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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
Thank you to JIMMY Patterson publishing for sending me an ARC via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
4/5 stars.
I really enjoyed this book! It had good pacing, a great cast of characters, and an interesting mystery to be solved.
Right from the beginning, I really liked the relationship between Flora and her grandpa. Gramps is ex-CIA and he supports Flora in her detective work when her mother doesn’t. Even though they had their issues, their relationship was realistic and they both reached out to fix their problems.
Flora felt like a real person because her character was well-written and completely fleshed out. After Ava’s death, she wants to investigate, but her own insecurities about it are making her nervous to try. 2 years ago, Flora admits that she screwed up another murder investigation and made it worse for everyone, and she hesitates to look into Ava’s murder because of it. This insecurity followers her throughout the book, and she receives threats from an anonymous person about looking into Ava’s death, and the various clues that she uncovers. The insecurity also shows up as Flora and Cass’s (her best friend) friendship becomes strained. Flora knew that she had issues, and she tried (somewhat) to work through them, but it was what made her character so real. Flora is human, and she makes mistakes.
Flora’s relationship with her sister was an interesting one because they had other tensions weighing on them and Flora was afraid more for her sister than herself.
I liked Valentine’s character, and I went back and forth on whether or not I trusted him which was similar to how Flora felt about him.
The pacing of the book was really well done. Some parts felt frustratingly slow because they were, but it seemed to be deliberate and it didn’t hurt the story. It only served to further emphasis how Flora was feeling and coping. Other parts built up the intensity, and the tension in the book grew higher and higher.
The very ending was so unexpected and I’m desperately hoping there will be a sequel so that I can get answers! The mystery resolution made sense, but I would have liked to see a little bit more about what would have happened after.
Overall this was a really good mystery/thriller with a main character who was flawed and interesting.
4/5 stars.
I really enjoyed this book! It had good pacing, a great cast of characters, and an interesting mystery to be solved.
Right from the beginning, I really liked the relationship between Flora and her grandpa. Gramps is ex-CIA and he supports Flora in her detective work when her mother doesn’t. Even though they had their issues, their relationship was realistic and they both reached out to fix their problems.
Flora felt like a real person because her character was well-written and completely fleshed out. After Ava’s death, she wants to investigate, but her own insecurities about it are making her nervous to try. 2 years ago, Flora admits that she screwed up another murder investigation and made it worse for everyone, and she hesitates to look into Ava’s murder because of it. This insecurity followers her throughout the book, and she receives threats from an anonymous person about looking into Ava’s death, and the various clues that she uncovers. The insecurity also shows up as Flora and Cass’s (her best friend) friendship becomes strained. Flora knew that she had issues, and she tried (somewhat) to work through them, but it was what made her character so real. Flora is human, and she makes mistakes.
Flora’s relationship with her sister was an interesting one because they had other tensions weighing on them and Flora was afraid more for her sister than herself.
I liked Valentine’s character, and I went back and forth on whether or not I trusted him which was similar to how Flora felt about him.
The pacing of the book was really well done. Some parts felt frustratingly slow because they were, but it seemed to be deliberate and it didn’t hurt the story. It only served to further emphasis how Flora was feeling and coping. Other parts built up the intensity, and the tension in the book grew higher and higher.
The very ending was so unexpected and I’m desperately hoping there will be a sequel so that I can get answers! The mystery resolution made sense, but I would have liked to see a little bit more about what would have happened after.
Overall this was a really good mystery/thriller with a main character who was flawed and interesting.
This one was a bit of a mixed bag...
On the positive side, the plot was interesting, fast-paced, and kept me engaged and guessing until the end.
However, this read like a second book in a series with an entire backstory that wasn't fleshed out enough, and really could have been a book on its own. On top of that, the main character was extremely unlikable. Flora was genuinely an awful daughter, sister, granddaughter, and friend. Last, what the heck was that ending?! Will there be another book? I hope so, because otherwise, what a crappy way to leave a reader hanging!
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
medium-paced
*audiobook* I was at work and chose a book quickly. Definitely not the best choice for me, but probably just because I'm out of the target audience. Not the worst book though
This was a long long book but I thoroughly enjoyed the time it took me to take a deep dive. Schachte was unafraid of the dark details in this story and I was all here for it. This may be very dark and gory for some teens but I think it’s a fantastic and diverse young adult thriller for sure. Five stars for me came from:
✨ fantastic character development; plenty of high school misfits, populate, bullies, and athletes to connect with
✨ incredible use of descriptive language; high school teachers, if your kids are future murderinos and you want them to hone in on their descriptive skills, I strongly recommend this
✨ plot twists galore
✨ murder mystery of course; the level of sleuthing was so cool here especially with Flora’s connections
✨ fantastic character development; plenty of high school misfits, populate, bullies, and athletes to connect with
✨ incredible use of descriptive language; high school teachers, if your kids are future murderinos and you want them to hone in on their descriptive skills, I strongly recommend this
✨ plot twists galore
✨ murder mystery of course; the level of sleuthing was so cool here especially with Flora’s connections
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
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
I read this while at a conference and working late every night--which means I would start reading after I usually went to bed--and finished it in 1.5 days. It was SO GOOD. Such a page turner. I loved Flora, the main character, and the twists and turns kept me interested, but overall what drew me in was the voice.
Thank you to Netgalley for a review copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
I really expected to like this book. It has so many elements that could have made it a really good story. There was a queer female detective with a murdered ex-girlfriend who reached out to her the night she died. That sounds amazing! Unfortunately, the execution was poor and the ball was dropped.
There could have been at least 100 less pages and the story wouldn't have lost anything. I struggled not to DNF this book until just over 50% through when it became slightly more interesting.
The main character is compared to Nancy Drew so many times it just became annoying. I get it, this is supposed to be a more graphic version of Nancy Drew. I can see that, however, our girl detective in this story is the worst. She's self-absorbed to the point where everyone is taking care of her so she can play detective. She sucks the life from her family and friend, yes only one, and just keeps doing whatever she wants ignoring any consequences to anyone else.
I didn't like it. If I had of read this one a couple years ago I may have enjoyed it more.
I really expected to like this book. It has so many elements that could have made it a really good story. There was a queer female detective with a murdered ex-girlfriend who reached out to her the night she died. That sounds amazing! Unfortunately, the execution was poor and the ball was dropped.
There could have been at least 100 less pages and the story wouldn't have lost anything. I struggled not to DNF this book until just over 50% through when it became slightly more interesting.
The main character is compared to Nancy Drew so many times it just became annoying. I get it, this is supposed to be a more graphic version of Nancy Drew. I can see that, however, our girl detective in this story is the worst. She's self-absorbed to the point where everyone is taking care of her so she can play detective. She sucks the life from her family and friend, yes only one, and just keeps doing whatever she wants ignoring any consequences to anyone else.
I didn't like it. If I had of read this one a couple years ago I may have enjoyed it more.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes