NetGalley ARC | Lies Between Us

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐

Two families side-by-side in their waterfront mansions, neighbors for years, the children growing up together in a small town on a small island where there's little crime, everyone knows everyone, and doors are never locked.

This summer is different though. Their picture-perfect lives are upended one night when tragedy strikes after one of the many beach parties they've attended. A boy is dead, secrets abound, and no one will come out of this the same.

(Except they all will because no one learned a damn thing through all of this.)

In theory, this should have been everything I love in a quick YA that doesn't require too much time or thought. Rich kids, secrets, murder. All things I love.

Instead, the book was such a disappointment. I usually really like ths author's work but this was just blah. The ending was ESPECIALLY blah. The characters all had very surface-level development and neither matching set of siblings was distinguishable from any other set. Not to mention that the two families, last names Gold and Silver, just happen to live next to each other. The Golds have three girls, the Silvers have three boys. Each has their exact-age counterpart in the other family.

Seriously, come on. Whyyyyyyyyy???

I didn't really care about any of the characters because we never get to know them well enough to decide one way or another. As a result, it was hard to care about what was happening. Time and time again we are told how the sisters are so close, there are no secrets between them, there's nothing that could break their bonds or loyalty to one another.

Except by the end we see that's a big fat lie because ALL OF THEM had major secrets that they hid from each other for the entire book, and the entirety of their teen years so far.

The only parts of the book that really made it worth reading were the flashbacks of the party the night that Billy died. Literally, knowing what happened was the only thing that kept me reading this one because none of the characters were compelling. And none of them learned anything or changed in any meaningful way when all was said and done.

But even arriving at the big reveal and ending, it all fell flat. All this build-up with the party flashbacks, and we don't even know for sure what happened in those last moments of Billy's life.

Overall I was annoyed that I struggled through everything, just for THAT ending. There are plenty of people who will like it though, who will be able to overlook the nonsense of the names and the families being so perfectly suited to each other. I'm just not one of them.

NetGalley ARC | The Rosewood Hunt

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐

The quick version:

A terrible rip-off of the Inheritance Games, which did this same thing but MUCH better. Don't get me wrong, there can be multiple books with this kind of plot, but it doesn't mean that all of those books will be written well.

This one definitely is NOT.

Slightly longer version because I have too many reviews to write to waste time:

Lily Rosewood is going to take over the family business one day. She's also been supported by her grandmother in this endeavor, basically groomed to head the company when she is of age to do so. Unfortunately Gram dies suddenly and chaos ensues when it is discovered that Gram's fortune is missing.

Lily and three seemingly-random other teenagers are thrown together for a treasure hunt to find the mising money, but it becomes apparent very quickly that someone is also searching for it. More chaos ensues.

Lily is awful. She feels so betrayed by Gram, who had the nerve to will her money however she wished, and it's a big boo-hoo fest. She's such a baby and brat and not at all unlikable in a likable way.

Not recommended.

NetGalley ARC | The Society for Soulless Girls

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

So boarding schools and murder are always a sure-fire way to get me to read a book.

But to top it off, this book is highly inclusive in ways that don't feel forced. The characters don't all come out and say, "I am this-and-this-and-this", but they way they are written with such care, and fit seemlessly into the story and within their spaces in relation to other characters is beautiful. Sometimes I feel like authors write a character to fit certain requirements, then try to force that character into the plot in a way that is not organic, and ends up coming off as inauthentic. Not so here, at all.

This book is an lgbt+/POC friendly dark academia feminist retelling of Jekyll and Hyde that follows a pair of roommates who are set on solving an infamous cold case involving several murders on their campus a decade earlier.

Lottie and Alice are assigned as roommates at the Carvell Academy of the Arts. A decade earlier, four students died in the North Tower and the school closed. Lottie insists on finding out what really happened ten years earlier, while Alice discovers a ritual meant to stay hidden in a book in the school library.

Surely nothing can go wrong.

Unfortunately for one unlucky student, another death quickly follows the re-opening of the school, in the same location as the previous deaths.

It's so difficult to describe the plot any further, without giving away major spoilers. However, I will say that the moment the title of the book makes sense and everything clicks into place? PURE MAGIC. Chef's kiss. No notes.

On top of the inclusivity of characters, the thing I loved most was how the author represents rage in young women and girls. Our rage, our fury, is a thing of beauty in a society that wants us to be sweet and kind and docile. Society is frightened of our power, as it should be.

