When 17-year-old Jamie arrives on the idyllic New England island of Little Bly to work as a summer au pair, she is stunned to learn of the horror t...
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Apr 12, 2011
Small Review
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Billed as a loose retelling of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, Tighter at first follows the original plot closely and then spirals into Adele’s unique creation. The transition is flawless, using the setup and features of the original story as a backdrop and then spinning the reader into a story that is both completely different and yet still fully compliments The Turn of the Screw. It is not necessary to have read or even liked The Turn of the Screw to enjoy Tighter. The story updates and p
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2 comments
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Dec 08, 2011
Cillian
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Okay, this was a lot better than I expected, specially since the first half was so boring. Ms. Griffin is a very clever writer, I didn't see that coming.
I'm in shock.
3.5 stars.
Review to come.
I fixed my spoilers, and now it's safe to read, just don't click on the spoilers.
I was cheated and deceived by Adele Griffin in a spectacular way. If I ever meet her, I will bow down to her because she proved to be a sharp, intelligent w More...
I'm in shock.
3.5 stars.
Review to come.
I fixed my spoilers, and now it's safe to read, just don't click on the spoilers.
I was cheated and deceived by Adele Griffin in a spectacular way. If I ever meet her, I will bow down to her because she proved to be a sharp, intelligent w More...
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Feb 21, 2012
Jewels
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Seventeen-year-old Jaime goes to the queer yet scenic island of Little Bly as an au pair for the summer. At first it seems like the perfect summer job; she lives in a mansion, and her charge, Isa, is the most adorable little girl. However, things seem to go downhill from there for Jaime. First, she starts seeing the ghosts of her dead uncles again; then, she finds out that she looks uncannily like Isa’s dead au pair. What started out as the ideal summer job for Jaime turned out to be her worst n
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Dec 14, 2011
Karen
rated it:
I wish there were 1/2 stars because I would give this a 3.5*.
I am glad that I tried another of Adele's books, after not caring for "The Julian Game". This book I truly enjoyed and finished in only a matter of hours.
The story is about a girl named Jamie, who is having problems back home, such as depression and addiction to pills. She hurt herself in track, I believe it was, and was prescribed pills for that. She just continued using them to help with her depression, More...
I am glad that I tried another of Adele's books, after not caring for "The Julian Game". This book I truly enjoyed and finished in only a matter of hours.
The story is about a girl named Jamie, who is having problems back home, such as depression and addiction to pills. She hurt herself in track, I believe it was, and was prescribed pills for that. She just continued using them to help with her depression, More...
Oct 29, 2011
Eva
rated it:
It starts out most promisingly, with a troubled 17-year-old girl named Jamie getting what sounds like a cushy summer job babysitting a rich 11-year-old girl named Isa on a ritzy resort island in New England. Naturally, there has to be a catch. First there's the matter of the tragic death of last year's nanny, Jessie, and her boyfriend Peter. Then there's the dour housekeeper Connie and Isa's disturbing older brother Milo. Finally, there's the matter of that ghost that keeps popping up and do
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Oct 03, 2011
Hylary
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Originally posted on my blog: http://libraryladyhylary.blogspot.com ! Check it out for more reviews!
Seventeen-year-old Jamie Atkinson is struggling with some major personal demons as she sets out to spend the summer as an au pair on the island of Little Bly. She is addicted to pill popping: antihistamines, muscle relaxers, sleeping pills, anything to ease the pain of an old track injury and, more importantly, numb out her mind. Jamie is plagued by memories of a romantic relationship More...
Seventeen-year-old Jamie Atkinson is struggling with some major personal demons as she sets out to spend the summer as an au pair on the island of Little Bly. She is addicted to pill popping: antihistamines, muscle relaxers, sleeping pills, anything to ease the pain of an old track injury and, more importantly, numb out her mind. Jamie is plagued by memories of a romantic relationship More...
Jul 17, 2011
Cathe
rated it:
17-year-old Jamie gets a summer babysitting job on New England island taking care of a sweet young girl. She's looking forward to getting away from the ghosts who are haunting her, but the mansion where she is staying has ghosts of its own. And even more creepy, the girl who babysat last year looked almost exactly like her . . . and that girl died right there on the island.
This was an interesting modern, teen version of The Turn of the Screw. There were a few things that bothered me--l More...
This was an interesting modern, teen version of The Turn of the Screw. There were a few things that bothered me--l More...
