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Nothing More to Tell
by Karen M. McManus
I may have outgrown Karen M. McManus at this stage.
Essentially, this is a murder-mystery set in high school, where our main characters are trying to uncover the truth behind their teacher's death. Brynn's favorite teacher, Mr. William Larkin, had been found dead in the woods by three students, the "elites" Charlotte and Shane and Tripp, a scholarship student. The three of them were interviewed by the police and the theory was that a drifter had killed Larkin. But there's definitely more to the story, since Tripp had lied.
Nothing More To Tell suffers from a major problem where I found both characters a little flat. The story alternates between two main characters, Brynn and Tripp, and I found that I never got a really good grasp of both characters. We're told that Brynn is obsessed with being a great journalist, because the rest of her family has found their calling easily whereas she had struggled with finding what she was good at and what she wanted to do. It's seemingly because of this that she decides to apply for an internship at Motive and suggests using her teacher's death as a potential investigative story. However, I never really understood why it was so important to her to prove herself at Motive despite being told to stop. Moreover, the time leap seems to do her a disservice.
As for Tripp, I felt sorry for him given his dysfunctional family but that seemed to be the main gist of his personality - that he didn't get along with either of his parents and that he wanted out of their town. Again, the time leap seems to do him a disservice.
Moreover, McManus' books always has a romance so I wasn't surprised that Brynn and Tripp's friendship takes a turn. At this point, this was pretty much part of her formula with her novels.
As for the actual mystery, there were a couple of twists but nothing compelling enough to cause it to stand out from the crowded YA mystery market.
Essentially, this is a murder-mystery set in high school, where our main characters are trying to uncover the truth behind their teacher's death. Brynn's favorite teacher, Mr. William Larkin, had been found dead in the woods by three students, the "elites" Charlotte and Shane and Tripp, a scholarship student. The three of them were interviewed by the police and the theory was that a drifter had killed Larkin. But there's definitely more to the story, since Tripp had lied.
Nothing More To Tell suffers from a major problem where I found both characters a little flat. The story alternates between two main characters, Brynn and Tripp, and I found that I never got a really good grasp of both characters. We're told that Brynn is obsessed with being a great journalist, because the rest of her family has found their calling easily whereas she had struggled with finding what she was good at and what she wanted to do. It's seemingly because of this that she decides to apply for an internship at Motive and suggests using her teacher's death as a potential investigative story. However, I never really understood why it was so important to her to prove herself at Motive despite being told to stop. Moreover, the time leap seems to do her a disservice.
Spoiler
Because we're later told that Brynn had a one-track mind at St Ambrose and Tripp believed that she would've reported on anything, as long as to cover the scoop. So what changed between then and today, such that she's willing to quit an internship for Tripp's sake?As for Tripp, I felt sorry for him given his dysfunctional family but that seemed to be the main gist of his personality - that he didn't get along with either of his parents and that he wanted out of their town. Again, the time leap seems to do him a disservice.
Spoiler
How did he manage to continue sustaining his friendship with Charlotte and Shane? What did they talk about as friends, since they don't seem to have anything in common?Moreover, McManus' books always has a romance so I wasn't surprised that Brynn and Tripp's friendship takes a turn. At this point, this was pretty much part of her formula with her novels.
As for the actual mystery, there were a couple of twists but nothing compelling enough to cause it to stand out from the crowded YA mystery market.