The kind of dark, wild ride that begs to read in a single sitting.
Betrayals and lies surround a girl’s mysterious disappearance.
Singers Kady and Lauren were a YouTube phenomenon and best friends until an infection damaged Lauren’s throat, stealing her voice, leading Kady to ditch Lauren and go solo. When Kady goes missing after a performance at the coffee shop where Lauren works, suspicion falls on Lauren—after all, though they’re supposedly best friends, they’ve recently had a massive fight. When public opinion turns against Lauren, the only one in her corner is handsome bad-boy Jude—reinvented from acne-covered bullying victim Nathan, Lauren’s pre-Kady best friend, who has cause to hate both girls. The narration shifts, combining first-person chapters from various characters’ perspectives (carefully written to cast suspicion on people without confirming guilt or ruling anyone out) and undated video-diary entries from Kady. As Lauren and Jude try to assemble a list of people with reason to hurt Kady, a picture is painted of a sociopathic bad girl willing to hurt anyone—but is that girl Kady…or Lauren? And how stable is Jude? Although characters occasionally stretch credulity and a sexual-assault storyline set amid the drama strikes a sour, tawdry note, the dark friendship is addictive. Endlessly twisty, this deliberate head trip will keep readers guessing until the very end.
The kind of dark, wild ride that begs to read in a single sitting. (Mystery/thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8075-8140-7
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
Readers will be captivated by this twisty thriller and its uncompromising protagonist.
The mother Annabel Price thought was dead returns with a story about where she’s been—but 18-year-old Bel knows she’s lying.
Ever since Rachel Price’s unexplained disappearance 16 years ago, true-crime fans have come up with plentiful theories about what happened. Bel and her family members, who are white, cobbled together lives for themselves after a jury found Bel’s father, Charlie, not guilty of murdering his wife. Beset with medical bills for his elderly father, Charlie recently agreed to participate in a documentary about the unsolved mystery. Black British filmmaker Ramsey Lee is well into the process of interviewing the Prices when his project gets an unanticipated boost after an exhausted, disheveled Rachel staggers back into town. Rachel is eager to resume her role in the family, but the inconsistencies in her accounts raise alarms for Bel. With the help of the youngest member of the filmmaking team, Bel sets out to learn what really happened. Along the way, someone else disappears, and Bel uncovers a tangle of lies that make it impossible for her to trust people she thought she knew. When things come to a head the night of her grandfather’s 85th birthday party, Bel ends up in a race for her life. The last quarter of the novel tears along at a breakneck pace before arriving at a satisfying and unexpected conclusion.
Readers will be captivated by this twisty thriller and its uncompromising protagonist. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9780593374207
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
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