Book Review: Handpicked by Dani Oden

Handpicked (The Pledged #1)

Dani Oden 

NA, Contemporary, Mystery, Romance

Copy from Netgalley

See on: Goodreads

Buy from: Amazon

 College freshman Jill Holloway takes one look at the stuck-up girls going through sorority rush and nearly returns her borrowed dress and heels. Against her best judgment, she ends up falling for the prestige and parties, and snagging a bid from a top house. After moving in, she quickly grows skeptical of her too-perfect sorority sisters. She tries to ask questions, though no one will take time from their busy social calendar to give her any real answers.

Jill wastes no time digging for everything she’s not supposed to find, and soon comes face-to-face with a big and bloody secret hidden in her sorority’s basement. She knows she’s in over her head, but taking off so soon would raise the perfectly-plucked eyebrows of her suspicious new sisters. She’s stuck until she can make a smooth exit.

But the closer she gets to leaving, the more it becomes clear that it won’t be as simple as she hoped. A tempting fraternity guy, a best friend who needs her, and new details about what has really been happening in the basement have her questioning what her next move should be, and whether or not it’ll be worth the risks.

HANDPICKED is a New Adult coming of age, with elements of suspense and romance.

The first five chapters had me going. In those chapters, it just kept getting better.
Until it eventually died down.
It was one of those books that I have ever felt letdown.

The story goes with a freshman entering a sorority. And not just any sorority, mind, but THE sorority every girl should aspire of entering.
But not everything is as clean-cut as it appears to be.
Because that perfect sorority is hiding something.
Something that can ruin lives for good.

Sounds awesome right?
Too bad the book wasn't able to sustain the momentum these first few chapters presented.

The mix of suspense, peer pressure, a little gore and romance would have resulted to such a promising story that remains awesome til the end. What happened in this book, however are the elements losing the seamless connection it needs to work, thus resulting to garbled mumbo-jumbo that leaves the ending falling flat. Squish. Splat.

I am not closed to reading the second book in the series. Yet, I am wary that it may set my hopes up once more only ending to another messy splat (I can only hope that it doesn't).

Dani Oden is a karaoke virgin based in the Pacific Northwest. She balances her writing life with a career in education and community relations.

Dani is also a proud mom and wife to a bearded filmmaker. When she’s not writing novels as her baby sleeps in her lap, she can be found sampling Washington wine, road tripping, and daydreaming about DIY projects way above her skill level.

Author links: 

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