Accomplice

Sep 16, 2010 Melly rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

I found it quite good. It started off well and I enjoyed reading it.

Finn's struggle with guilt is pretty well written. I started to feel a lot of the emotions Finn was experiencing.

The whole idea was pretty realistic for how impossible the whole thing really is. I do like how Corrigan had Chloe turn on Finn near the end and threaten her.

Chloe's character was well written also. It's hard to pull off a twisted, crazy teenage girl like Corrigan did in this book.
Chloe is the twisted one and Finn is...more

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Oct 07, 2011 Eric rated it 1 of 5 stars

Eireann Corrigan
Accomplice
New York Scholastic Press 2010
296 pp. $17.99
978-0-545-05236-8

Have you ever considered committing a crime in order to sure your spot in college? In Accomplice by Eirrean Corrigan, the author attempts to have a gripping plot about two girls faking a kidnapping in order to get into college, but as the book progresses Corrigan’s story becomes monotonous and falls apart. She intends to create suspense with the plot, but the story becomes unbelievable and somewhat tedious. Th...more Eireann Corrigan
Accomplice
New York Scholastic Press 2010
296 pp. $17.99
978-0-545-05236-8

Have you ever considered committing a crime in order to sure your spot in college? In Accomplice by Eirrean Corrigan, the author attempts to have a gripping plot about two girls faking a kidnapping in order to get into college, but as the book progresses Corrigan’s story becomes monotonous and falls apart. She intends to create suspense with the plot, but the story becomes unbelievable and somewhat tedious. The characters are expected to be relatable to, but they are flat, and you never know what they are thinking. Also, the dialogue seems to act as filler, and really adds no content to the book.

Corrigan attempts to make the characters relatable by using a topic that all teenagers will face, college. However, she describes the characters in such a way that they become somewhat fake, and unlike normal people. Also, the author uses dialogue to try and allow the reader to enter the character’s mind, but it seems useless and becomes just filler. For instance, Corrigan describes the mother, but is repetitive and confusing. She writes, “My mom is great and all, but she wasn’t the really waiting0with-cookies-at the door kind of mother. If it was before four she was usually at some scrap booking class. If it was after, she had her appointment with Oprah. But that day, I could see her from all the way down by the mailboxes. She stood on the steps, her hands on her hips.” (36) Corrigan doesn’t need to describe every detail about the main character’s mother and since she does do this it becomes boring.

The author’s inability to make interesting characters also affects the plot. Corrigan has an interesting idea for a story in that, two girls fake a kidnapping to get into college, but her characters are unbelievable, so the plot falls apart too. The reader ends up not believing that these events are possible, and as you continue to read, the story just drags on and on, and there is no suspense to keep the pages turning.

Corrigan fails to keep the reader and my attention with her new book Accomplice. She is unable to make the characters relatable, and also fails to make a suspenseful gripping plot.
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Sep 30, 2010 Very rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, borrowed, ya, xx, screwy-teenagers, first-person

One thing that drove me crazy was the author's bad habit of using inappropriate similes. Maybe that was her way of trying to achieve an authentic teenage voice. But it had the opposite effect.

Here's an example: "Chloe sounded stoned. She sounded like kids had that time they had a hypnotist get people to cluck like a chicken and stuff at our eighth-grade formal."

First of all, only the first sentence makes sense. Chloe sounded stoned. Fine. Forget about the fact that stoned people don't all sound...more One thing that drove me crazy was the author's bad habit of using inappropriate similes. Maybe that was her way of trying to achieve an authentic teenage voice. But it had the opposite effect.

Here's an example: "Chloe sounded stoned. She sounded like kids had that time they had a hypnotist get people to cluck like a chicken and stuff at our eighth-grade formal."

First of all, only the first sentence makes sense. Chloe sounded stoned. Fine. Forget about the fact that stoned people don't all sound the same. Or that the narrator has probably never seen Chloe stoned. I can overlook that, maybe. But how does she sound like kids had that time a hypnotist made them cluck like a chicken? Is Chloe currently clucking like a chicken? No. She's talking. So that second line reeks of an author who's showing off and showing off badly. What she means to say is that Chloe sounded hypnotized or monotone. Say that then. Why mention clucking chickens?

Here's another example: "'What makes you think that?' She hung each word up carefully, the way we handle my grandmother's glass Christmas ornaments."

This one isn't as bad, but it still isn't good. You don't really hang words when you speak. You might say them slowly or with special emphasis, but you don't hang them like Christmas ornaments. Sorry.

Here's one last example. When the narrator thinks about how she'll feel if/when she finally confesses to her crime, she says: "I decided it would probably feel like having a lung transplant or heart surgery. I mean -- afterward, it would feel like I could finally breathe."

Maybe I'm being nitpicky, but having a lung transplant or heart surgery is pretty painful. You have to stay in the hospital for a long time and take all kinds of medication and worry about rejecting the organ and blah blah blah. The narrator is trying to say that she would feel relief, and yet she's talking about having surgery. Why not delete that part and just use the second part: "It would feel like I could finally breathe." That's fairly cliche, but at least it makes sense.

