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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A pretty standard YA murder mystery, but it definitely exceeded expectations. I really liked the 3-part structure and enjoyed thinking about what the title of each meant in context of what happened and was revealed in that part. I also found myself going back to reread some key scenes from early in the book as they began to piece together what really happened toward the end, which I usually take as a good sign in a mystery since it means I both had reason to believe the author was that attentive to how key scenes were written and was invested enough to care. The big thing dragging the overall rating down is how the ending was handled after the mystery was solved. I think it went on for a bit too long, overexplaining how all the personal loose ends of the story tied up. I just don't think as much care went into the ending as did in the rest of the book, since up to that point I thought the pacing of how information was revealed and all the dead ends the narrative sends readers down were really well done.
It also bugs me that the title makes less sense at the end of the book than it does at the beginning: the main characters' lies are revealed pretty early on in hindsight, and they aren't really very untrustworthy as narrators at all. The mystery isn't solved because a lie came out but because information that was out in the open (that Simon was depressed and was active in the 4chan groups) was reinterpreted by Kris, so the lying part doesn't really even seem relevant. I do think the reveal of it not being any of the original 4 suspects was a good idea, so I feel like this titling was a necessary evil to set up that kind of twist (even if it was hinted at throughout the novel), but it's still a little irritating.
challenging
mysterious
tense
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:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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