This is a book meant to be devoured in a single sitting. It is stunning, truly brilliant, and I loved every moment.

Highly recommended.

NetGalley ARC | That Kind of Girl

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐

Roxie is an amateur sleuth who has a knack for finding lost things, no questions asked. Her rich classmates at their expensive private school pay her a lot of money when they need something retrieved. So when Kirsten Montgomery-Wiggins, a big bully queen bee who is good at making others' lives miserable, asks Roxie for help even though they are absolutely not friendly in any way, she accepts. All Roxie has to do is track down a supposedly stolen phone that ws taken by a blond girl who no on knows. Easy enough until Kirsten is murdered and Roxie is the one who discovers her body, making her the prime suspect.

Our second narrator is Inez, who lives on the outskirts of town in a trailer park. She's a little older than Roxie, working as a part-time maid and part-time sex worker. She keeps fiding blood everywhere - crusted in her earrings, on her shoes, clothes, etc., and doesn't know how she will get rid of it all. All Inez truly wants is to try to scrape together enough money to provide a better life for herself, but one night goes horribly wrong and now she could be heading to prison for murder if she's caught.

This is definitely not a typical YA read. It's got a much darker, grittier feel to it, while still being teens and young adults dealing with their situations the best way they can, given the fact that their brains are not fully developed yet. I feel like that led to a bit of an identity crisis for the book and what it wanted to be. There are a lot of important topics addressed, but sometimes not in a way that aided the plot or moved things along.

Both narrators had unique voices and backstories. The age gap helped, as Inez was at a different place in her life than Roxie, despite both being drawn into the same murder investigation. I really liked seeing the investigation from both points of view, because it was decidedly unclear who was truly involved in what and I suspected different characters at various points. I empathized a lot with Inez and would have liked to have had more from her, and less from Roxie.

There are a lot of secrets and trauma here, and power imbalances make for some fury from me on behalf of these young women. It's a much deeper book than I was expecting and I liked it.

Recommended.

NetGalley ARC | Final Cut

 

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Hazel loves slasher movies and has recently earned a part in a low-budget feature film; her dreams might be coming true. She wants to show her mom she can do this, and turn it into a career.

The teeny tiny issue is that the film is set in middle-of-no-where Pine Springs, Louisiana; the town's only claim to fame being the brutal murders of five teenagers fifteen years ago - committed by Hazel's father.

Soon accidenta begin happening on set, one of which leads to a brutal murder. And then another, and another, and another. Clearly someone on set is not who they claim to be - or they are hiding in plain sight. So, is it a copy cat, or was Hazel's father innocent after all?

For the majority of the book, this was easily into 4 or 5 star territory for me. I absolutely loved Worley's novel, The Debutantes, and this was moving along just as nicely. The pace was frantic as people kept dying and it became clear that it had to be someone connected to the movie or the original murders.

The biggest issue came when we started finding out everyone's identities toward the end and it was just a lot thrown at the reader at once. At first, there were no clear suspects. Then when we found out who so-and-so and so-and-so actually were, we suddenly had suspects and motives, when there were not really any hints dropped along the way.

I was also underwhelmed by the reveal of the mastermind. Again, there was lack of build-up and I think only one or two real hints that this person might be involved. I thought the accomplice was good, I did not suspect that one at all.

The body count was absurdly high and I love it for a slasher, but realisticaly...

Then I remember it is YA and doesn't have to make sense.

It felt a lot like Scream, which I think was the intent. Not just the first one, but also the fifth and sixth ones, specifically because of characters' behaviors.

Overall this was still a fun, absurdly over-the-top B-movie type book and I really loved most of it. My issue is solely with the last part and how we went from kind of suspecting everyone because there were no clear obvious suspects, to HERE ARE THE SUSPECTS NOW IT HAS TO BE ONE OF THEM.

Recommended.

NetGalley ARC | The Secret Investigator of Astor Street

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐

I thought this was a cute cover so I snagged it before realizing it was book two in a series. I thought it would be just a quick, cute cozy, but that's not what this is. And since it was book two, I had to find book one at the library. That also a two-star read for me.

In book one, eighteen-year-old Piper's best friend Lydia disappears. Piper is convinced that the police are looking in the wrong direction, so she begins an investigation of her own. I really struggled with that book, and I not so nicely called Piper an 'absolute moron' in my quick review of it. She was so naive and honestly, a bit of a brat throughout much of the book.