Anyway, aside from the similes, the plot was anticlimactic and the narrator had no discernible personality. I liked the ending (as in the very last page), but I'm annoyed that i stayed up late to finish this when I could have been sleeping. I like sleep much better than this book.(less)

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Apr 19, 2013 Kkight rated it 4 of 5 stars

Accomplice: Book Review
The novel, Accomplice, written by Eireann Corrigan, is a perfect combination of fiction and reality. I have to admit that I was deeply attracted by the story. The book demonstrates a wide variety of meaningful themes by using creative setting.
When I first glanced at the title of the book, I was engaged. I was wondering if the book would display a series of conflicts which are created by insidious criminals. Nevertheless, the story is not about those clichés.
The setting...more Accomplice: Book Review
The novel, Accomplice, written by Eireann Corrigan, is a perfect combination of fiction and reality. I have to admit that I was deeply attracted by the story. The book demonstrates a wide variety of meaningful themes by using creative setting.
When I first glanced at the title of the book, I was engaged. I was wondering if the book would display a series of conflicts which are created by insidious criminals. Nevertheless, the story is not about those clichés.
The setting and background of the story are very well-planned and creative with themes embedded in. As the name of book suggests, the story is about two girls who plan to deceit the whole world in order to crave attentions and fames for college application in America. Finn, the main character, helps her friend, Chloe to perform a vicious plan. By depicting the eventful plot, the author actually criticizes the education system in our real world. I believed it is very necessary for us to think about the disadvantages of an education system that seems good enough. As what is depicted in the novel, Finn and Chloe are told “You are not as extraordinary as you think you are” (23). Finn’s and Chloe’s personal values are denied by criticism. Instead of “twitching tearfully”(25), Finn and Chloe think that they need to do something to “Make it stop”(23). I could image a picture of two modest girls getting destroyed by the negative facade of our society. In fact, I felt sorry for them. With my melancholy, I really appreciated this novel because it reflects the defects of an education system.
Another reason for me to love this novel is that it challenges the fundamental notion of friendship. In spite of my loyalty to friendship, I found that some ideas in this novel are very true. In the twisting plot, Finn and Chloe’s friendship unravels. Finn’s conscience and Chloe’s immature behaviors act as two magnets that repel each other far away. In the end, Finn says, “I sent her a text. She didn’t write back.” (280). These words indicate the destruction of their friendship and I was astonished. For me, the lost of a good friend is the most unfortunate thing in the world. Moreover, I could hardly believe that Chloe, eager for fame and wealth, is able to abandon her best friend. Maybe Finn and Chloe are just two people who hang out together. Although I believe friendship comes with eternity, the novel suggests that friendship can sometimes be fragile in front of wealth and fame.
In my opinion, the novel is well-designed with insightful meanings about relations between people. It is a really amazing book for me to enjoy and think about our reality. Therefore, I highly recommend this novel, Accomplice, to readers who want to obtain more thoughts as well as understandings about the role of friendship inside our society.
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Apr 02, 2013 Karen Yingling rated it 3 of 5 stars

Living on the east coast, Finn and Chloe are afraid that their high school academics are not good enough for them to get into elite colleges. After seeing a news item about a girl who was abducted and held for months by kidnappers and then got into the college of their choice, they come up with an elaborate plan-- Chloe will disappear for a while, Finn will help "find" her, and they will both not only get accepted into whatever college they want, but will get scholarship money. Their plan goes w...more

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Dec 13, 2012 Victoria rated it 2 of 5 stars

The beginning of this book could not grab my attention. It was so difficult for me to read it because the first two chapters bored me already. I finally pushed through the beginning and eventually, it became better. The rise and fall of the plot finally started and it became more interesting. The book was definitely a drag, and my opinion of this book hadn’t change since I first took it off the shelf – it was alright.

There were a lot of tiny, dependant conflicts and events happening in the book...more The beginning of this book could not grab my attention. It was so difficult for me to read it because the first two chapters bored me already. I finally pushed through the beginning and eventually, it became better. The rise and fall of the plot finally started and it became more interesting. The book was definitely a drag, and my opinion of this book hadn’t change since I first took it off the shelf – it was alright.

There were a lot of tiny, dependant conflicts and events happening in the book. It took away from the whole plot, and it was unnecessary to have that many things going on. It was one of the main reasons why the story dragged on. There were a series of events that happened to help find the missing victim, Chloe Caffrey. *SPOILER ALERT* they went to drag the river to look for her, filmed an episode on a TV show, made the police question innocent suspects like Dean West, etc. “I pictured everyone in Colt River pulling a hundred dollar bill out of his pocket and throwing it into a metal trash can. So that Chloe and I could set it on fire” (40) Chloe and Finn’s sick kidnapping plan has made so many people go through a lot of trouble to look for her.

