Let’s go Booking Through Thursday!

“What’s the best ‘worst’ book you’ve ever read — the one you like despite some negative reviews or features?”

As many readers have commented this week, this was a really hard question to answer! I did eventually find a choice by digging through my library on LibraryThing, though — Kathleen Tessaro’s Innocence, a book I reviewed back in November. The book has a whopping average score of 3.14 stars on LT — pretty low — with several 1-star and 2-star ratings in there, too. And I gave it a solid 4-star rating!

The novel is the story of Evie Garlick, a young woman who moves from Ohio to London to try and carve out a place for herself in theatrical world. The big city isn’t anything like she expected, of course, and all sorts of chaos and adventures ensue. She falls in love with a really troubled guy and is “haunted” by the ghost of her old best friend, a wild and unpredictable young woman called Robbie. The book is all about Evie coming to terms with changing dreams and letting go of the past — not easy goals for anyone to accomplish.

Aside from the really mediocre scores the book has garnered on LibraryThing, one reviewer simply stated: “Terrible book. Wish I hadn’t bothered to read it.”

Oh, how I disagree! Sure, the book was a little whacky with the whole dead-best-friend-haunting thing, but I just recognized it for what it was — a trope, a way for Evie to reconnect with the life she lost — her old life — and begin anew in the present. Robbie’s “ghost” was the propellent for change. No problems there.

Plus, you know, I’m an Anglophile. The book is set in London. It has romance, intrigue, a pregnancy, first loves, surprise visits and some college life stuff in there. Sold!