The second issue was that the book did not feel like it was taking place in the 1920s. It felt very forced, like dropping in a bunch of words used in the 20s would create the feel of the decade, but it didn't. It felt awkward and like we had to constantly be told over and over, we're in 1920s Chicago through the vocabulary choices of the characters.

These same issues continued in the second book. It still doesn't feel natural, the decade doesn't feel like the 20s, until Piper is saying trilby or cloche, or telling us she is grabbing a beaded bag to take out with her.

Piper has now graduated from high school and doesn't really know what she is doing with her life. She's slowly recovering from Lydia's death and the solving of that case, when a new case is brought to her attention by a friend. Recently the girl's brother died and it was ruled a suicide. She insists he would not have killed himself, and Piper takes the case.

I feel like this story could take place in any city, in any time period. And that is my biggest complaint, because it does not feel like the 20s. This is one of my favorite eras to read about, fiction or non-fiction, and it makes me so sad this series is not working for me.

I also take a major issue with this book being billed as a good one for fans of Agatha Christie. Absolutely not. That's actually offensive.

I will not be reading any more in the series.

Give it a try if you'd like, but I can't recommend it.

NetGalley ARC | All We Lost Was Everything

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A few months ago River's dad died when their house burned down. Her mom up and dipped months before that. She lives with her aunt and works at a diner with her best friend, Tawny. Then there's cute waiter Logan and her ex-boyfriend Noah who make things more complicated. When new information comes out about the fire that killed her dad, it's all River can think about. For so long it was assumed to be an accident, but now River's not so sure.

So, I don't read YA for romance. I like murder mysteries/thrillers and that's it. River and Logan felt like insta-love, which I always find very weird. Luckily, their relationship was not the entire focus and the mystery and the twists that came with it were enough to keep me going.

In regards to the relationship, this definitely reads more like older YA and I would not let Eleanor have a go at it yet. The characters are beginning-college age-ish so it is upper YA anyway.

I really liked the mystery and had so many questions about River's parents, the fire, and her mom's disappearing act. It was an engaging read, even if the characters sometimes came across as cardbord cutouts of certain tropes. Some things I saw coming, some I didn't, and it was not the worst way to spend a couple hours.

Recommended.

NetGalley ARC | Suddenly a Murder

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A locked room mystery (okay, a locked room island) with a 1920s flair is pretty much my favorite thing and this one did not disappoint.

To celebrate graduating from high school, best friends Izzy and Kassidy are joined by five friends on an island getaway. Their destination is Ashwood Manor, where they will dress up in glamorous 20s digs and party like it's (still the rich months of) 1929. Anything not available in the 1920s is out of bounds, meaning of course, no cell phones.

We have Izzy, whose family is not wealthy. She's a scholarship kid who attends their wealthy private school at reduced cost since her mom is a teacher there.

Kassidy planned the entire event, a week-long celebration where she may or may not have intended to murder someone.

Blaine, the victim and Kassidy's boyfriend, not so great since he can't stop cheating on her - and perhaps one or two guests are those he cheated with.

The group is rounded out with Chloe, Ellison, Fergus and Marlowe. Each have various degrees of connection to Kassidy, but to say much else would spoil some important plot points.

It's all fun and games - except it's not. There are little spots of tension building up between various characters, that finally boil over when Blaine is murdered and we quickly find there are plenty of reasons that any of the guests would have wanted him dead. Everyone is a suspect and as the detectives arrive, their number one is Izzy - because she's the one who brought the knife.

When a storm rolls through there's no way to leave the island, so the six suspects are interrogated and the detectives can see that everyone is lying. The story then proceeds over several days as they are trapped with a murderer and have to figure out who the culprit is.

I always try to be a little more lenient when it comes to YA thrillers, because teenagers are dumb. It's not meant to be an insult, they just are. Their brains are not fully developed yet. But the one thing that did bug me is that you have six incredibly wealthy kids, plus Izzy. Not a single one asked for their lawyer, and just agreed to be interviewed? There's just no way.

One of the strong points of the novel is the mini-conflicts between various characters. It really helped sell the fact that this group is actually a lot closer than it would appear on the surface. Most of the teens have known each other nearly all their lives - so there's plenty of secrets, anger, betrayals, and more to parse through. But in turn, that just complicates everything for the detectives because everyone had a motive and opportunity.

