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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
Overall good story, I was truly captivated. It was hard to get through the beginning as all I could think of was "the breakfast club" however, I got into it and it was a pleasure to read it. I was not a huge fan of the ending but it was cute. I just wanted more from the conclusions of the characters.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is like a lot of other YA fiction books I've read, but the story is pretty drawn out and relatively interesting. I remember reading the early books of R. L. Stine in the late '80's and early '90's and they featured that underlying teenaged meanness, jealousy and revenge that most YA books seem to hinge on.
So while I was mall-walking last night after reading about 50 pages, I figured out the rest of the book and that's unusual for me. I was the person who screamed "NO!!!!" in the theater when that movie Sixth Sense reveals that Bruce Willis' character has been dead the whole time. I was made to be a compliant observer who follows the story obediently and is appropriately surprised so this was kind of a bummer for me. What I am genuinely surprised about is that this book has a four-star rating.
Two things the book does well: discusses the advantages and disadvantages of those who have resources and 'fit in' in society when it comes to the criminal justice system; it also highlights what a big role the media plays in highly publicized situations. It's really sad and scary.
So while I was mall-walking last night after reading about 50 pages, I figured out the rest of the book and that's unusual for me. I was the person who screamed "NO!!!!" in the theater when that movie Sixth Sense reveals that Bruce Willis' character has been dead the whole time. I was made to be a compliant observer who follows the story obediently and is appropriately surprised so this was kind of a bummer for me. What I am genuinely surprised about is that this book has a four-star rating.
Two things the book does well: discusses the advantages and disadvantages of those who have resources and 'fit in' in society when it comes to the criminal justice system; it also highlights what a big role the media plays in highly publicized situations. It's really sad and scary.
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Interesting story. Definitely nails teen angst pretty well and in a pretty realistic way. Some nice twists.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The friendships found in this novel are really endearing. I was really invested in what the twist would be, but it was a major letdown. Additionally, a lot of the drama at this school felt like a reach to have shock value with little narrative relevance. The approach to self harm in particular was really graphic for it to be casually dropped and not even be relevant to the plot. Overall, it felt like this had repeatedly missed opportunities for better developed characters and involvement in the mystery.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Murder, Outing
Moderate: Self harm
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Ok so I think I shot myself in the foot going into this one. I thought it was a thriller, and I was thoroughly disappointed by the lack of thriller. I can see that it's labelled on goodreads as a mystery, which makes a bit more sense but honestly I still found a lot of this book a slog to get through. I'm watching the TV series right now and it does a much better part of making each of the bayview four look like they could be guilty. The book fails at that spectacularly in my opinion. If I hadn't been reading this with my girlfriend, I would have quit about 150 pages in. It was just so slow, there was absolutely no tension being built and the plot lingered on romance longer than it did on the murder at its center. I found the Tumblr posts to be largely ignored and unimportant and I actually did guess the twist about 25% of the way in. The details surrounding the twist were still a good surprise, but it was pretty easy to figure what had happened early on, which was disappointing. Even though it was easy, I don't feel like McManus really left a lot of clues. I don't know if someone could have sleuthed the ending, and that's also frustrating for a mystery.
In the end, my favorite character was definitely Cooper. He was the shining light of this book for sure. I couldn't really get into Nate and Bronwyn, and Addy became a better character over time but she didn't stick out to me too much.
In the end, my favorite character was definitely Cooper. He was the shining light of this book for sure. I couldn't really get into Nate and Bronwyn, and Addy became a better character over time but she didn't stick out to me too much.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book had the perfect twist to keep it running a loop in my head, even after it was over.