The characters also were confusing. The author introduced many different characters that were only mentioned once and never again. They had no specific position in the story which made it seem very weird. These side characters were more like extra pages for the book; it made the book longer than it needed to be. The book was told in Finn’s perspective, but our character development with Finn and Chloe was difficult to understand, especially Chloe. She was definitely weird and different. My thoughts on Chloe drastically changed at the end of the book. I sort of related to Finn’s grief of guiltiness and the way she had to lie all the time. I know how the author tried to make the characters relatable to teenagers. It really even wowed me when the author decided to *SPOILER ALERT* add in a sexual relationship between Chloe and Finn. “There was a lot going on, and I felt that was a little pushy for the book. “And then, I guess it was like some instinct misfired. I’d never kissed anyone before. I remember thinking that her lips were as soft as her hair.” (215)

The book was definitely original and creative -- The thought of teenagers illegally rebelling against something for the good of academics and college. However, was it realistic enough that colleges would even think of securing a spot for a college applicant because of pity on being kidnapped? I guess this wouldn’t have been the best book or the worst to read. If you are patient and willing to hear a chain of events and guiltiness of two girls that faked a kidnapping, this book will do.
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Aug 01, 2012 Marshiee Kai rated it 2 of 5 stars

I was expecting a totally different story from this. I was quite dissapointed after reading this book. First of all, the story is dragging. Even the opening fails to interest me. The story is about Finn and Chloe who is staging a dissapearance so they will get an attention for themselves and are hoping that they can use that as a catapult to enter college. Chloe is the one to dissapear and Finn is the one who will cry in front of the TV. The idea of the story is promising enough but the plot is...more

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Jun 05, 2012 Sydney Keir rated it 3 of 5 stars

“Accomplice” by Eireann Corrigan is a book about two girls Finn and Chloe who have determination to get admission and to attend an Ivy League school. The two girls have a bright future but as their guidance counsellor said that these grades and community service projects are not enough for them to get admission into a great university. Both the girls thought of a smart plan in which they thought could make their dream come true by making themselves stand out to the admissions committees and gett...more

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May 22, 2012 Charlotte rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. “Accomplice” by Eireann Corrigan wasn’t as great and intriguing as I thought it would be. This book establishes the frustration of university choices of two normal teenage girls, Finn and Chloe. Their school counsellor advised them that good grades were not enough for a good college, so they become determined to make themselves stand out in a way that universities would accept them without hesitation. Chloe and Finn then come up with an attention-grabbing scenario in which the girls would stage...more “Accomplice” by Eireann Corrigan wasn’t as great and intriguing as I thought it would be. This book establishes the frustration of university choices of two normal teenage girls, Finn and Chloe. Their school counsellor advised them that good grades were not enough for a good college, so they become determined to make themselves stand out in a way that universities would accept them without hesitation. Chloe and Finn then come up with an attention-grabbing scenario in which the girls would stage a kidnap, in order to capture interest from their town, Colt River. I think that the book has a very slow beginning, and because of that, the plot doesn’t really go anywhere and it just made the book seem to drag on and on. The way that the author wrote this novel was very boring and it didn’t feel like it had any substance, or element to it. Sometimes there were good parts of the book, but the rest of the text/dialogue just seemed to act like a filler for the book and sometimes the text wasn’t really relevant to the context of the situation. For example, Corrigan describes the mother, but it is repetitive and confusing. She writes, “My mom is great and all, but she wasn’t the really waiting-with-cookies-at the door kind of mother. If it was before four she was usually at some scrap booking class. If it was after, she had her appointment with Oprah. But that day, I could see her from all the way down by the mailboxes. She stood on the steps, her hands on her hips.” Corrigan doesn’t need to describe every detail about the main character’s mother and since she does do this it becomes boring. I find the story a little bit slow in keeping the reader’s attention captured. I was not hooked until the end where everything was unveiled. Although I feel that she has done an outstanding job in portraying the theme of friendship between Finn and Chloe. She has definitely mastered the feel of “best friends” and undeniably represents this in the novel. Corrigan gives multiple examples throughout the book such as the beginning of their friendship and the present of their relationship. An example of Finn and Chloe’s friendship, is when Lily Ann Price, a TV show host on ‘missing kids’ has come to interview Finn on the disappearance of Chloe. Finn then explains how close their relationship was and all the childhood memories and gave lots of excellent examples of young children memories. Overall, this novel was alright, but I definitely wouldn’t recommend the book to someone because I just thought it was quite boring. The fact that the novel had unnecessary plots made me more curious as to why things were how they were in the book. In conclusion, I thought the book wasn’t the best, but it also wasn’t the worst. However, the author did not bring out the plot to the readers as well as it could have been.(less)

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Dec 05, 2011 Kathy rated it 3 of 5 stars