While the novel is not perfect, it is a fantastic debut. I still went with five stars just because it was so much fun, and contained so many elements that I love about YA mysteries and thrillers.

Highly, highly recommended.

NetGalley ARC | Last Girl Breathing

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Eight years ago the rain started, and wouldn't stop. Water levels rose and the dam broke. Families were caught in the flood and several lives were lost. Among those was Lucy's little brother. While she was able to help save many, Clay was not one of them, and his body was never recovered. Despite having just been a child herself, this is a heavy burden Lucy continues to carry.

Slowly but surely the town rebuilt what had been destroyed and they tried to move on, though this singular event shaped so many of the characters' lives from that point on. Lucy and her friends came of age, bound together by the trauma of losing so many.

Fast forward to the present day and Lucy is about to graduate from high school. She's also looking forward to competing at the Olympics in the air rifle competition. But then her stepbrother Martin goes missing and the search leads to the same area of land where Clay died nearly a decade earlier.

Everyone has secrets, including Lucy. She knows what her stepbrother was up to the day he vanished, but she isn't sure who she can trust with that information. It turns out Martin was asking questions about the dam and why it broke, questions someone didn't want anyone to know the answers to.

And then the search for Martin turns into a murder investigation, though he is only the first victim of several. All clues start pointing toward Lucy's ex-boyfriend, Neil. She is sure he isn't responsible, and is determined to find the real killer. Even so, Neil is arrested and Lucy knows she does not have much time to prove he is innocent.

This story was immensely engaging and despite me having read so many in this genre, there were times where I suspected nearly every single character in the book; everyone looked guilty in one way or another. The author does a fantastic job of creating fully fleshed-out characters, distinct despite a somewhat larger cast to keep track of, and I did not feel overwhelmed trying to remember who was connected to who, and how.

This is a well-written, emotionally-charged novel. The author weaves a fantastic story with plenty of twists and turns, a little misdirection, and a lot of trauma. It's impossible not to be pulled into this little corner of the world in rural Kentucky. Lucy is compelling main character, one who is easy to root for as she tries to understand what is happening to this place she loves so much.

Highly recommended.

NetGalley ARC | That's Not My Name

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐

A teenage girl wakes up on the side of a road in the middle of nowhere, her memories of who she is or how she got there are gone. A police officer comes along and picks her up, taking her to the station. A man arrives later, sick with worry, having been looking for his daughter for hours. He claims to be the girl's father, her name is Mary. He has her school ID and birth certificate, Wayne must be her dad, right?

Lola and Drew had a huge fight and she got out of the car, storming off to who knows where. Drew expects that after they both calm down, he and Lola will talk things through. Except now Lola is missing and everyone in town thinks he murdered her.

I love a good mystery and the premise made it seem like this would be a good one.

Psych!

It was not.

I can't for the life of me understand how it is rated so highly, or how it managed to be a Goodreads Choice nominee. The only reason I gave it a second star was because this one did not have a happy ending. Too often that is how YA thrillers end, and that's just not how life works; people don't always get what they want. Otherwise this would have been just one more disappointing predictable waste of time. Instead, it was only a disappointing predictable waste of time until the end.

All of the characters were annoying, except Madisen. And not just high school annoying, but annoying annoying. I don't mind unlikable characters, if they're written well and it furthers the story. But they're not unlikable in any way that makes sense, they just...are. And poorly written, at that. So messy.

There were so many plot holes, the book might as well have been made of swiss cheese.

The biggest one of all, was the 'mystery' of whether or not Lola was Mary. And it's not a spoiler to say she was, in fact, NOT. Lola had been missing for over a month, yet Mary's story takes place in a few days. How was this not taken into consideration? Was the author just counting on readers to not pay attention to the timelines? If so, how insulting. If not, then the author is not so smart.

The second thing that makes no sense is WHY DID WAYNE EVEN GO TO THE POLICE STATION?? He had no way of knowing that Mary had amnesia. All he knew was that she had somehow escaped captivity and he had to find her. But he thought it would be a good idea to look for her at the police station because...why? If she did not have amnesia and had been able to tell the police he had kidnapped her, he'd have been arrested the moment he walked in and Mary started screaming that he was her kidnapper. Makes zero fucking sense.

