Dig Two Graves, the latest young adult novel from author Gretchen McNeil, leaves much to be desired despite its references to topics of interest and importance.
What is Dig Two Graves about?
Seventeen-year-old film noir fan Neve Lanier is a girl doesn’t really fit in anywhere. When Neve is betrayed by her best friend, Yasmin, at the end of the school year, she heads off to a girl’s empowerment camp feeling like no one will ever love her again. So when she grabs the attention of the striking, charismatic Diane, Neve falls right under Diane’s spell, and may accidentally promise to murder Diane’s allegedly predatory step-brother, Javier, in exchange for Diane murdering Yasmin.
When Yasmin turns up dead, Diane comes calling, attempting to blackmail Neve into murdering Javier. Stalling for time, Neve pretends to go along with Diane’s plan until she can find a way out that doesn't involve homicide. But as she gets to know Javier – and is charmed by him – she realizes that everything Diane told her is a lie. She also discovers that Yasmin probably wasn't Diane's first victim. Unless Neve can stop her, Yasmin likely won't be the last.
Dig Two Graves falls flat in more ways than one
Film noir-meets-teen thriller was, in this case, cheesy overkill. I loved the concept, but the execution was poor. Important topics – like mental health, the LGBTQ+ community and sexual assault – were addressed superficially, almost carelessly, and often felt forced. McNeil has written good books but unfortunately this is not one of them.
The first half of Dig Two Graves is an excessively lengthy account of GLAM, a teen summer camp. Readers learn that protagonist Neve was betrayed and bullied at school by her ex-best friend and GLAM camp is supposed to provide a fresh start, or at least some time away from the drama, as well as an opportunity to make life-long friendships. The drama continues at camp and is every bit as cringeworthy as the backstory that led Neve there. Neither the story nor the writing improves throughout the book.
Neve is not a likable protagonist. She has a distasteful attitude from start to finish and treats other people poorly. She makes insulting and sexist remarks and yet the reader is expected to empathize or otherwise relate to the cliché that Neve is just “different”, not a typical girl-next-door, and dealing with family baggage. The fact that Neve is bisexual does not acquit her from treating women, in particular, harshly. Neve’s sexuality is also not conveyed as being an important part of her personality, opinions, and life – it mostly feels like a gimmick to have her attracted to Diane and Javier. McNeil ultimately leans on queer tropes for an unsatisfying plot twist.
Neve’s father battles serious mental health issues and Neve is mad at him for it (no other sentiment is really entertained insofar as this father-daughter relationship goes) for the entire story. Not to mention that folks are getting murdered, but Neve is getting lost in the popular guy’s dreamy hazel eyes, while dad has been arrested for murder. The story and characters are consistently cheesy and careless.
Film noir is largely a treasure of the 1950s… where it should have stayed as far as this book is concerned. While fusing the classic genre with a present-day teen thriller did pique my curiosity, Neve’s noir interest added nothing meaningful to the story. Her express quotes and attempts at making dark film parallels to her current circumstances were neither endearing nor necessary, and the copy-paste moments were not clever. Overall, the references read like a dry monologue and felt shoehorned in a way that did not add intrigue, depth, or value.
Unfortunately Dig Two Graves entirely missed the mark for me.
Dig Two Graves will be released on April 26th, 2022.