Reviews

Going Dark by Melissa de la Cruz

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malicemushroom's review against another edition

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5.0

Absolutely amazing. Had me hooked the whole time. I’d definitely recommend it for fans of One of Us is Lying

fatimareadsbooks's review against another edition

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4.0

3 1/2 stars.

Even though my first theory turned out to be broadly correct, it didn’t dampen my enjoyment of this book. The suspense was fun and seeing the pieces fall together was enjoyable! Although the characters are in college, this reads more like a YA mystery. It wasn’t a massive brain-twister, but it did the job. It was a quick, heart-pounding page-turner.

After his girlfriend, Amelia, disappears in Rome (where she was last seen with him), Josh is now suspect #1. To make things worse, he comes home without her… with blood in his suitcase.

A mixture of mystery, thriller, and commentary on ‘missing white blonde woman syndrome’, this book draws parallels to another girl who went missing years ago — one without any media coverage. Among other things, it also briefly touches on the impact of social media speculation and web sleuths’ interference in ongoing missing persons investigations.

I blasted through this with the need to know where Amelia is. The vlog transcripts in particular were written well. Everything just flowed. I could envision everything, almost as if I were watching in realtime.

For the negative… I expected this to be a whodunit-type mystery, tbh. However, there was very little actual investigation across the novel. The info-dump was unnecessary. The clues weren’t sprinkled through the book; they were poured out suddenly.

Harper Delgado didn’t really play a major role, she was more of a passive listener. Her character enabled us to view Amelia’s life through an outside perspective. I thought it was too convenient she happens to be a super genius hacker who circumvents authorities to uncover secrets…

The ending was satisfying, if not a little open-ended and rushed. I kept scrolling, expecting at-least one more chapter. Still, it did get me to shed a few tears.

I tried to keep this review as vague as possible so as not to spoil anything that wasn’t already in the synopsis, but I’d recommend this for any true crime aficionados out there. This mystery thriller definitely delivers a fast-paced story that’ll leave you breathless.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

annoyingpisces's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

notmaiareading's review against another edition

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2.0

I'm not sure how I feel about this book, I think the pov were meant to subvert the readers thoughts but really they helped me get a picture of what was happening from very early on in the book, obviously I didn't figure out exactly what happened until about halfway but I did figure out that one of the characters "had a darkside", therefore when I was reading their perspective I took it with a grain of salt and knew they were delusional. I think the mystery set up lacked as what it thought happened to the girl did happen to the girl. I do think the ending was a bit lame, there was so much build up and plotting that when it came down fine chapter to it I was disappointed, if just felt like every other YA mystery final chapter even though the mystery itself was completely different to ones I would normally read. I was also confused at the inclusion of the character Harper, I mean like I kinda get it but also not really seemed kinda odd.

izzys_internet_bookshelf's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5/5

I really enjoyed this book but there was a part when I finished and I was like, I am too young to be reading this. But at the same time this was a very good. I was on the end of my seat the whole time.