There are so many more examples that honestly, it's exhausting. If Mary had been in a car accident, where was the car? Why did the police not go back to the scene and investigate? She was so injured she could barely move, so it's not as though the car could have been miles away. And why didn't Drew just come out and say he and Lola had broken up? Doing this would have actually helped prove his innocence.

If you can ignore these, and other, gaping plot holes and inconsistencies, then by all means - go ahead and waste your time. Otherwise, not recommended.

NetGalley ARC | Win Lose Kill Die

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Morton Academy is not for the faint of heart. The students are highly competitive and high-achievers. They have been accepted to the elite school based on academic excellence and the pressure to stay on top is intense. But one by one, the best of the best are targeted and through this series of murders it becomes clear that someone is willing to eliminate their competition in order to come out on top. There are plenty of suspects - members of the 'Jewel and Bone' secret society, the charming new student, a teacher with a not-so-clean past, or the rumored cult that may or may not exist.

Our main character is Liz. At the end of the previous school year, she was injured in an accident and spent the summer trying to recover. As the students around her begin to die, she sticks closet to her group of friends, but wonders who is really trustworthy. Given her head injury, things are not always clear. I LOVE unreliable narrators.

I'm a total sucker for a good murder mystery set in any kind of boarding school, so I tend to hold these kinds of books to a higher standard, because I love them so much.

The author did a great job building up the suspicion of various characters. While there was not a lot of room for character development given how quickly things moved, I did not feel like the characters were cardboard or indistinguishable. They each had enough of a unique voice that it was easy to keep them straight.

The ending SEEMS like it comes out of nowhere, but if you pay attention to who is at every crime scene, you'll figure it out pretty quickly. I'm kind of embarassed it took two deaths and a rusty old nail for me to figure it out.

Sociopaths are fun.

Highly recommended!

NetGalley ARC | A Place for Vanishing

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Libby and her sister Vivi return with their mother to her childhood home seeking a fresh start. Libby was recently diagnosed with Bipolar III, brought about by a tragic, shocking event. The family will have to navigate this new normal while settling into their new home that is not what it seems - or maybe it is EXACTLY what it seems.

Look, I hate bugs. Absolutely hate them and they are yucky. So the fact that various insects play a huge role in the book in numerous ways was not a lot of fun for me. But I stuck with it and I am SO glad I did because this book is fucking fiiiiire.

Libby's mom is content to live in blissful ignorance about the strange goings-on, even as Libby uncovers more and more information that makes it clear this is not the easy fresh start they need. Rumors abound regarding the house, mainly about the many disappearances that have occurred in its 100-year history, and the masked seances the original owners supposedly held on the grounds, surrounded by beautiful, impossibly blue roses.

I loved how the author developed the house practically as its own character. This created such a sense of foreboding and tension throughout the novel because there is no escape from it, this is their home now. The atmosphere created is suffocating at times, and I couldn't stop reading because I had to know what was coming next. The eeriness of the atmosphere made Libby's discoveries about the house's history all the more sinister.

Given Libby's bipolar diagnosis, mental health can't help but play a role in the story. I feel like this was well-done and we see the impact of the disorder on decisions Libby makes throughout the story, going through the cycles of hypomanic and depressive episodes. This does make Libby and unreliable narrator at times, but I don't think this is done in a malicious way; it was honest. While I was frustrated with Libby's mom at times, in the end it is clear why she made the decisions she did.

The cast of characters is small, which enabled fantastic character devlopment and we really got to know each individual. In addition to Libby, her mom, and sister, we meet Finn - the boy next door, so to speak, who has his own reasons for wanting to uncover the truth about The House of Masks.

The story progressed quickly, the atmosphere intense, the house threatening to consume everyone. I could not put this book down and it was a well-crafted story from start to finish.

Highly recommended.

NetGalley ARC | The Merciless King of Moore High

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Okay, so I really insanely, absurdly love the Teen Killers Club trilogy. Like, so much that I will ask for more, even when we do not yet have the rest of the story for Merciless King.

Lily Sparks is one of my fave authors and I will read everything she ever writes. She is massively creative and a fantastic writer. TKC was realistic enough that, especially given the climate of our country right now, you could absolutely believe that the government would use something like the Wylie-Stanton to find the psychopaths and put them in this joke of a White House "aministration".

