When I first read a summary of the book, I was somewhat interested. It seemed like any other mystery/action book. I do love the genre, but some books tend to have the same formula over and over again. It’s like they copy and paste the idea. So going into this book, I was expecting it to be good, but not great. The writer puts lots of detail on the characters while leaving gaps for the reader to solve. But it still leaves me wanting to figure out other things that happened. There are many parts of the book that aren’t as well developed, and that leaves the reader questioning things. But in the end, it is somewhat enjoyable.

Summary

Overturned is a fictional book from Lamar Giles all about Nikki Tate, a girl who’s Dad is convicted of murder and is right now innocent. He is a master at poker, and having owned a casino makes him look more suspicious. Suddenly, with new evidence, he is released and returns home to his family. Having not seen her Dad for five years, she expects that the family will be back to normal. But with a shaken up past and her Dad wanting to mind the killer, she is left alone playing poker secretly in gangs and clubs.

Nikki tries to save up money from all the poker games so she can go to college and is so close when she blows it all with their Dad. She is later furious with her Dad for using her money for the losing round and tears her family apart. When she is going on a secret date with a new student, she is horrified to find her Dad dead in their casino. With a stronger motivation to find the killer, she digs up the past about her family and finds that people will go so far to cover up what’s meant to be hidden.

Thoughts

The book starts off very entertaining, with a good description of all the characters, events going on, and the current time they are in. One quote from the book that sticks out to me is when her Dad is released from jail and she surprises her dad with an iPhone. He sits there looking at it blankly and shrugs it off, which I thought was a clever touch. They then go on in detail about all the friends she has and how she saves a new student from the football team. That student’s Dad owns another casino and has some bad blood with the family.

The part that gets interesting is when Nikki’s Dad dies. The story is in a whole different tone and the way the writer conveys it makes the story better. The many plot twists do make the story great without sacrificing repetitiveness. The writer makes sure to plant secret events and clues that all come together in the end. But that’s where the whole book drops. In the end, the writer lacks courage and instead makes all the hidden connections go to waste and just gives a confusing and bland ending. The reader is just left there wondering what happened in that part of this section. It was just poorly executed, and that makes the book worse.

Conclusion

An average summer blockbuster is bad and ends up not doing well. Most critics don’t like the movie for various reasons, and the viewers tend to agree. This is exactly what I feel about the book. While it is enjoyable in some parts, the rest is lacking and makes it feel like an incomplete book. Just like a blockbuster, this just leaves the reader disappointed. All in all, this book is an interesting read but is not something that I recommend.

Rating: 3/5