?!  One of the US Marshalls told her himself that they have thousands of people in the program who live perfectly normal lives, yet Melody just couldn’t handle keeping her secret, so she never fell in love, never made friends, never had a career, just because she kept having to screw herself over by blabbing about who she really was.  So that annoyed me.  And then the Jonathan thing – no WAY this could happen in real life.  She is being guarded by a U.S. Marshall, who just happened to take a walk so Jonathan could go into her motel room and kidnap her – WHAT?  Obviously, if this were real life, someone would be guarding her at all times.  And then so much of what happened between the two of them, well I just didn’t get it.  It was just way too convenient, too many coincidences, and I was mostly annoyed by it all.  Also, there was one aspect of her story that Jonathan had questioned, as in, something is going on here, deeper than what it looks, and yet that question was never answered.  This totally irritated me – it was important, in my opinion, and I wanted to know the details.

So, overall, not a bad read, but I can’t wholeheartedly recommend it with the issues I had.  However, there are several other bloggers who read and enjoy this one, so check out their reviews if you’d like another opinion!

• Christina at Jackets & Covers
• Ashley at Bellas Novella
• Jen at Devourer of Books
• Marie at The Burton Review
• Thoughts of Joy
• Ali at Worducopia
• Alyce at At Home With Books
• Kathy at Bermudaonion
• Julie at Booking Mama
• Melissa at Shh I’m Reading

The Girl She Used to Be tells the story of Melody Grace McCartney, a twenty-six-year-old federal witness in the case against the head of the Bovaro mafia. Melody, now Sandra Clarke, is alone in the world and bored out of her mind as a math teacher is small town America. So she packs a bag, calls her WITSEC agent, and tells them she’s been found.

Little does she realize that Jonathan Bovaro, son of the mafia head and the one charged with wiping out this federal witness, is actually hot on her trail.  And just before Melody becomes Michelle, Jonathan snaps her up and tells her he has a plan to keep her safe.

I loved this novel. I feel like it’s nothing I’ve ever read before, and the plot is fresh with plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader engaged. The pages flew by, and before I knew it The Girl She Used to Be was over. The writing is absolutely gorgeous and intelligent — perfectly suited for each part of the plot — and loved the characters. Jonathan is not your average mafia man and it’s so easy to fall in love with him, and Melody is completely believable for the situation she’s been thrown in.

I loved this book. It’s slipped under my skin, and I just can’t seem to shake this plotline. Hopefully, this first-time novelist will continue his success with his next novel, which I’ll be sure to snap up as soon as it’s available.

Others’ Thoughts:

• Bookfoolery and Babble
• Thoughts of Joy

Book Mentioned:

• Cristofano, David. The Girl She Used to Be. New York: Grand Central Pub., 2009. Print. 284 pgs. ISBN: 9780446582223. Source: Library.

The book pulls you in with not only the plot but also the fast paced action. You constantly are pulled in different directions and the result is that the book simply flies by. But beyond that there is also some really terrific writing. His pace and rhythm are often poetic and yet seem to flow with the action as well. However my favorite aspect of the book is the unique main character. She is truly multi-dimensional. She is unlike what you expect her to be and always somewhat unpredictable and yet you still seem to connect to her in some way.  There always seems to be another layer to her.

David Cristofano has done a wonderful job and I will definetly be looking for later works after reading this novel. Below is one of my favorite passages…

“The unrecoverable moment is like the first bullet added to a magazine, waiting for that future argument when no other thing can be said to trump or wound a loved one, and the gun is drawn and the bullet is fired  and resentment and anger and distrust emerge as the only available emotions, and they stick in the air like sulfur, with everyone gasping.”