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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-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
mysterious
tense
Thank you to Netgalley and Tori's publicist, Hannah Klein, for sending me an ARC of HTFAMG in exchange of a review.
Okay y'all. The first thing you need to know about this book is that I FOUGHT to get my hands on it (literally. I fought. Hard). Because the SECOND I heard about it, I knew I needed to read it. I read AGGGTM earlier this year and it instantly became one of my favourite reads; so I just had to get my hands on HTFAMG. Also, who doesn't love thrillers?
I think it's not a surprise when I say this book reached my expectations. I was right in wanting to read it, because this book is simply and purely THAT good. Tori should be incredibly proud of herself for writing a debut that's so gripping and captivating that you struggle to put it down (but my beauty sleep won, I'm sorry). The writing style was simple and beautiful, and I absolutely adored the multi-media format! It's part of the reason why I loved AGGGTM so much; it never misses, and in this case, it delivered. The podcast was such a welcome addition, and it served its purpose very well, giving us clues, plot devices, and some characters' backgrounds and motivations.
The characters were also very alive and flawed and beautiful and you couldn't not root for them. Iris' motivations for everything she does are abundantly clear, and I honestly think I would do the same (sometimes), were I in her situation. The secondary characters had all their own personalities and were also flawed, and that's what made them so good.
Although the twist wasn't that surprising (but maybe I've read and watched too many thrillers? Who knows), I still was captivated every second. Tori uses today's society and its problems as a means to tell her story in a way I didn't necessarily expect; the message behind some dialogues, characters, and scene settings is very clear: the dissociation and dichotomy of living in a town split between the rich and the poor and what it does to a person, and, of course, the power teachers can have over students, all real, important subjects that need to be talked about, and Tori does that wonderfully.
And obviously, I have to mention the sapphics. I think one of the first things I learned about this book - other than it was similar to AGGGTM - was that it was sapphic. I don't think we have many sapphic trillers out there - we do, but not like this one where the sapphic characters (which DO end up in a wlw relationship) are at the centre of the investigation because they're leading it, and it was just so refreshing to read a book where the problems weren't related to homophobia and queerphobia. I think we need more of these.
I compare this book to AGGGTM a lot, I know. But I don't think you can't not compare them (I think AGGGTM was a comp for HTFAMG?). The premises are similar in some ways (there's a murder/disappearance and the MC tries to solve it) but other than that, they're two different books. Pip and Iris are completely different characters with different motivations, each book has its own story, and the resolutions make sense in both stories without, again, being similar. If you love AGGGTM and Holy Jackson, you should definitely pick up HTFAMG when it comes out (September 19th!) because you will LOVE it.
Okay y'all. The first thing you need to know about this book is that I FOUGHT to get my hands on it (literally. I fought. Hard). Because the SECOND I heard about it, I knew I needed to read it. I read AGGGTM earlier this year and it instantly became one of my favourite reads; so I just had to get my hands on HTFAMG. Also, who doesn't love thrillers?
I think it's not a surprise when I say this book reached my expectations. I was right in wanting to read it, because this book is simply and purely THAT good. Tori should be incredibly proud of herself for writing a debut that's so gripping and captivating that you struggle to put it down (but my beauty sleep won, I'm sorry). The writing style was simple and beautiful, and I absolutely adored the multi-media format! It's part of the reason why I loved AGGGTM so much; it never misses, and in this case, it delivered. The podcast was such a welcome addition, and it served its purpose very well, giving us clues, plot devices, and some characters' backgrounds and motivations.
The characters were also very alive and flawed and beautiful and you couldn't not root for them. Iris' motivations for everything she does are abundantly clear, and I honestly think I would do the same (sometimes), were I in her situation. The secondary characters had all their own personalities and were also flawed, and that's what made them so good.
Although the twist wasn't that surprising (but maybe I've read and watched too many thrillers? Who knows), I still was captivated every second. Tori uses today's society and its problems as a means to tell her story in a way I didn't necessarily expect; the message behind some dialogues, characters, and scene settings is very clear: the dissociation and dichotomy of living in a town split between the rich and the poor and what it does to a person, and, of course, the power teachers can have over students, all real, important subjects that need to be talked about, and Tori does that wonderfully.
And obviously, I have to mention the sapphics. I think one of the first things I learned about this book - other than it was similar to AGGGTM - was that it was sapphic. I don't think we have many sapphic trillers out there - we do, but not like this one where the sapphic characters (which DO end up in a wlw relationship) are at the centre of the investigation because they're leading it, and it was just so refreshing to read a book where the problems weren't related to homophobia and queerphobia. I think we need more of these.
I compare this book to AGGGTM a lot, I know. But I don't think you can't not compare them (I think AGGGTM was a comp for HTFAMG?). The premises are similar in some ways (there's a murder/disappearance and the MC tries to solve it) but other than that, they're two different books. Pip and Iris are completely different characters with different motivations, each book has its own story, and the resolutions make sense in both stories without, again, being similar. If you love AGGGTM and Holy Jackson, you should definitely pick up HTFAMG when it comes out (September 19th!) because you will LOVE it.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
dark
mysterious
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:
Complicated
PERFECT FOR FANS OF A GOOD GIRLS GUIDE TO MURDER
This book made remember how much I love a good YA thriller. It was entertaining and kept me on the edge of my seat.
My only point of critique is that the representation felt a little performative at points. I’m not sure how to explain it. However, I’m still glad we got such a good and diverse thriller
This book made remember how much I love a good YA thriller. It was entertaining and kept me on the edge of my seat.
My only point of critique is that the representation felt a little performative at points. I’m not sure how to explain it. However, I’m still glad we got such a good and diverse thriller
adventurous
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:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was pretty good the first half because it had all the things I like in a ya thriller but the second half dragged on and then I found myself comparing it too much to other ya thrillers that I truly loved
dark
emotional
mysterious
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