Well hello there guys! It's been a while and I am really sorry for that, but I am back! I finished this book a few days ago, after being in a two month reading slump. Hope you enjoy this review.
1. Short summary of the book
Trigger/Content Warnings: murder, kidnapping, gun violence, manipulation, extortion, underage drinking, media slander.
This is taken from Goodreads:
“Four years ago, Brynn left Saint Ambrose School following the shocking murder of her favourite teacher. The case was never solved, but she's sure that the three kids who found Mr. Larkin's body know more than they're telling, especially her ex-best friend Tripp Talbot. He's definitely hiding something. When Brynn gets an internship working on a popular true-crime show, she decides to investigate what really happened that day in the woods. But the further she dives into the past, the more secrets she finds. Four years ago someone got away with murder. Now it's time to uncover the truth . . .”
2. Characters
Like in almost any young adult murder mystery book, the main focus of the book wasn’t that much on the characters. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of the two main characters (especially Tripp).
Brynn Gallagher:
Brynn is a very passionate person, that wants to help people and bring them justice. She also has a dry sense of humor that made me laugh a lot. I think that Brynn is a pretty relatable character, who makes mistakes along the way, but eventually learns from them. At the beginning of the book, she was somewhat closed-off and very focused on solving the murder case, even if it meant involuntarily putting people in danger; however, I really liked how her character developed and how by the end of the book she was more confident and managed to make some long-lasting relationships.
Tripp Talbot:
Tripp’s character is very well written in my opinion. He is complex and it was very interesting to read parts of the book in his POV (point of view). After seeing his teacher dead in the woods and being abandoned by a mother who never wanted him, Tripp isn’t doing well, even if he tries to fake it. I loved how by the end of the book he seemed to become more like I assume his old self was. His chapters are definitely more triggering, so I suggest you read the trigger warnings listed at the beginning of this review.
3. Writing style
This is the 5th book that I have read from Karen and, as always, I can tell you whole-heartedly that she is an amazing writer. Her writing style is “non-fluent English speaker” friendly, which I’m sure is amazing news for some people.
4. Things I loved about the book
Like in any Karen M. McManus book I loved all the plot twists. Some of them were unpredictable and had me putting the book down. I am not a fan of horror/scary scenes in books; however, there were a couple of scarier scenes here that I surprisingly enjoyed. Another thing that I love in her books, including this one, is that the murder mystery aspect isn’t everything that happens in the book; for instance, I liked how the familial relationships were written in this book, including the friendship ones. This book is also incredibly fast paced, since I finished it in two days.
5. Things I didn’t really enjoy about the book
Since this book managed to get me out of a reading slump, I am not going to be as critical as I usually am, but I hope that I can still help you with this review. For starters, I felt like the whole romance subplot was poorly executed. I’ve never had this problem before with one of Karen’s books, so this was surprising to say the least. The “ex-best friends to enemies to lovers” trope had so much potential, however. There wasn’t a transition between disliking and liking each other, so it came out of the blue. Another thing that I can’t say I was a big fan of was how the ending felt a little rushed. I think the book could’ve been a bit longer in order to avoid that.
6. Favorite quotes
“My throat thickens as I hear Mr. Larkin’s voice in my head, as clear today as it was four years ago. You have a gift, he said, and I don’t think he realised how much those words meant to me. I never told him, which is something I’ll always regret. “He was constantly trying to get students to live up to their potential,” I say. “Or see it, if they didn’t think they had any.”
“I know that you can have the best intentions and still get the worst results.”
“The world would be a better place if more people knew when to stop talking. Everyone says too much, all the time. Ask them a simple question, and they’ll give you their entire life story. No one cares! Just say yes or no.”
7. Overall opinion
I gave this book 3.75 stars and I recommend it to anyone that wants to start reading in the young adult murder mystery genre. It was extremely fast paced and had a lot of interesting plot twists that will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat. There are also some scarier parts, but overall I think it’s a really good book that deserves to be hyped more.
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