e-ARC, 352 pages
Release Date: July 2, 2019Published by: Simon Pulse
Read from: June 27-July 3, 2019Stand-aloneSource: Publisher & Edelweiss (I received a copy of this book from the Publisher & Edelweiss in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)TW: Toxic friendship, self-harm, abuse, deathFor fans of: Contemporary, Romance, Realistic Fiction, Tough Issues, YA, POC MC, Sparkly CoversRemy Tsai used to know how her story would turn out. But now, she doesn’t even know what tomorrow will look like.
She was happy once. Remy had her boyfriend Jack, and Elise, her best friend—her soulmate—who understood her better than anyone else in the world.
But now Jack is dead, shot through the chest—
And it was Elise who pulled the trigger.
Was it self-defense? Or something deeper, darker than anything Remy could have imagined? As the police investigate, Remy does the same, sifting through her own memories, looking for a scrap of truth that could save the friendship that means everything to her.
Told in alternating timelines, Thelma and Louise meets Gone Girl in this twisted psychological thriller about the dark side of obsessive friendship.
*MY THOUGHTS*
This wasn’t too high on my TBR, but I was intrigued by the cover so I started it. (Side note, the lollipop has nothing to do with the story lol) So I decided to read the first chapter…. And then I couldn’t stop reading. This read was very intense and made me stay up late way too many nights.
“Love is the weapon they wield when it suits them…“2%
When Remy met Elise she was at a very low point. Elise helped her feel better and they became such good friends. But then, Jack, Remy’s boyfriend dies and it’s at the hands of Elise. Was it self-defense? Or something else. Remy can’t remember because her mind has purposely blocked out everything in her mind to keep Elise safe. But is she protecting Elise when she shouldn’t be?
“Our wounds made us special.“29%
There was nothing in this book that was really a surprise. There’s really no huge plot twists, but that will not stop you from reading this non-stop. I did not want to put this down! It wasn’t the characters or anything like that, it was just the writing style and the need to have all the answers. And the way the story is told, like the jumps between the present and Remy looking back at the past, helped alot too. It wasn’t a new way to tell the story, but it worked really well with this one.
“Maybe that’s what happens to people. […] The universe takes the things the things they love and turns them into things they hate.“33%
As for the characters, I didn’t really care for any of them. That’s a testament to how much I enjoyed the plot. Normally I am a very character driven reader, but this time the plot was enough for me to keep plowing through. And when I say I didn’t care for the characters, its not that I didn’t like them, its the fact that I didn’t trust them. They all had something to gain (well except Jack) and I didn’t trust them at all.
“Every superhero needs a villain that is their equal. The stronger the villain, the stronger the hero. Every one of these stories has the hero failing again and again and again but getting stronger each time so that they’re ready for a final showdown at the end.“42%
The only reason I didn’t give this 5 stars was although it was good, it did get kind of repetitive. From the minute Elise and her “ideas” were introduced, they kept doing them. I wanted something different. It just seemed a tiny bit excessive over time.
“We believed our wounds made us special. We believed what didn’t kill you made you stronger. We believed our tragedies were romantic. Only I didn’t feel very special, or strong, or romantic.“pg. 79%
This was very predictable, but enjoyable thriller. There’s nothing that will really surprise you, but it will most definitely have you shocked when you turn the last couple pages. This debut is one you don’t want to miss.
Overall, I give this
