I Am Margaret Moore by Hannah Capin is a young adult paranormal thriller. The book is written in a unique style of writing. It's a stream of consciousness with an unreliable narrator.. Thanks NetGalley for the audio eArc.

Lyrical and haunting, Hannah Capin's I Am Margaret Moore is a paranormal thriller that tests the hold of sisterhood and truth.

I am a girl. I am a monster, too.

Each summer the girls of Deck Five come back to Marshall Naval School. They sail on jewel-blue waters; they march on green drill-fields; they earn sunburns and honors. They push until they break apart and heal again, stronger.

This was one of the best audiobooks I've listened to and I was riveted from the very beginning till the end.

I don’t believe I’m the intended audience for this book. The writing style was very poetic but the content was lack luster. Jumping between summers several times became confusing, and the twist was something I saw coming. I feel the younger audience would enjoy this story more than an older audience.

I want to thank NetGalley for my copy to read and review.

DNF @ 33%

Listen, I'm sure some people will like this, but I tried this book in multiple formats and it was not for me.

It was abundantly clear where the story was going even though the writing was so convoluted you could barely follow it.

The narrator was great for what they were given.

An unreliable narrator or nontraditional narrative structure can be delightful or frustrating. This book dips back and forth between the two. It's certainly a singular reading experience. I like the circular nature of the narrative at first, the way Margaret kept looping over the same paragraphs with slight variations. After a while, though, it became more tiresome than charming. I can certainly imagine lively discussions about the reality of the book.

This was a great addition to our teen collection and has done well with checkouts. The cover art is very appealing to teens.

I really could not get into this book. I was a constant downfall that had no rise and I could only take it in short bursts. Although there are some tough issues discussed and some intrigue into the mystery of what happened, it is not enough. A part of it simply may have been the POV that is taken. It was very much a long drone with very little emotion behind it that was simply unengaging. I do not know if this was because of the voice recording or not, but it was hard to listen to as it is.
With an interesting mystery at the heart of this story, it is sad that it’s not more enjoyable.

I do not think I was meant for this book. I am not a fan of constant time jumps, it got very confusing very fast for me. It read more like poetry, which in this instance was not for me. I f you don't mind time jumps, lyrical writing take a shot.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* this was a confusing and at times annoying book but i would really like to understand it better so i would reread it

I Am Margaret Moore was an unusual book. It has a lyrical, poetic style which may be difficult for some readers to follow. It also jumps between timelines quite a bit without really telling the reader it's doing so. You just have to be alert to follow the storyline.

This book is set at a private camp referred to as Marshall Naval School that is only held in the summer. Margaret befriends three other girls there and they return each summer where they continue to grow closer and bond. Then one summer, Margaret's world falls apart but instead of telling her friend's the horrible thing that's happened to her, she closes herself off from them. But they are persistent as good friends tend to be and are determined to figure out what has changed their friend.

After that summer, things at Marshall are never the same. Things happen which change the school forever. Meanwhile, Margaret is left reflecting on her past decisions. With the movement between past and present, you quickly discover that Margaret was in love with a boy and that they are no longer together. You get bits and pieces here and there which gradually explain why they are apart. You can feel Margaret's regret in the way the story is told. It is very clever.

AUDIOBOOK VERSION: For me, this was not the type of book that I could listen to. I enjoyed reading it much more. When a book is told more in lyrical prose, I get distracted easily when I try to listen to it. Therefore, I did not enjoy the audiobook. However, this is my own personal opinion and others may be different in their preferences. That said, the narrator is talented. I don't want to take anything away from her skill. 3 1/2 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

I was so intrigued by the description of this book but I just don’t think this book is for me. The first half of the book I found boring and hard to get through, the last half however was entertaining.

I also wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style. It is written in a very lyrical and poetic way, that I found difficult to read and stay engaged. However if you like books written like that I think you would really enjoy it.

This book reminds me a lot of We Were Liars, so if you liked that book I would definitely recommend checking out this one.

The writing is so unique. So different. I felt like it was beautiful and poetic.

Though, i had a struggle fleshing out the characters. Who was who. Who was the voice of the story? They all seemed to be one person and i wasn’t quite sure what was happening to who. There was a lot of she says. She is. I am. But who specifically?

The chapters are short & so is the story so it’s a quick read i just had a hard time connecting.

I can appreciate the sentiment of the story that i think was basically secrets can be life ending. That some feel more entitled and that boys/men don’t have to deal with the same problems as the girls. And they can get away with much more while girls are classified as the “whores” and the problem and the boys get away with the same actions. Because the don’t bear the fruit of them..

The writing is beautiful but i think it makes it hard to follow and confusing. Perhaps the style just isn’t for me.

