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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
This mystery, which qualified as a preliminary Gateway Nominee for 2018-19, would be a great fit for fans of April Henry and Ashley Elston.
Protagonist Flynn gets the shock of his life when he arrives home from school one afternoon to find a police car in his driveway and two cops in his living room explaining that his girlfriend January is missing. While Flynn is deeply concerned, he has his own secret about the last night he and January spent together, and he's not ready to share it with anyone-- even the police. Determined to find January, Flynn begins his own amateur investigation that reveals there are several unsavory characters in January's life who might have had cause to harm her. From her politically-driven step-father to her stuck-up peers at her new private school, January seems to have made many recent enemies. This realization combined with the fact she was spreading ugly lies about Flynn himself before she disappeared cause Flynn to question what event triggered a drastic change in January's behavior. The answer is messy.
It's always a little hard to believe a teenager without his license can outsmart the cops, but Roehrig makes Flynn a believable and admirable character. While I predicted the identity of January's attacker early on, I loved the plot twist. Ultimately, I didn't give it a higher rating because I was sometimes distracted by the author's tendency to use unnecessarily large vocabulary words and awkward phrases. Still, it's worth the read!
Protagonist Flynn gets the shock of his life when he arrives home from school one afternoon to find a police car in his driveway and two cops in his living room explaining that his girlfriend January is missing. While Flynn is deeply concerned, he has his own secret about the last night he and January spent together, and he's not ready to share it with anyone-- even the police. Determined to find January, Flynn begins his own amateur investigation that reveals there are several unsavory characters in January's life who might have had cause to harm her. From her politically-driven step-father to her stuck-up peers at her new private school, January seems to have made many recent enemies. This realization combined with the fact she was spreading ugly lies about Flynn himself before she disappeared cause Flynn to question what event triggered a drastic change in January's behavior. The answer is messy.
It's always a little hard to believe a teenager without his license can outsmart the cops, but Roehrig makes Flynn a believable and admirable character. While I predicted the identity of January's attacker early on, I loved the plot twist. Ultimately, I didn't give it a higher rating because I was sometimes distracted by the author's tendency to use unnecessarily large vocabulary words and awkward phrases. Still, it's worth the read!
I'll start with the good first. I really liked Flynn and his development. He started out as a fairly typical teenager, and it is only when his girlfriend, January, goes missing that he begins to reveal more about himself and his inner life. For me books can be really memorable when their characters are well done, even if the story falls a little flat, but Flynn was the only character I really connected with, so I don't know how long this story will stick in my mind, unfortunately. Which brings me to the not so great...
The story was quite predictable, which may be because I read a slightly ridiculous amount of crime fiction (for someone with a rather mellow temperament;-) In any case, I never felt hooked by the plot, which was disappointing. I also felt there was a distinct lack of police presence and it felt fairly unrealistic that a teenage boy would solve the mystery before they did, because it wouldn't have taken much.
The writing also felt a little tedious at time, even though I think Roehrig is a good writer. I just felt the text was so bogged down with similes and metaphors, it seemed very unlikely that a boy like Flynn would think like that - not that teenagers can't have eloquent thoughts - but simply because it often felt odd given the stressful circumstances of the story.
I don't want it to sound as if this book was awful, because it definitely wasn't. It was simply a bit disappointing, because I had heard such good things. I would be curious in Roehrig's future work, especially if he wrote a novel from the perspective of an adult, to which his language might be better suited.
Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com
The story was quite predictable, which may be because I read a slightly ridiculous amount of crime fiction (for someone with a rather mellow temperament;-) In any case, I never felt hooked by the plot, which was disappointing. I also felt there was a distinct lack of police presence and it felt fairly unrealistic that a teenage boy would solve the mystery before they did, because it wouldn't have taken much.
The writing also felt a little tedious at time, even though I think Roehrig is a good writer. I just felt the text was so bogged down with similes and metaphors, it seemed very unlikely that a boy like Flynn would think like that - not that teenagers can't have eloquent thoughts - but simply because it often felt odd given the stressful circumstances of the story.
I don't want it to sound as if this book was awful, because it definitely wasn't. It was simply a bit disappointing, because I had heard such good things. I would be curious in Roehrig's future work, especially if he wrote a novel from the perspective of an adult, to which his language might be better suited.
Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com
3.5?
Good, but not outstanding. Very entertaining.
+10000 points for a twisty mystery with a gay character!
Good, but not outstanding. Very entertaining.
+10000 points for a twisty mystery with a gay character!