Merciless King, on the other hand, is straight-up dystopian. That's not my usual genre, but I love this one so freaking much.

Nearly a year ago all of the adults morphed into ginormous bloodthirsty monster dragon-y things. Our main character, Kay, has spent the last nine months barricaded inside her high school with fellow students. Life is really difficult at Jefferson; they're scared, they're starving and miserable, and the Student Council collectively makes decisions together on ideas presented at assemblies.

When Kay, a memeber of the SC, finds out a secret that would greatly disrupt life in the walls of their school, she is exiled. Straight-up just taken outside in the middle of the night and left basically as a snack for whatever these hell-creatures are that the adults have turned into.

Kay is surprised and grateful to be rescued by a raiding party of cheerleaders from Jefferson's crosstown rival, Moore High. No one at Jefferson ever thought about there being any other survivors.  Not only are the kids holed up inside Moore surviving though, they are thriving. No one is starving, and they are legit living as though they're back in the middle ages, complete with a king's court, rival factions, and serious shadowy intrigue. Life is still hard and violent, but they've made it this far and don't intend to change any time soon.

King Max does not trust Kay and she has to prove that's she's not there for nefarious purposes on behalf of Jefferson. Max rules with an iron fist and his word is final. There is no talking things out, no assemblies or joint decision-making. Kay has to learn to navigate this new world, which involves expeditions to slay the monsters, minding her own business, and not getting involved in the political intrigues.

Without giving anything away, I can say that she fails miserably at most of those things.

Something Sparks excels at is jumping into the action right away. The book literally begins basically as described in the summary. It can be jarring because you have no idea what is going on when you're dropped in the middle of the action, but the way she crafts her stories, everything comes together and you find out piece by piece what you need to know, when you need to know it. It is crucial that you do not get too attached to any characters, because Sparks has no qualms about killing off someone if it serves a purpose and furthers the story. There was one death in particular that was really hard for me and I never want to talk about it again or I will cry.

Sparks also excels at creating a massively diverse cast of characters. There are a lot of people to remember here, but she gives them life and they are unique. I never felt like someone was a cardboard cutout or a caricature, just there to be a body and fill the space.

Much like in TKC, it is sometimes hard to know who to trust. This is for a variety of reasons - the factions at Max's court, the reality of their situation now that all the adults are gone, and the things characters are willing to do to survive. There is not always a clear-cut good guy or bad guy. It's all shades of gray here and that's okay. You don't know how you will react in a given situation until you're forced to, and Kay has to learn how to deal with that.

It took me a matter of hours to read this one. It's brutal and violent and traumatic and even so, these kids keep surviving and moving forward and doing what they think is right, for the good of the group. The book is simply impossible to put down as characters shift their loyalty and we find out secrets that were meant to stay hidden.

Though the story concludes as well as can be expected, there's room for so much more. I would love to see these characters again and I hope that Sparks decides on the best way to get future stories of Moore and Jefferson to her eagerly waiting fans.

Highly, highly recommended.

NetGalley ARC | Thin Air

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was a lot of fun and quite a roller coaster ride - as long as you don't think too hard about it. With YA thrillers and murder mysteries there always has to be some suspension of belief for any aspect, and this book is no different, but it was still a great locked-room type read - technically there is more than one room, they're on a private jet, but you get what I mean.

Twelve contestants are aboard an eight hour flight to Paris from the US, on their way to participate in a contest that comes with a major cash prize. Unfortunately for eleven of them, one has decided to better their odds by killing off the competition.

Emily is our main character and there were definitely times I had to remind myself she is a teenager and teenagers often make really stupid decisions. She is there to compete because the money would be a godsend for her and her mother, who are living in poverty. The money would provide for her to go to college, and a better life for both of them.

Once the contestants start dying, the game becomes real and Emily has to decide who to trust - including her BFF's boyfriend, who also made the cut to compete. Loyalties are ever-changing as more information comes to light and there were plenty of twists and turns that even had me guessing. I've read so many of this genre that it is hard to be surprised anymore, but I am happy to report that this one kept me guessing for a while. Emily had plenty of secrets of her own as well that gradually are forced to the surface.

With twelve characters it was hard to get to know all of them well, becuase the author had to also balance that with keeping the killer's identity hidden. Still, I did not feel like they were flat or caricatures. There was enough to differentiate most of them, and we get to know a few pretty well.