“Accomplice” by Eireann Corrigan was a very interesting and out of the ordinary novel with a very unique plot. This book establishes the frustration of university choices of two normal teenage girls, Finn and Chloe. Their school counselor advised them that good grades were not enough for a good college, so they become determined to make themselves stand out in a way that universities would accept them without hesitation. Chloe and Finn then come up with an attention-grabbing scenario in which t...more “Accomplice” by Eireann Corrigan was a very interesting and out of the ordinary novel with a very unique plot. This book establishes the frustration of university choices of two normal teenage girls, Finn and Chloe. Their school counselor advised them that good grades were not enough for a good college, so they become determined to make themselves stand out in a way that universities would accept them without hesitation. Chloe and Finn then come up with an attention-grabbing scenario in which the girls would stage a kidnap, in order to capture interest from their town, Colt River.
I feel that the author has done an intriguing job in the development of the structure of the book. The way, Eireann Corrigan displays the structure back and forth reviewing to the past and reviewing to the present of the beginning and end of the abduction. I feel that she’s done a great job in keeping the suspense while she unfolds the story towards the end. Although I find the story a little bit slow in keeping the reader’s attention captured. I was not hooked until the end where everything was unveiled. Although I feel that she has done an outstanding job in portraying the theme of friendship between Finn and Chloe. She has definitely mastered the feel of ‘best friend’s and undeniably represents this in the novel. Eireann gives multiple examples throughout the book such as the beginning of their friendship and the present of their relationship. An example of Finn and Chloe’s friendship, is when Lily Ann Price, a TV show host on ‘missing kids’ has come to interview Finn on the disappearance of Chloe. Finn then explains on pg.152 how close their relationship was and all the childhood memories and Eireann gave lots of excellent examples of young children memories. Although she might have done a job too well, because from the moment I read the characters of the girls, I’ve always felt that the girls were younger than sixteen because of the simple life Eireann described that they had throughout the novel.
Something that I thought was unimpressive was the way Eireann would add in unnecessary parts to the plot. An example would be a part where Finn kisses Chloe on pg. 215. It was an unnecessary part of the plot because the author never referred to it again later on in the book. It was a part that was there for no reason. Another part was how Finn mentioned how Chloe and her mom had a difficult relationship. The book repeated something like that thrice around the book and yet in the end, we do not know what damaged their relationship or why Chloe ‘hated’ her mother. There was no answer in the book and it wouldn’t have changed anything if Chloe had a close relationship with her mother.
Overall I feel that Eireann might have tried using different examples to make a teenage girls life into a crime scenario and I understand that it would be hard but some of the metaphors that Eireann establishes in the novel, really did not help the effect of teenage girls. The fact that the novel had unnecessary plots made me more curious as to why things were how they were in the book. In conclusion, I thought the book was well planned and creative but the author did not bring out the plot to the readers as well as it could have been.

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Nov 30, 2011 Syed rated it 5 of 5 stars

Writing Assignment
The “Accomplice” by Eireann Corrigan is a book about two girls Finn and Chloe who have an ambition to get admission and to attend an Ivy League school. The two girls have a dazzling future but as their guidance counsellor said that these grades and community service projects are not enough for them to get admission in this prestigious university. Both the girls then thought of a smart plan in which they thought could make their dream come true by making themselves stand out to...more Writing Assignment
The “Accomplice” by Eireann Corrigan is a book about two girls Finn and Chloe who have an ambition to get admission and to attend an Ivy League school. The two girls have a dazzling future but as their guidance counsellor said that these grades and community service projects are not enough for them to get admission in this prestigious university. Both the girls then thought of a smart plan in which they thought could make their dream come true by making themselves stand out to the admissions committees and getting admission in this university.
The girls thought of fake Chloe’s kidnap, and then Finn would rescue her. This is a very smart plan in variety of ways. There will absolutely be media coverage on this calamity which would draw everyone attention to these two girls. There are also flaws in this plan too such as these two girls never thought about the effects of their abduction plan on their friends and family. The whole town of Colt River has been searched up and a lot of money and effort has been spent in finding Chloe. Now as the fact Chloe’s family thinks she’s dead because there was no signs of hopes left them then arranged mourning for her. In all this searching procedure carried out for Chloe by the police, Dean was suspected in the kidnapping of her, Chloe’s boyfriend.
As the eye-witnessed of this entire situation Finn started feeling extremely culpable and was realizing now how everybody had to pay for their crime. I was pleased about the sense of realization which made Finn realize about others. This realization of other made Finn asked Chloe that “Chloe, how are we going to talk to people when this is all over?” Chloe replied, “We’re going to be lying to people, to everyone. This is it. It’s going to be like this for the rest of our lives”. What I was speculating that how come Finn or Chloe didn’t realize at first the effects of this abduction plan that they arranged. I then realize that at a situation like that people is looking forward to their charming reward so then they lose their thinking power of making right decisions at the right time.
As a reader what I notice that it would have been great if the author would have selected an older character as the narrator of this story. This is because these girls have a childish move towards life as it is substantiated by the way Chloe move towards of getting to know Dean. Chloe make all those fancy cards and stickers to get attention of Dean and to attract him other than by chatting, texting and building up connections with him through social networking websites. In my opinion Dean is a nice and is a decent young guy who ought not to have this trouble as he was never the part of it.
This book Accomplice did not make me sad and emotional as what I was expecting at the beginning. Accomplice is a very interesting and a mysterious book as the author sketches a very remarkable ending to its reader. This book also highlights the conflict in self vs. others.
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Nov 29, 2011 David rated it 1 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Accomplice by Eireann Corrigan

