LYING ABOUT LAST SUMMER

An English teenager receives texts from someone claiming to be her deceased older sister.

Eager to distance herself from the traumatic death of her 18-year-old sister, Luisa, last summer, Skye Colton was excited about being offered a full ride at a summer camp, thanks to the charity Bereaved Aid for Kids. But she’s apprehensive as it nears and she realizes that the other campers have their own stories of loss: anxious Fay, rebellious Danielle, perceptive Brandon, and domineering Joe. Interspersed throughout the present-day camp storyline are flashbacks of Skye and Luisa’s relationship from the year before: Skye, trying to reconnect with her sister, who was involved with flashy new boyfriend Nico, eagerly offered to assist with deliveries for a “nutrition supplement business” Luisa and Nico were involved in. Skye’s naïveté and the ominous direction Luisa’s choices were taking her come through clearly. Now she knows that the messages on the MessageHound app can’t possibly be from Luisa. Suspicious that someone at camp is sending them, she becomes determined to find out their identity and motives. Skye’s inner turmoil is strongly sympathetic, and the flashbacks and earlier timeline heighten the intrigue while cleverly keeping readers in the dark about what exactly Skye knows about her sister’s death. Skye’s investigations reveal insights into the other campers, creating an engrossing narrative that leads to an unexpected, nail-biting conclusion. Most characters read white. Brandon has a white mother and Black father.

Suspenseful and compelling, with authentic representations of loss.