The whole thing felt very claustrophobic, which is I suppose it the point, and it was done very well. The tension and stress was palpable throughout and the pacing contributed well to this. I tend to read fiction pretty quickly and this was no exception, because I had to know who the killer was.

Recommended.

Double Shot: Non-ARC and NetGalley ARC | The Agathas

 

I read The Agathas on a rec from another blogger and loved it so much that I snagged book two, The Night in Question, as soon as it was available on NetGalley.

The Agathas | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I am always cautious when it comes to books using Agatha Christie in any way, either as 'modern re-tellings', or using her/her novels as inspiration for the characters to solve whatever mystery they've stumbled upon.

Here, I can gladly say that I LOVED book one. It's incredibly well-done and a solid mystery in its own right, while paying homage to the greatest mystery writer of all time.

Side note: I have seen a ton of bloggers over the years compare this to A Good Girl's Guide to Murder. I HATED that book and it was absolute trash. HERE is my review, if you're interested. The Agathas is a million times better.

Anyway, book one.

A year ago one of the most popular girls in school, Alice, disappears without a trace after a bad break-up with her boyfriend Steve. Steve promptly begins dating Alice's best friend Brooke, who quickly becomes the ex best friend. There's a huge confrontation and then Alice is just gone. The town is in shock, worried that something terrible has happened to her.

Yet, Alice returns five days later and gives no explanation or information on where she went, why she left, or how she returned. Just like her idol, Agatha Christie.

Fast forward to present day, when Brooke disappears after a huge fight with Steve. She storms off and the next day everyone finds out she never made it home. Of course Steve is the main suspect - it's ALWAYS the boyfriend. Until it isn't. But maybe it was in this case - you just have to read for yourself to find out.

Brooke's grandmother offers a massive reward when Brooke's body is found; some at first wondered if Brooke was simply pulling an Alice, and would come home in a few days.

The police zero in on Steve right away and despite the bad break-up, Alice is convinced they have the wrong guy; she knows Steve, and Steve is not a killer. So, Alice teams up with her tutor, Iris, who has her own reasons for wanting to leave town and never look back. She's definitely NOT one of the popular crowd and can't wait to get out. The reward money would completely change her life, and allow her the freedom to leave Castle Cove for good.

Turns out Alice is a huge fan of Agatha Christie, and with her books as their guides, she knows she and Iris can solve the murder. The only problem is, Castle Cove is hiding many more secrets than who killed Brooke Donovan. The teens have no idea what they are getting themselves into, and chaos ensues.

I absolutely loved the first book. I read it in a matter of hours, it was that good and I just could not put it down. I loved the friendship between Iris and Alice, and the depth we see in both of them. The story is told in alternating viewpoints and thought there were times when I had to double-check who the narrartor was, each had a unique voice.

I would compare this to One of Us is Lying, one of the best YA books of all time. Not in terms of plot, but in vibe, clever plot and twists, strong character voice, and an overall entertaining mystery. If you read a lot of YA thrillers/mysteries, the ending probably won't surprise you, but it was an ending that made sense. It's not something that comes out of left field, unlike a certain other YA book I mentioned above.

I like that even though Alice was considered an outcast after her disappearing act, Iris and her friends didn't dwell on it. The new friends that Alice makes accept her, and together they all figure out what happened to Brooke. I also love that the teens were presented in an authentic way. Their development and the investigation make sense, because both are huge fans of mysteries and true crime, so they use the knowledge gleaned from that to solve Brooke's murder. They don't just become super sleuths out of nowhere.

I also appreciate the nods to Christie thrown in here and there, in addition to Alice's singular devotion to the Queen of Crime. Here is the start of a series that I think actually lives up to the hype, and one that Christie would not at all be embarassed of inspiring.

Highly, highly recommended.

The Night in Question | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

In book one, a mystery is alluded to several times involving Levy Castle, the reason the town of Castle Cove has its name. It was at Levy Castle that Mona Moody, a famous movie star from the 1940s, died under mysterious circumstances after jumping/falling from a balcony. This mystery is expertly interwoven with the current-day attack that Iris and Alice find themselves involved in during their school's Sadie Hawkins dance.

Side note: my biggest issue with the book is the dance itself. The characters are dressed all fancy for this dance, what the heck? When I was in high school, this was the one dance that was decidely NOT fancy. The girls ask the boys, and then wear matching or similar outfits. I have never heard of a Sadie Hawkins dance being a homecoming or prom-like event. Is this just me????