College and university applications are a frustrating time for all high school students because they want to get into a good school. The book Accomplice written by Eireann Corrigan demonstrates the frustration of two high school girls, Finn and Chloe, who stage a kidnapping so they become so famous that any school will except them.
I found that Accomplice was a so-so book to read. I feel that the book was rather long as there were too many unnecessary details in wh...more Accomplice by Eireann Corrigan

College and university applications are a frustrating time for all high school students because they want to get into a good school. The book Accomplice written by Eireann Corrigan demonstrates the frustration of two high school girls, Finn and Chloe, who stage a kidnapping so they become so famous that any school will except them.
I found that Accomplice was a so-so book to read. I feel that the book was rather long as there were too many unnecessary details in which made the process of the book boring and choppy and losses suspense. I also didn’t like that the main character of the book consistently changed her opinion about the kidnapping after it had happened. But above all this, the book was still interesting to read because the plot was so unique and the issue raised in the book was informational.
What I really liked about the plot was how creative it was. I never read a book where two girls commit a crime for the sake of getting into school so that made it very unique and interesting. It was interesting to read how the two girls planned this crime out for almost a whole year and to read about them thinking they thought of all the possible consequences that would happen. A consequences that they overlooked and occurred was Chloe’s crush had become a suspect in the crime and they think he had something to do with her disappearance because of the ripped pictures he had of her in his locker. “They came for Dean in sixth period. I saw the blue uniforms of the two cops in the hallway. It wasn’t just weird – it was wrong” (86). The issue of the book was generally about getting into college or university. It raised an important point in which it says “it’s not enough to just be on the honor roll, you need to think about what makes you stand out! There are two hundred thousand other high school students, WHAT MAKES YOU SO SPECIAL?” (23-24). The issue about being special informed me that I should be actively volunteering and participating in events to stand out so that I have more than just high grades.
Being in the protagonist’s mind and reading about all her thoughts and feelings made this book much longer than it had to be. I found that there were many parts in the point in which Finn kept on repeating herself about what she shouldn’t be doing such as lying to everyone. I also didn’t like the fact that Finn kept on changing her opinion about the kidnapping once things started to get a little bit crazy; Dean getting arrested and Chloe’s mom being completely zoned out all the time and not caring for her autistic son.
Finally, I wouldn’t recommend this book because it is rather long and pointless. There wasn’t much about the two girls actually going through the process of the kidnapping so there wasn’t much of a mystery or suspense. If you wanted to read a good suspenseful book, this wouldn’t be a good choice.
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Aug 26, 2011 Karina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: realistic-fiction

My Review:

Much better than I originally thought it would be. I guess this means I should stop assuming things about books before I read them.

Accomplice was good, and intense. I couldn't set the book down once I started it, so that means I was up reading till about one in the morning. Thank goodness school hasn't started yet or else I'd be dead.

What made Accomplice such a great read was basically it's story. Personally, I've never read a book where two girls planned their own kidnapping to get fa...more

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Aug 23, 2011 Melanie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Don't be fooled by the summary that makes this book sound like a good mystery novel that is suspenseful and thrilling, but still ends happily. Because it's not. This book is dark, twisted, and haunting, yet very intriguing and realistic. It is about the pressures that the teens of today must bear, and the terrible things they do because of it. It is about the craving for fame and how a simple game can become a dark reality. It is about how innocence is destroyed because these pressures leave not...more Don't be fooled by the summary that makes this book sound like a good mystery novel that is suspenseful and thrilling, but still ends happily. Because it's not. This book is dark, twisted, and haunting, yet very intriguing and realistic. It is about the pressures that the teens of today must bear, and the terrible things they do because of it. It is about the craving for fame and how a simple game can become a dark reality. It is about how innocence is destroyed because these pressures leave nothing but destruction. I, personally, loved this book, but also wish I had never read it, because it's scary and haunting in that sort of way.
The author takes an idea that many kids, myself included, have had, but definitely never put into action, and takes that idea one step further. Because of this, this story that seems so wild makes sense and seems so realistic. Chloe is, perhaps, one of the best antagonists I have ever read, because you get her. You understand her, not just "she has a motive" understanding, but with the terrible thought that if you were in her position, perhaps it is what you would have done. She is very manipulative and smart, as well as ruthless and mean. This is all topped off with the fact that she is very pretty. She understood where the whole scheme was going from the beginning, the people she was going to hurt, the things she would have to do. Yet she did it anyway, because her own fame and future would be secured, while the lives of others- namely, her best friend and a sweet innocent guy- would be destroyed. She is absolutely dangerous, in that she can manipulate people so well, even though you see that she is not a good liar. She wasn't a really bad person, no bad person could have such a great relationship with their best friend, but she just never had the right interests at heart. Just thinking about the things she did without a trace of regret or guilt... I really hope she doesn't get away with it. Even though it is implied that she doesn't, there are many ways it wouldn't work. Finn is very brave, I think, to tell the full story to the world, and I really loved Finn as a character. She was someone who was smart and nice and real, who just made the mistake of being friends with a manipulative bitch. And the scariest thing about this book was when it described Chloe's transformation from the strange but individual child who held so much sadness, so often teased in Dorothy's blue dress and red shoes, who turned out to be such a great friend for Finn, into this beautiful, manipulative, ruthless monster who just wanted fame.
This was an amazing story that I loved and hated, and one that will always come back to haunt me...(less)

