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commaflirting 's review for:

4.0
dark emotional mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the ARC! 

The One That Got Away With Murder is like Pretty Little Liars, but darker.

This book was intriguing from page one. One of my favorite things about it was how the characters were introduced, you never got any background about them until they were cleared of murder (or unless Lauren, John, and Robbie were trying to determine if they were guilty). The (extremely complex) characters unfold with the plot, like an SVU episode (a show that has kept us on our toes for 2 decades now, so I'd say that's good company to have).

I only gave the book 4 stars though because I was left a little unsatisfied. It seems like all of the "villains" got off lightly. Is coach really preying after younger girls? And nothing else escalated put of the Donovan situation? Those two aren't that important for us to know, given that the book was supposed to be realistic and the reality is that not all of these situations get revealed to the public, but I'm nosy. My main dislike was the lack of motivation on Mark's part. During the overview of Mark's actions, he states that Lauren "was the chosen one" that he picked back in California, then a few paragraphs later, he states that Lauren would've lived had she not revealed Ainsley's drug habit. WHAT made Lauren so intriguing to him? And why did he get the urge to even kill Victoria in the first place?


Overall, this was one of the better books that I've read all year. I love when a character suffers, though I felt really really bad for Robbie by the end of the book.

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