Anyway.

We are a few months removed from book one and during the course of the school dance, Alice takes the opportunity to explore what she believes was a crime scene decades ago. Just like she knew Steve could not have killed Brooke in the first book, Alice is sure that police also screwed up the Mona Moody investigation as well.

Unfirtunately for Alice, she is sidetracked when she litrally walks into a new crime scene involving two of her former friends, Rebecca and Helen. Rebecca is sprawled on the floor in a pool of blood and Helen is standing over her. Rebecca has been stabbed and knocked out, Helen is holding a letter opener. Adding to the case against Helen is the fact that a few hours earlier, everyone witnessed a fight between them over the fact that they ended up wearing the same dress to the dance. Helen does herself no favors by running away from Alice, while insisting she is innocent.

The police immediately assume Helen's guilt, which makes sense given the scene. But they conveniently ignore the fact that Helen is not also bloodied, something that surely would have happened if she were the one who had stabbed and bludgeoned Rebecca. But given their track record, Iris and Alice are not waiting around for CCPD to arrest the wrong person; they are determined to find the culprit first.

To make matters worse, during the chaos a mudslide occurs that makes it impossible to get to or leave the castle.

But once Alice and Iris are on the case, they realize they are hurtling rapidly into a bigger mystery than they first thought, because there are signs that indicate Rebecca's attempted murder is connected to Levy Castle and Mona Moody's death 80 years earlier.

There was a bit of a gap between when I read the first and second books, so I was happy to note that the authors recapped things throughout the second book. It's understandable, given the amount I read, that I would forget details, no matter how much I loved the previous book. It was nice to not have to go back and re-read that one before starting this one.

This is a fantastic series. It's clever, funny, and actually a mystery. The characters continue to develop and evolve. Twists actually make sense, and the pace is quick without being overwhelming. I loved seeing the two plots come together, as this time the characters dealt with some pretty heavy topics aside from death.

Highly, highly recommended.

NetGalley ARC | After You Vanished

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐

I should have known.

The blurb compared this to a meeting of Sadie and We Were Liars, two of my most favorite YA books ever. Sadie STILL guts me, years later. I can't think about that book without wanting to cry. Liars was such an emotional punch also.

Still, I should have known.

This book is...fine. It's not the greatest YA mystery/thriller I've ever read, mainly because there isn't really a mystery.

Teddy and Izzy are twins. Teddy loves Bottomrock Lake, the place she's worked a lifeguard every summer for years. One late night last summer Izzy and Toby were at the lake together and had a race of sorts - Izzy would swim across the lake, Toby would run around it, and they would see who was fastest.

Toby won by default - Izzy never came out of the lake.

Izzy drowning is something Teddy can't take seriously. Izzy was a strong, accomplished swimmer and Olympic hopeful. Drowning makes no sense. There's also the issue of her missing passport. But what could Izzy have possibly wanted to disappear from? On the verge of adulthood, so many possibilities before her, disappearing makes as much sense as drowning.

This summer Toby comes to work at the lake as well. Teddy is suspicious of him, the last person to see her sister alive for sure. Teddy practically drives herself crazy trying to figure out what secrets he may know about her sister, things Teddy never knew.

Sounds fantastic, no? It could have been. But the Sadie/Liars comparisons did it no favors. My expectations were probably too high. There's just something so horrible and gritty and beautiful and traumatic about Sadie that I will never be able to put into words. Those same feelings are not here at all, because the only thing the stories really have in common is a missing/dead sister. Everything Sadie goes through to find answers, Teddy's journey does not compare to that at all. That doesn't mean there isn't grief, but it's something totally different and I can't explain it.

A lot of reviewers have commented on the pace of the novel and their frustration with it. That didn't bother me at all, it was kind of a slow burn and for me it works. I think it worked to the author's advantage, because that's how grief works. Some days nothing happens, and some days everything happens.

The novel is told from Teddy's point of view, as she talks to Izzy, trying to work out what really happened that night. Overall I think this does a good job in showing Teddy's growth throughout the book, as she learns more and more about Izzy - apparently twins do have secrets from each other, something Teddy never considered.

I would definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy the genre. But please ignore the Sadie/Liars comparison to fully enjoy it for its own worth.