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Aug 14, 2011 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, young-adult

Finn and her best friend Chloe are high school juniors. When the guidance counselor stresses that good grades are not enough to get into a good college, Chloe and Finn decide they need to come up with a way to stand out. They decide to stage Chloe's disappearance - figuring that when Finn is the one to find her when she comes home after being "kidnapped", they will both be so famous that any college will want them. In typical adolescent fashion, they neglected to take into account how their plan...more

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Jul 29, 2011 Kendra rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is so disturbing in so many different ways. The story is told by high school senior Fin, who, with her friend Chloe, has orchestrated Chloe's disappearance as a great way to garner some media attention and insure acceptance to a top college. Seriously!?! First, you have to suspend a little disbelief that two girls would really go through with the pretend abduction of one of them - and get away with it for over a week! I could see why a few teens would relish the idea of becoming "famou...more

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May 10, 2011 Candice rated it 4 of 5 stars

GREAT PLOT BUT CAN CUT DOWN THE BOOK TO FEWER PAGES

The Accomplice is mainly in informal language because the writer wanted to make it realistic since teenagers always speak informal languages. The informal languages are mainly slang and profane. There weren’t many figurative devices in this book but there were a lot of description of the main character’s feeling. Accomplice is a contemporary Fiction. The Accomplice’s audience is mainly 14-20 because if you are too small, you may not understand...more GREAT PLOT BUT CAN CUT DOWN THE BOOK TO FEWER PAGES

The Accomplice is mainly in informal language because the writer wanted to make it realistic since teenagers always speak informal languages. The informal languages are mainly slang and profane. There weren’t many figurative devices in this book but there were a lot of description of the main character’s feeling. Accomplice is a contemporary Fiction. The Accomplice’s audience is mainly 14-20 because if you are too small, you may not understand the ‘love’ relationship between Dean and Finn. Since this book is for teenagers, you can’t be too old to read. The main theme of the book is that Chloe and Finley were both high school students. They had good grades and spent time on community service but they thought they were not special enough to stand out so they decided to grab everyone’s attention by planning a fake kidnapping. Chloe hid and Finn went to save her. The character development is also very good, the writer has described in details which cause readers to understand what they were think every second.

I have to praise the book first. The idea of the book was really excellent. They wanted to grab their parent’s attention, their friends’ attention and the media’s attention because they didn’t want to be normal people. I think this idea was really fresh to me because I have never heard of a plot like this. I also like the way that the author described Finn’s mood when she felt guilty about what she had done. While Chloe was hiding in Finn’s basement, she could see that Finn’s parents were really worried and their hearts had broken into pieces. Finn said,’ Chloe, we need to end this now. You need to come home.’ (104) The last part that I have to praise is that it was quite funny when reading Finn ‘dating’ with Dean. She wore make up and dressed beautifully, she even didn’t know whether she loved Dean or not, maybe she felt guilty again because Dean had become the suspect in Chloe’s fake abduction case.

I have to criticize on the book a bit. I think the book is really slow moving. While I was reading the book, I kept asking when Finn will save her best friend. When I was half way through the book, I actually felt bored and didn’t want to go on with book. The writer kept talking about the cops asked Finn and Dean a lot of questions, they answered and Finn felt really wrong again. The book kept talking about one idea. And the last thing I am not really appreciated is the ending. The ending was what I expected; it was not surprising at all. I thought the ending could be much more unpredictable.

I like the book more than I dislike it. I will recommend this book to someone else because this is actually a very good book although it is a bit slow moving.
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Jan 25, 2011 Cornmaven rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: high-school, middle-school, ms-hs

I found this tale of an amazingly hare-brained teenage scheme to become famous, and therefore more easily gain entrance into a top tier Eastern university by leap-frogging over the millions of applicants, to be riveting. What fascinated me the most was the narrator's rather naive belief that this could actually work, and her resolve to maintain the illusion even when so many innocent people were being destroyed emotionally, or their futures were being wrecked.