Jul 11, 2011
Ivy
rated it:
Tighter by Adele Griffin is about a pill popping, girl works as an au pair (babysitter) for the summer who discovers she is able to see ghosts which leads her to the connection on why she may be able to see them.
This book was less engaging for me in the beginning because I felt like there was not much of a story to go into besides knowing a fact that Jamie is able to see ghosts. Although the synopsis was very much enticing, I felt like there were a few parts that may be able to skip wi More...
This book was less engaging for me in the beginning because I felt like there was not much of a story to go into besides knowing a fact that Jamie is able to see ghosts. Although the synopsis was very much enticing, I felt like there were a few parts that may be able to skip wi More...
Jul 07, 2011
Rachael
rated it: 
Jamie’s not quite sure why she decided to take a job as an au pair at Little Bly this summer. It’s true that she probably needs to take a break from wallowing in the unhappiness of her own life, but she’s not so sure that Little Bly will be any better, since she doesn’t know anyone there. At least her charge Isa seems to be a sweet girl and Jamie has her secret stash of pills for emergencies. Things take a turn for the stranger when Jamie finds out about the accident the summer prior that took t
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Jul 02, 2011
Jane
rated it:
Ok, who wants a mystery that will have you wanting more? I picked this up to read as it was a new book, but it was fantastic. The title is irrelevant to the story and surely it must have been pulled out of a hat. Seriously. Well, this is the story of a seventeen-year-old girl who, after getting a little too close to her teacher last semester, is spending the summer on an old New England island as an au pair to the daughter of a widowed man her mother used to date back in the day. They pull
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Jun 22, 2011
Sarai
rated it:
GIANT SPOILER ALERT - DON'T READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT IT SPOILED!!!!!!!!!!
I can't figure out how to talk about the book without giving away the book, and I hate spoilers. However, this book got me. It totally got me. I didn't see it coming at all. I LOVE it when that happens! I often get a bit arrogant about how plots don't surprise me, but this one did. It was awesome. And that's enough of a spoiler for today.
I'm not saying the book itself was perfect, but I did enj More...
I can't figure out how to talk about the book without giving away the book, and I hate spoilers. However, this book got me. It totally got me. I didn't see it coming at all. I LOVE it when that happens! I often get a bit arrogant about how plots don't surprise me, but this one did. It was awesome. And that's enough of a spoiler for today.
I'm not saying the book itself was perfect, but I did enj More...
Jun 04, 2011
April
rated it:
Originally posted here: http://www.goodbooksandgoodwine.com/2011...
I love it when a book leaves me with goosebumps in the middle of the summer, it’s hot outside, yet all the hairs on my arm are raised from reading an incredibly creepy story. Tighter by Adele Griffin is a very short book, yet it will linger in your mind long after you turn the last page.
Jamie Atkinson is forced to spend the summer au pair-ing for one of her mom’s high school sweethearts on the island of Lit More...
I love it when a book leaves me with goosebumps in the middle of the summer, it’s hot outside, yet all the hairs on my arm are raised from reading an incredibly creepy story. Tighter by Adele Griffin is a very short book, yet it will linger in your mind long after you turn the last page.
Jamie Atkinson is forced to spend the summer au pair-ing for one of her mom’s high school sweethearts on the island of Lit More...
May 19, 2011
Jenny
rated it:
Review originally posted at: http://supernaturalsnark.blogspot.com/20...
Actual Rating: 3.5/5
MY THOUGHTS
Tighter is one of those stories that creeps along, events unfolding with a deliberate slowness that causes our bodies to wind up and coil like a spring, just waiting for the moment when we'll be startled into sudden movement. For the duration of this tale we are deliciously tense–though our tenseness is strictly anticipatory rather than derived from a great deal of More...
Actual Rating: 3.5/5
MY THOUGHTS
Tighter is one of those stories that creeps along, events unfolding with a deliberate slowness that causes our bodies to wind up and coil like a spring, just waiting for the moment when we'll be startled into sudden movement. For the duration of this tale we are deliciously tense–though our tenseness is strictly anticipatory rather than derived from a great deal of More...
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Feb 09, 2012
Lesley
rated it:
What I liked: Great example of an unreliable narrator: Is she seeing ghosts? Or does it have something to do with all the pills she's taking? Or her family's history of mental illness? Clever plotting, mysterious clues to watch for, some genuinely scary moments. Lots of Easter eggs if you've read the original Turn of the Screw, but it stands well on its own if you haven't.
What I didn't like: The cover reminded me way too much of The Human Centipede movie poster! But that shouldn't be More...
