Reviews

I read this because I’ve liked others from these publishers. And while the book was good and there were times I couldn’t put it down, I had figured out the gist of what the end would be by the time I was only half way through. I followed through to finish and see what they said/did. But in the end I predicted it. I like books more that I can’t predict the outcome, especially so early on.

tgreene507's review

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

jenna_bracy's review against another edition

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2.0

Okay. I don't even know where to start with this book. I have been reading a lot of romance recently so I decided I wanted to switch it up and go for a thriller. This book was well... something.

I want to start by saying the writer did an amazing job and I loved the writing style. With that being said though the characters had literally zero personality. They were all the same and all came across the same way which made it very difficult to keep track of who was speaking when.

Now for the plot...

Spoiler

the fact that Sydney was not dead

was both surprising and expected because

Spoiler

of the way 'Brooklyn' behaved

. Like what?? Then the fact that the police could not figure it out in what a week? 10 days? And some 17 year old kid figures out the whole thing in like 5 minutes from Insta is crazy to me. ALSO did the cops not think that a bunch of teenagers living in a house with a WINE CELLAR was weird or is that just me?? Like I feel like I had been one of those cops I would have had something to say about that... but hey, maybe that is just me being a normal human being.

Now, WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH GWEN AND TUCKER?? Like gurl that is your best friend and you are hooking up with her boyfriend?? I absolutely hated them together.

Spoiler

But then when Gwen decides she likes Cami?? Where did that even come from??

Like did she pull it out of her butt?? Off a tree??

Overall this book got two stars from me after I thought about it and read some other reviews. This book was not my favorite and I would only recommend this to a young reader. But then also with Gwen and Tucker maybe it was meant for older age groups... Idek.

priceliketag's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Simple, but fun. Definitely YA but a nice quick read.

themermaddie's review

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4.0

oh this was so fun! it captures current pop culture SO well, which admittedly makes me wonder how this book will age, but at least for right now, this was delightfully accurate for today's tiktok/influencer culture.

this is like the less serious love child of One of Us is Lying and A Good Girl's Guide to Murder; it has the structure of AGGGTM #3 and the *ahem* ending of OOUIL. this isn't necessarily a bad thing; i still had fun watching it unfold, but readers of OOUIL/AGGGTM might be disappointed by the familiarity of the plot/structure.

there are so many povs and short chapters, which makes this a quick read and super addictive, and the characters are all pretty defined considering how many of them we have to focus on. the suspense was great, i had so many reasons to actively dislike them for being suspicious, annoying, spoiled, cruel, and yet i love how flawed they are but still relatable and entertaining to watch; just like real influencers, i suppose. there were lots of good themes about fame and social media discussed here, and i thought all the characters were appropriately annoying and also endearing so that i still kinda ended up liking them in the end. except for kat and beau who have never done anything wrong in their lives. i really liked that the story ended without absolving any of the characters' personality flaws, they're just all a little bit more self aware; cami's still mean, gwen's still shallow, tucker's still a douchebag, but they're all just a little bit less. that, and the acceptance of their youth means they can prioritise the important things in life more.

that being said, the police work and the mystery isn't the strongest in this book. it's really more of a background element of the plot, and some people will be mad about that but i don't mind so much bc i had a good time anyway. this book scratched my YA killer thriller itch.

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