The novel highlighted the self-absor...more

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Jan 17, 2011 Jan rated it 2 of 5 stars

This thriller is about two teens who stage a fake “disappearance,” unleashing a manhunt and consequences that neither of them could imagine. They concoct this elaborate ruse in order to bring a lot of publicity and attention to the teen who has mysteriously vanished. And why do they do this? So the vanished teen can miraculously appear and thus have an interesting background/story that will help her get into the college of her dreams. Does this seem a bit far-fetched to you? It did to me. In man...more

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Nov 26, 2010 Suzanne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: peach-consideration

This one does manage to propel readers along since they will want to know how Finn and Chloe's elaborate and bizarre scheme to achieve some notoriety designed to get them both into top colleges ultimately plays out. The two girls who have been best friends since Chloe's family bought and converted a barn on Finn's family farm into a magnificient home. Chloe's brother's autism has brought them out to the New Jersey countryside for the quiet and for the nearby program.

Since Chloe is the gorgeous...more

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Nov 21, 2010 Lucille rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

I'm currently in my last year of high school, and in the next month, I will have submitted my applications to University. I know that Canada is nowhere near as competitve as the US when it comes to Univeristy, but it is still a lot of pressure. So i feel like I was at the perfect point to read this book, because I could relate to the girls, and even though their plan was completely insane and selfish, i felt like I could understand where they were coming from.
Chloe and Finn are honour roll stud...more

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Oct 28, 2010 Melanie Goodman added it

It’s not easy getting into college these days. I read Alexandra Robbins’ The Overachievers and Alec Klein’s A Class Apart recently, and I was horrified at the amount of work some high schoolers are doing in order to get into college. I spent most of my high school years occupied by Academic Decathlon, and I certainly knew some incredible overachievers who balanced ridiculous loads of AP classes, extracurricular clubs and competitions, volunteer work, music lessons, SAT prep, etc. Even that wasn’...more It’s not easy getting into college these days. I read Alexandra Robbins’ The Overachievers and Alec Klein’s A Class Apart recently, and I was horrified at the amount of work some high schoolers are doing in order to get into college. I spent most of my high school years occupied by Academic Decathlon, and I certainly knew some incredible overachievers who balanced ridiculous loads of AP classes, extracurricular clubs and competitions, volunteer work, music lessons, SAT prep, etc. Even that wasn’t enough for many of them. It seems like if you want to get into a top notch school these days, you should have already solved the world hunger problem or published a few books. It’s no wonder that more authors are writing fiction and non-fiction in response to this growing academic pressure. Most of the fiction I have seen dealing with matter involves cheating–teens steal the answers to the SAT or they develop codes to communicate with friends during the test. Eireann Corrigan’s Accomplice takes two teens’ college admissions tactics a step further.

Finn and Chloe are best friends, and both are worried about how they are going to make it to the ivy leagues. After seeing a kidnapped girl return home, they know she’s going to make it–what says overcoming adversity more than that? They decide to stage Chloe’s kidnapping and then have Finn rescue her so that both will end up in the spotlight. That ought to juice up their admissions essays. Of course things go terribly out of control. Families are devastated, suspects are brought in for questioning, and Finn and Chloe’s relationship is threatened when the task of lying about Chloe’s whereabouts proves more difficult then Finn anticipated.

The plot of this book is brilliant. Finn and Chloe’s plan itself is, of course, a horrible idea, but it makes for a compulsively readable novel. The book kept me wondering if the fake kidnapping would somehow turn into a real kidnapping, if somebody would take the fall for what happened, if they would get caught, or they’d give up, or perhaps they might manage to turn into the celebrities they dreamed of becoming. You’ll have to read the book to find out.

In addition to the mystery and suspense elements, I was impressed by Corrigan’s portrayal of Finn and Chloe’s friendship, which teetered from strong to tenuous, and I couldn’t believe that this was a book with real live families. Finn and Chloe both had very present parents. I don’t see that often because I guess you can’t have a good teen romance with parents watching your every move. In this non-romantic book, though, there are involved parents who have rules and expectations and concerns. Those things might be broken and betrayed on a regular basis, but at least they are there.

Corrigan also depicts an interesting cast of side characters, including Chloe’s brother, who is autistic, and “Stuttering Dean,” a friend of Chloe and Finn’s whose trouble speaking causes him to be a misunderstood loner despite his clear intelligence and desire to connect with people.

Reading a book like this reminds that I need to be incredibly thankful that I made it in and out of college. I’m sure if I make my way back to graduate school I will feel a lot of this same pressure all over again, but I promise I won’t cheat on a test or fake my own abduction. If I think of any other sneaky tactics, perhaps I will write a book about them.