Flynn's girlfriend January is missing. No one has seen her in days and the police are looking for her. Flynn is embarrassed to tell the cops that he and January broke up the last time they were together. She wanted to have sex and he didn't. She wanted him to admit he was gay and he wouldn't. So Flynn feels a bit guilty and decides to try and figure out what happened to January. He discovers that he really didn't know what was going on with her at all. She was lying to him, to her parents, to her friends and her coworkers. She was telling different stories to different people. But what was she hiding? And what happened to her?
I thought the mystery of January's disappearance was an ok story. It seemed to follow a fairly predictable path of throwing red herrings out before revealing the truth. The real heart of this book was Flynn's story. He goes from denying his sexuality and hiding who he is to coming out, getting a boyfriend and truly accepting himself. It is a beautiful, realistic journey. I get that January's disappearance and Flynn's investigation instigated the coming out, but I wish there really would have been more focus on him. He was a fantastic character.
I received this book from Netgalley.
I thought the mystery of January's disappearance was an ok story. It seemed to follow a fairly predictable path of throwing red herrings out before revealing the truth. The real heart of this book was Flynn's story. He goes from denying his sexuality and hiding who he is to coming out, getting a boyfriend and truly accepting himself. It is a beautiful, realistic journey. I get that January's disappearance and Flynn's investigation instigated the coming out, but I wish there really would have been more focus on him. He was a fantastic character.
I received this book from Netgalley.
3.5 stars - strong debut novel that melds together a solid mystery and coming of age story. Think this would be great for teens with a taste for thrillers/crime tv. Look forward to reading more from Roehrig!
Hey not bad! Something for everyone - chills, thrills, humor, love, mysterious murder mystery. Nicely written. Our hero's voice often veers into one that is SO not a teenager, but a sophisticated intellectual, then abruptly back again, which added to my amusement in a good way.
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I liked this book a lot! It kept me guessing and there were some twists that I did not see coming. I will be looking out for this author's next book!
I liked this book a lot! It kept me guessing and there were some twists that I did not see coming. I will be looking out for this author's next book!
What do you do when the police are in front of you asking about your missing girlfriend?
If you answered 'deny involvement', you're like Flynn.
If you answered 'look guilty', you are also like Flynn.
What's fairly obvious to the reader early on is that Flynn is NOT involved in the disappearance of his girlfriend January. Put simply, he doesn't have the stomach for it. He's a slightly overdramatic introvert with secrets of his own to hide, but he is not a killer. In fact, he is so concerned that he launches his own investigation, following red herring after red herring until reaching the truth at the end. I thought this part of the story was well-executed, and I liked the twisty turny plot. It made me feel like I was reading Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys again.
However, the story isn't so much about January's disappearance as it is about Flynn discovering that it's okay to be his true self. The internal struggles of this character make the book - realistic...but I also felt it weighed down the story a bit. To have two HUGE HUGE things going on felt like a bit much - but I would always rather have too much going on in a story than not enough. AND I was suffering from a dandy head cold the whole time I read the book - which can't help either. So, it may be just my experience.
Some will find the ending controversial. I enjoyed it immensely.
So, why only three stars? I found myself skimming to get the 'important info' to solve the case instead of enjoying Flynn's experiences. Again, this could be my head cold coming in, but I suspect it's not. I bounce back and forth between wondering if I have an audience for this book in my library patrons. Mystery people who enjoy April Henry may not enjoy the slower pace of this book.
If you answered 'deny involvement', you're like Flynn.
If you answered 'look guilty', you are also like Flynn.
What's fairly obvious to the reader early on is that Flynn is NOT involved in the disappearance of his girlfriend January. Put simply, he doesn't have the stomach for it. He's a slightly overdramatic introvert with secrets of his own to hide, but he is not a killer. In fact, he is so concerned that he launches his own investigation, following red herring after red herring until reaching the truth at the end. I thought this part of the story was well-executed, and I liked the twisty turny plot. It made me feel like I was reading Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys again.
However, the story isn't so much about January's disappearance as it is about Flynn discovering that it's okay to be his true self. The internal struggles of this character make the book - realistic...but I also felt it weighed down the story a bit. To have two HUGE HUGE things going on felt like a bit much - but I would always rather have too much going on in a story than not enough. AND I was suffering from a dandy head cold the whole time I read the book - which can't help either. So, it may be just my experience.
Some will find the ending controversial. I enjoyed it immensely.
So, why only three stars? I found myself skimming to get the 'important info' to solve the case instead of enjoying Flynn's experiences. Again, this could be my head cold coming in, but I suspect it's not. I bounce back and forth between wondering if I have an audience for this book in my library patrons. Mystery people who enjoy April Henry may not enjoy the slower pace of this book.
There is a lot of stuff here that I've read before in other thrillers. But this was entertaining and interesting and kept me engaged all the way until the end. 3.5 stars!
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No