[Review] No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale

No One Else Can Have You
Kathleen Hale
January 7th, 2014
Harper Teen


Review Copy provided by publisher for honest review via Edlewiess

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The Pretty Little Liars series by Sara Shepard meets the cult-classic film Fargo in this gripping and darkly humorous murder mystery by debut author Kathleen Hale.
A quiet town like Friendship, Wisconsin, keeps most of its secrets buried . . . but when local teen Ruth Fried is found murdered in a cornfield, her best friend, Kippy Bushman, decides to uncover the truth and catch the killer. Since the police aren't much help, Kippy looks to her idol, journalist Diane Sawyer, for tips on how to conduct her investigation. But Kippy soon discovers, if you want to dig up the truth, your hands have to get a little dirty, don'tcha know.
In this riveting young adult novel, Kathleen Hale creates an intricately plotted murder mystery that will keep readers guessing, laughing, and cringing until the surprising final pages.

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So I have a confession to make that I peeked at some of the reviews on Goodreads prior to reading this book.  There were a lot of good reviews, a lot of bad reviews and no in-between.  That made me nervous going into this book because I really wanted to be one of those people that loved this book because my first book I read in 2014 was not so good.  I am here to tell you it was a happy day when I finished No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale because in my personal opinion this book was amazing.

The best way to describe No One Else Can Have You is black comedy.  If you are a person that is easily offended by touchy subject matter then put this book back on the shelves and walk away because this is not the book for you.  If you are like me and can laugh at things that might get you get a nice condo with fiery lakefront view; then like me you will think this book is hilarious. 

This book takes place in small Wisconsin town that is full of people so weird it would make David E. Kelly happy.  There is a murder in a town where the worst thing that has ever happened in decades is shooting up a mailbox.  It reminded of Twin Peaks meets Fargo because everyone is weird, they say You Betcha’ a lot and there is a murderer on the loose.  The book opens with a girl being discovered hanging from a tree, dead.  Then the story is told from Kippy’s POV the dead girl’s best friend.  After being given her friend’s journal, to erase the sex parts for her mom, Kippy discovers her friend Ruth has a whole other life that Kippy didn’t know anything about.  In this diary Kippy discovers that the boyfriend couldn’t possibly be the murderer so with the help of Ruth’s brother she sets out find the real murderer. 

I really liked this book because it is actually more like a coming of age story about a shy weird girl proving herself.  Kippy kind of reminded of D.J. from Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdoch.  No One Else Can Have You is full of observations of the world through Kippy’s eyes.  While not pretty I like the honesty in which Kippy saw the world.  I think that is why she reminds me so much of D.J. because they both see the world the same way.  Though granted Kippy’s world is more like a world out of a David E. Kelly show and D.J.’s is more like an ABC family drama.  

In the beginning Kippy fancies herself with only one friend, outside her dad, and now that she is gone the world just got very lonely.  While discovering a murderer she befriends: Ruth’s brother, a group of misfits, and even a girl in an asylum.  I loved that Kippy finds that she is not as alone as she thought she was by the end of the book.  For a girl with only one friend, weird and everyone at school doesn’t even know her name she proves that she is a force to be reckoned with.   

The murder mystery in this book was actually pretty easy to figure out but it was the cast the characters that really made this book such a good read for me.  The scene where Kippy and Davey join a self-help group and go the corn maze was freaking hilarious and I laughed my head off the whole time.  In the end, I cannot stress enough how much I really ended up liking this book it surprised me how good it was.  I like heroines that are shy and come into their own, black comedy, and of course a decent murder mystery.  You Betcha’, I give No One Else Can You four laser pistols.