In the meantime, I hope to have the opportunity to read some of Corrigan’s other books: Splintering, Ordinary Ghosts, and You Remind Me of You.(less)

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Aug 09, 2010 Tasha rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

was intrigued by the sound of Accomplice when I first read the back cover. It wasn't like anything I've read before so I was really excited to get into it.

The book is told from the point of view of Finley Jacobs, know as Finn, and follows her from just after the 'disappearance' of her best friend Chloe Caffery. Finn's the one who's having to deal with all the questions, the police, the media, their parents and classmates; pretending like she's just as worried and concerned with Chloe being miss...more was intrigued by the sound of Accomplice when I first read the back cover. It wasn't like anything I've read before so I was really excited to get into it.

The book is told from the point of view of Finley Jacobs, know as Finn, and follows her from just after the 'disappearance' of her best friend Chloe Caffery. Finn's the one who's having to deal with all the questions, the police, the media, their parents and classmates; pretending like she's just as worried and concerned with Chloe being missing, when in reality she knows Chloe's hiding out in Finn's grandma's basement reading trashy novels and eating junk food.The girls thought they's planned for every possibility of the staged kidnapping but it didn't take long for things to get out of hand and Finn's the one who's got to deal with it - alone.

On the emotional rollercoster that becomes Finn's life, the reader really gets to know her character, as well as that of Chloe, seen through a best friends eyes. It's hard not to like these two girls, despite their plan, as we see their insecurities. To start with I did think them to be a little immature for how old they were supposed to be, in fact until a short way into the book when it said that they were in their Junior year, I thought them to be about twelve or thirteen. However, through the book, as more details about the reason for doing what they did it doesn't seem so much. Also, they live in a small farming town and so naturally, wouldn't be so street savvy. In fact, it was refreshing to read of girls this age not being completely obsessed with boys and sex. That's not to say there wasn't a little romantic interest but it didn't take over the story or the characters.

There was also a good cast of other characters including omg parents! Actual real, present and developed parents! In a YA book!

I really liked Eireann Corrigan's writing style, it's simple with lots of dialogue and not too much overly flowery prose. It was easy to read and one of those books that you just had to keep reading a bit more. On more than one occasion I found myself reading well after I was supposed to have stopped to do something else - like sleep.

I will definitely be looking out for other books from this author.(less)

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Aug 05, 2010 Kelly Hager rated it 4 of 5 stars

Chloe and Finn are in high school and attend one of those getting into college seminars. They've got good grades and plenty of extracurricular activities, but turns out that may not be good enough.

So they develop a plan. They're going to fake Chloe's disappearance (and presumed abduction). After a few days, Finn's going to miraculously "find" her and then they will have the best college essays EVER.

But they didn't think of a couple things. They didn't think about how Chloe's family will implode...more

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May 05, 2010 Cynthia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Chloe Caffrey and Finn Jacobs are just two teenagers looking for perfection when it comes to putting all the right things on their college applications and getting into the ideal school. The two best friends are positive they have the perfect college potential....that is until one of their advisors tells them at a seminar that universities aren't just looking for perfect grades and behavior, they also want a dazzling life story. As the time until college ticks on and begins to run out, the two...more

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Feb 21, 2011 Khornberger rated it 3 of 5 stars

In a novel reminiscent of the Salem Witch Trials, Eireann Corrigan, presents the story of Finn and Chloe. The girls (Finn is Finley) have grown up together on Finn's farm since they were in first grade and have been best friends since early on. The girls are now in high school and are living the lives that they believe will set them on the upper echelon college track. This all changes when they begin their series of college preparation talks at the beginning of their junior year in which their c...more

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Jul 05, 2010 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars

Finn and Chloe are next door neighbors and best-friends. It's the fall of their junior year and the guidance lady has them convinced they won't have that ONE unique thing that will get them into college. They have spent so much time being well-rounded they don't have anything unique. Until, Chloe dreams up a plan where she can disappear and Finn can find her. Just like that Margaret Cook girl who was on alll the magazines and on the tv shows. She was gone for a YEAR and then she just showed up a...more

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Sep 01, 2010 Thomas rated it 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars. The strongest qualities of this book was its suspenseful story and original plot. In other areas such as character development it did not quite cut it.

Accomplice is about best friends Finley and Chloe, two determined teenagers willing to do whatever it takes to guarantee an admission to the most prestigious colleges. They are feeling the pressure, and desperate times call for desperate measures - they devise a maniacal scheme that will attract media attention. A fake kidnapping. Chloe...more

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Jan 03, 2011 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a suspenseful yet simple young adult novel that keeps you on the edge the entire time. Chloe and Finn are best girlfriends in a very small, rural town. They are good high school students, and nothing dramatic ever happens to them. Until they realize that they may never get in to a good university unless something dramatic does happen to them. Which is when they decide to stage Chloe's kidnapping. Finn will end up finding Chloe, safe and sound, and they will both have a killer admissions...more

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Mar 22, 2012 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: suspense, ya

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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