What I didn't like: The cover reminded me way too much of The Human Centipede movie poster! But that shouldn't be More...
Nov 30, 2011
Jess
rated it:
This is a modern retelling of The Turn of the Screw - although, pathetically, I can't comment on it because I've never read The Turn of the Screw. I have seen a film version from which I remember the gist of the story - enough to recognize the retelling - but that's not enough to comment on what Griffin chose to change, apart from the obvious time period and setting. And I'm assuming James' heroine wasn't popping pills.
On its own merits, it works as a suspenseful, often creepy stor More...
On its own merits, it works as a suspenseful, often creepy stor More...
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Jan 06, 2012
Stefanie
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Jamie has spent the last few months depressed and popping pills because of heartbreak. Her parents just think she’s mopey and send her to a small, idyllic island off the coast of Rhode Island to be an au pair for the summer. When she gets there, she learns the tragic story of what happened to the last au pair and her boyfriend, and she starts to see their ghosts. She wants to head back home, but has already bonded with her charge, a sweet eleven-year-old still dealing with the deaths who is e
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Jan 05, 2012
Miz Lizzie
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When seventeen-year-old Jamie Atkinson goes to the New England island of Little Bly to be an au pair for the summer, she takes a grab bag of pilfered prescription pills with her to gentle her depression and the presence of two family ghosts that haunt her. Though she enjoys Isa, her young charge, and starts a romance with local boy, Sebastian, Jamie becomes obsessed with the tragic death of last year's au pair and her boyfriend. The story is apparently based on Henry James' The Turning of the
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Oct 29, 2011
Danya
rated it:
This review is in my "snapshot" format.
The subject: an au pair struggling to understand the clues she sees about the previous au pair's death...
The setting: the island of Little Bly, a seemingly perfect holiday spot
Shutter speed: fairly slow-moving, I thought. It's not showy in suspense or horror, but the mystery is confusing and keeps you guessing, distrusting everyone. Something about it made me feel uneasy and apprehensive as I read. And the final More...
The subject: an au pair struggling to understand the clues she sees about the previous au pair's death...
The setting: the island of Little Bly, a seemingly perfect holiday spot
Shutter speed: fairly slow-moving, I thought. It's not showy in suspense or horror, but the mystery is confusing and keeps you guessing, distrusting everyone. Something about it made me feel uneasy and apprehensive as I read. And the final More...
Jun 05, 2011
Cory
rated it:
Want more book reviews? - (http://antidrugreads.blogspot.com)
Tighter was everything I could have asked for, plus some change. I was extremely excited to devour this read months prier to it's release. It seemed right up the alley of my literary tastes. Based on the summary alone, my expectations were sky high. Physiological thrillers are ingenious! Well, Tighter met my supreme anticipation with the eeriest of greatness's. I loved it!
I became infatuated with Adele Griffin' More...
Tighter was everything I could have asked for, plus some change. I was extremely excited to devour this read months prier to it's release. It seemed right up the alley of my literary tastes. Based on the summary alone, my expectations were sky high. Physiological thrillers are ingenious! Well, Tighter met my supreme anticipation with the eeriest of greatness's. I loved it!
I became infatuated with Adele Griffin' More...
Apr 14, 2011
Amanda
rated it:
I'm not sure what I can say about this book without giving the entire plot away. I will say this, there are going to be a lot of book sellers who place this on the wrong shelf. The Goodreads description only tells you one side of this story. Okay. I better stop before I let it slip!
Here's what I can say. Adele Griffin is an exceptional author. This is the first of her books I've read and now I'm dying to read some more. Tighter is like a spider's web. They take time to build. A spide More...
Here's what I can say. Adele Griffin is an exceptional author. This is the first of her books I've read and now I'm dying to read some more. Tighter is like a spider's web. They take time to build. A spide More...
Dec 05, 2010
Lisa
rated it:
From the perfect package--this cover is what creepy is made of, to an incredibly descriptive setting, which brought to mind the gorgeous home from the movie Evening (if you've ever seen it), Adele's TIGHTER has it all. From the moment we meet Jamie, we learn that she's suffering from something in her past and to combat the pain, she abuses whatever pills she can get her hands on. I have to say, this character trait, which I've never really read before in YA, is fascinating. Her mind is in a cons
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Oct 23, 2011
Lisa
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I borrowed this book from my friend Kim, who won it from a contest here on Goodreads. I actually saw this book before then on the shelf at the bookstore where I work, and blogged about it in one of my Hazards of Working at a Bookstore entries. So I was very excited she won it and I got to borrow it.
