e-Audio, 08:03:10
Narrated by: Helen Laser & Joshua Quinn
Release Date: April 16, 2024
Published by: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Read from: April 6-8, 2024
Stand-alone
Source: Netgalley (I received a copy of this e-audiobook from the publisher & Netgalley in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
TW: depictions of underage drug use, drinking, and smoking/vaping; one scene depicting sex, mentions of sex; depiction of coerced nude photographs; depictions of anxiety and grief; mentions of eating disorders; mentions of murder; mentions of suicide. (From the author’s website. Wish it had been in the book too.)
For Readers Interested In: Thrillers, Mysteries, Evil Lives Here, YABe careful who you fall for…
Robbie and Trevor Cresmont have a body count—the killer kind. Handsome and privileged, the Crestmont brothers’ have enough wealth to ensure they’ll never be found guilty of any wrongdoing, even if all of Happy Valley believes they’re behind the deaths of their ex-girlfriends. First there was soccer star Victoria Moreno, Robbie’s ex, who mysteriously drowned at the family lake house. Then, a year later, Trevor’s girlfriend died of a suspicious overdose.
But the Crestmonts aren’t the only ones with secrets. Lauren O’Brian might be the new girl at school, but she’s never been a good girl. With a dark past of her own, she’s desperate for a fresh start. Except when she starts a no-strings-attached relationship with Robbie, her chance is put in jeopardy. During what’s meant to be their last weekend together, Lauren stumbles across shocking evidence that just might implicate Robbie.
With danger closing in, Lauren doesn’t know who to trust. And after a third death rocks the town, she must decide whether to end things with Robbie or risk becoming another cautionary tale.
This is an edge-of-your-seat debut YA thriller about a teen who is forced to confront her past in order to catch a murderer before she ends up the next victim. Perfect for fans of Karen McManus and Holly Jackson.
*MY THOUGHTS*
With this one having a content warning of drvg usage, I’m not surprised that this one wasn’t my favorite. I skipped a lot of this book and still was able to guess the killer, so I’m not sure this one was for me.
The plot of this was cool. I liked that there was a secret from the main character as well as the killer. There was something going on constantly and it kept the tension super high. And because of this, the main character was something like a freaking teen detective. I really was impressed by this group of teens.
The characters in this were really wild. I don’t know how to explain it other than that. The teens literally solved this case on their own. They didn’t go to the police office and sneak in to get clues or anything like that and I was so happy. I HATE when things are too unrealistic. But this one wasn’t like that. This one just had a quick witted teen who was smart enough to get people to give up the information. Now don’t get me wrong, I didn’t like all the characters. That one girl on the team deserved to get beat up. I don’t care who she was. She was a bitch and she needed a check-in with these hands. Lastly, I LOVED the way we get a few chapters from the killer is what made this for me. I don’t think I’ve ever read a YA book that did that.
I didn’t like the drvg usage. But that’s a me thing. I had the audiobook from Netgalley and the list wasn’t in it. I really wish they would list these somewhere. I ended up skipping a huge part of this. And the reason I couldn’t give this a higher rating was because I still was able to choose the correct killer. But I knew things were too good and everything just kept lining up for them. I just knew. Also, I HATED that they blamed one of the victims and used the drugs as what was going on. And of course, the lie was spread by the actual person. Idk, it annoyed me.
This had a lot going on, and I liked it, but there was one thing that really turned me out. And of course it was a big ass part of the story. I would still offer it to the teens, but I’d offer them some of my real favorites from Holly Jackson, Karen McManus, and Tiffany Jackson first.
Overall, I give this
