Unraveling Isobel By Eileen Cook

Isobel's mother has just married a guy (Richard AKA Dick) that she met online 3 months ago.  He and his hottie son live on an island, meaning Isobel will be leaving Seattle and spending her senior year living there.  And she's not just living on the island, she's living in Morrigan, the estate that Dick's family built when they founded the town.  So: creepy house, creepy step-dad, oblivious/selfish mother, hot standoff-ish step-brother.

Once there, Isobel starts seeing things (ghosts or delusions?) and Dick starts pushing the idea that she is mentally-ill like her bio dad.  They send her to a shrink and even throw around the idea of residential treatment.  Isobel is sure that either a. she's seeing the ghost of Dick's deceased mentally-challenged daughter, b. Dick is setting her up to get rid of her, or c. she really is nuts.


I found this book hard to put down because I really liked the mystery in it.  I wanted to know what happened to wife #1 and the daughter.  I would've liked it even more if we got to know Isobel better.  I never felt like I got a feel for her.  She was witty and funny, artistic and smart, but her personality was just blah for me. (And she read much younger than 17 as well.)  The brother kept saying how she was unique and fearless, but I didn't see how he saw that in her.

The other thing was the romantic relationship.  It happened too darn fast!!  I need some build up!  It happened too quick and once it happened it didn't really go anywhere... not that it could really go anywhere being that they were step-siblings (semi-yucky I think).  Also I'm thinking it could've been about 50 pages longer... the ending happened really fast! (and PS the mom needed thrown off the cliff at the end... what a witch!)

I loved the mystery part of it, and I even liked the popularity-high school stuff.  I think it added to the story.  I also really liked the idea that Isobel was struggling with the fact that schizophrenia can be hereditary.  I'm sure that is a common fear among children of the mentally-ill.  It definitely made her struggle more believable. 

Definitely a good book for someone looking for a creepy-mystery with some humor thrown in.  Completely entertaining, just missing that little extra something!

Add it to your To-Read List!

My Rating:

How I got this book:  Library
Date Published:  1/3/2012