I'm going to start with what I didn't like. I didn't like the drugs part. I totally understand why the character was taking them, well, I understand based on what the author wrote it as. But More...
I'm going to start with what I didn't like. I didn't like the drugs part. I totally understand why the character was taking them, well, I understand based on what the author wrote it as. But More...
Nov 06, 2011
Reading
rated it:
Review Written by Andrea @ Reading Lark
http://readinglark.blogspot.com/2011/11/...
As a kid, I remember reading Henry James' "The Turn of the Screw" and being creeped out for days. At an event in Seattle last month, several authors were asked about their favorite recent reads and Tighter was mentioned. I instantly perked up when someone mentioned it was a loose retelling of James' novella. The book instantly shot up my TBR list and I couldn't wait to begin reading it. Ho More...
http://readinglark.blogspot.com/2011/11/...
As a kid, I remember reading Henry James' "The Turn of the Screw" and being creeped out for days. At an event in Seattle last month, several authors were asked about their favorite recent reads and Tighter was mentioned. I instantly perked up when someone mentioned it was a loose retelling of James' novella. The book instantly shot up my TBR list and I couldn't wait to begin reading it. Ho More...
Oct 14, 2011
Jodi
rated it:
When Jamie sets off to Little Bly, RI for an au pair job, she has no idea the mental toll this summer will take on her. The town is consumed with the tragic deaths from the previous summer and Jamie is terrified to learn that she is able to see the spirits of the accident.
This book was primarily ghost-story/mystery. Although, I never felt like it got all that scary, it was still a page-turner. The ending, for me, was an actual surprise. Normally I feel like I can see plot twi More...
This book was primarily ghost-story/mystery. Although, I never felt like it got all that scary, it was still a page-turner. The ending, for me, was an actual surprise. Normally I feel like I can see plot twi More...
Aug 21, 2011
Review originally posted at www.books4hearts.com
I picked up Tighter right before going to bed. I continued reading Tighter until it was over. I couldn’t put it down! I had to see how the story would conclude. It’s also only 216 pages, so I wasn’t up all night finishing it or anything (although I probably would have been, had it been longer), but it was 216 pages of brain-twisting, mind-numbing, mystery and suspense. I had to know what Jamie was actually seeing, and what was real, what More...
I picked up Tighter right before going to bed. I continued reading Tighter until it was over. I couldn’t put it down! I had to see how the story would conclude. It’s also only 216 pages, so I wasn’t up all night finishing it or anything (although I probably would have been, had it been longer), but it was 216 pages of brain-twisting, mind-numbing, mystery and suspense. I had to know what Jamie was actually seeing, and what was real, what More...
Jun 24, 2011
Jenny
rated it:
Tighter is a great little creepy re-imagining of Henry James's The Turn of the Screw. If you've read the original, don't worry, it won't spoil you for reading Tighter because, while some of the plot points are similar, this is a horse of an entirely different color. Jamie, who from the beginning has quite a few secrets from the reader, is unhappily being sent to a "toity" island to "summer" as an au pair for a young girl named Flora who's father is away on business. Jamie has
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Jun 22, 2011
Meagan
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Mar 22, 2011
Jennifer
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"The longer I looked, the more I was sure, yes, definitely a guy, but not so shrimpy a the girl was tall. There was a leaning-in-ness and face-to-face-ness about them...glancing back over my shoulder at the couple. Only they weren't there, and in my next breath, the late afternoon sun had burned through the haze to shine harsh in my eyes. I spun around, confused- whoa wait, where had they gone? had they climbed down, or dived off that rock? NO way, it was so high." This suspense filled
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Mar 21, 2011
Nely
rated it:
Tighter is a modern retelling of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw. In it we meet Jamie who arrives on the island of Little Bly to work as an au pair for a young girl. Shortly after her arrival she begins to learn of the untimely demise of a young couple. Jessie (the girl in the couple) used to be the au pair before her and strangely enough resembles Jamie. And to make things even weirder Jamie begins to encounter the star-crossed lovers' ghosts.
I think the cover of this book More...
I think the cover of this book More...
Dec 11, 2011
Cassie
rated it:
WOW!! I assumed this book would be a good psychological thriller but I had no idea how great it would be. Adele Griffin molded each character so incredibly well and would have been enough for me to give it five stars, even if the story line failed. However, she is an incredible author and hit the mark in every aspect. Jamie had so many issues that it was hard to decipher what was real and what was a result of the medication she was digesting on a regular basis and you were constantly questioning
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