I wanted to like this book but I found my mind wandering often. I usually like girls having bonds and thrillers. Here the writing style worked against the story where in past books it worked well with it. I found it really hard to connect with any characters with this style. It made the jumping between timelines more confusing and broke any spell that the story could hold.on me. By the time the book got to a point where there were any revelations, I wasn’t invested enough to care.

DNF at 46%

I do not think I am the right reader for this book. I listened to the audiobook, and I could not follow what was going on at all. The only thing I can remember is her saying "I am a stupid girl" over and over. Books written in prose are not really my thing to begin with, but listening to an audiobook written in prose is even worse for me.

I'm sure there are readers who will love this book so don't let my review sway you.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Well, this is unexpected and very uncomfortable for me to report, but I am pulling the plug on this one at 20%.

I loved Foul Is Fair. As in, gave it 5-stars loved and while this is unrelated, I was still so excited to see what Capin had come up with this time. I have listened to 20% of this audio and it is very clear to me that I am not the intended audience for this book.

I am not leaving a star-rating on Goodreads, or posting it to my blog, as I don't want to bring down the overall rating for this book.

Foul is Fair was written in a similar manner, darkly lyrical and full of allegory. The difference is that with Foul, I was in it. I knew exactly what was going on in the story and with the characters the whole way through, regardless of how poetic the writing became. In this one, I have no clue, I mean no literal clue what any of this means and sadly, I don't care to find out.

I know that may seem harsh, but I really don't mean it to be. I think, for me, this is too poetic. In fact, I think maybe this may be more for Readers who enjoy Dark Poetry. Poetry, of any form, and I, don't really get along. I have nothing against it. It's an amazing and valid art form, it's just not one I have ever understood.

With this being said, I would definitely take a chance on Hannah Capin's future work. She is an incredibly creative author and just because this one didn't work for me personally, I still congratulate her on its release!!

Also, a hearty thank you to the publisher, Wednesday Books and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I do appreciate it.

Lastly, don't take my opinion on this one. If you like lyrical prose with dark undertones, pick this one up and give it a try for yourself!

I’m sorry to give this such a poor rating but it took me almost 3 months to get through this and that’s saying something. I generally listen to 3-4 audiobooks a week. For this one, I couldn’t generate any interest in the storyline and this is in part due to an extremely slow and choppy format plus I never really knew what timeline I was in and quickly lost interest.

All in all, not something I’d recommend although I do thank you for the opportunity to give it a try!

The story had an interesting pace and felt a bit poetic at times. I enjoyed the setting (a naval summer camp) . I also liked the characters. Overall it was entertaining and I would recommend it to a friend.

This book is a tough one for me. On one hand, I found it beautiful and lovely to read. On the other hand, I think the story suffered for the beauty of the writing. There were times when I would get carried away by the prose, and be so focused on the word choice and the flow of the way the words were delivered.....and I would have no idea what the plot was for that section in hindsight. I think this would have made a lovely novella. With a shorter format, I think I could have allowed myself to get lost in the prose but still been able to wrap my head around the paranormal story.

In the end, this wasn't a favorite, although I could easily pick a dozen sections that were so hauntingly beautiful. It's a tough review to write.

The narrator was awesome and did a wonderful job of delivering the lyrical nature of the story with flow and cadence. There was nothing better I think could have been done in terms of the audiobook format.

3.5 stars. I enjoyed this book but it took me a bit to get into the style of it. It's written almost poetically w/ a tempo that seems to build and build until there's that "aha" moment of understanding exactly what is going on. The story takes place at a naval summer camp. a friends until the end sort of story. Until Margaret starts keeping secrets during that one fateful summer...

*Special thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for an audio file of this novel.*

I don’t read a lot of YA because I always (usually wrongly) assume it's going to be like I Am Margaret Moore - an overdramatic, cliched story with no heft behind it. I listened to this audiobook in about 24 hours because after getting 20 minutes in I knew I couldn’t spend days listening to it.

First, the writing style is overly lyrical to the point it's less like poetry and more like an eyelid twitch-inducing annoyance. I don’t think listening to it without the option of skimming helped. Second, there is a “twist” that occurs about halfway through the book that was overwhelmingly obvious. Third, the bones of this story would make a great short story - unfortunately, they’re drawn out over the span of a novel and the repetition becomes story beats as well as actual words and phrases.

This book - which I suppose I should mention is a paranormal thriller about teenage girls at a summer camp and the mysterious thing that happened last summer - reminded me a lot of We Were Liars // E. Lockhart… which I also hated. But, I know a lot of people love it so if that includes you, maybe you’ll like this too.