Unbelievable.

Oh my goodness!!! This book had me fairly gripped all the way through, but the ending. You will not guess it in any way. It is suspenseful and amazing!!! I couldn’t believe my ears! LISTEN TO THIS BOOK. NOW. The narrator is very good, doing every voice and making them all sound different. The characters have good depth and I connect to them all. I will sure be reading more of Diana Urban’s books....

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2 people found this helpful

Got my teen crime fix

The story is pretty expected and at times a bit far fetched but it’s okay, I take it because it still offers a nice version of the YA crime novel.

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predictable but worth a listen

narrator was good and clear. story was very predictable but story was well thought out. I thought the ending was a wee bit weak but I think the author wanted to make a point. ***warning alert this has talk of suicides and bullying, it may not be a read for all

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Baskerville Book Reviews

As I do on my blog, I make my bias’ known. I’m a member of Diana Urban’s street team. Despite this, I intend to write this review without bias. My praise and criticisms are my own words. I was not requested to give this book a certain rating or approval.

In April 2020, I deleted my Twitter account (for the second or third time), created a new one, and decided to only follow authors. Eventually, I strayed from my path and ended up unfollowing most of them because I was tired of hearing about books I couldn’t afford. Diana Urban was one of the few people I didn’t unfollow because the premise of her book sold me the moment I stumbled across it.

I spent a year trying to win a copy through giveaways because I wanted to review this book, but was hellbent on my first review being a free copy. (Ignore my crappy, zero effort 2020 reviews). Eventually, I bit the bull….injected the syringe.. whatever. I finally accepted my fate and just bought a copy like a normal person.

The book lived up to the hype. It’s funny, tense, the dialogue is realistic and the characters all feel real. I always struggle to remember the names of characters in books (people in general, to be honest) because they always feel like cardboard cutouts to me. That’s not an issue here because every character is fleshed out and feels like a real person. They have dreams and ambitions, desires and secrets.

As the story unfolds, it leaves you wondering if somebody in the room is the culprit or if it’s somebody they’ve all collectively wronged. Even if you’re not the type of person who re-reads a novel, this one is worth re-reading to see if you can pick up on any clues as the story progresses.

My complaints are all minor. When I originally read this book, I found the start to be difficult to get into. The back and forth, the high-school drama seemed silly to me. People get so involved in the drama of their own little community that they seem to think the world revolves around them. When you step back from it, you realize that nobody else cares or even knows about these silly problems that you’re so invested in. So I’ve always done my best to distance myself from any drama of the sort.

The second complaint is something I’ve railed against in the past. I think the references to modern problems and culture (fortnight and the opioid crisis, etc) will date the book going forward. As I said in my review of Frankenstein, I’ve changed how I look at the word classic. I wonder as I’m listening to books or reading them; which of these will be around in 200 years? Maybe not all books are intended to stand the test of time. But I’d like to think somebody who takes the time to write a story would want it to be around for a while and the more dated it is, the less of a chance of that there will be.

Overall, the audio narration is excellent. The narrator repeatedly says “onvelope” which drives me crazy. Envelope – envelop. If something were to be enveloped in darkness, you wouldn’t say onveloped in darkness. If you think I’m being nitpicky, you’re goddamn right I am! I can’t stand when people who are supposed to be professional narrators mispronounce basic words. Just search my blog for my mentions of “acrosst” and “caramel” to see other examples.

I’ve wanted to review this book for a year and a half. Since I’ve been reviewing books, I’ve been too busy with review copies or too tired to read/review anything. I’m glad I finally had a spare audible credit and was able to give this book the time it deserves. If you couldn’t tell, I really, really enjoy this book. When Diana auctioned off an annotated copy of the book, I just had to buy it. Despite having 2 copies of the book already. The audiobook, purchased specifically for this review makes 4. I hope with this review that somebody will give this book a try and discover a new flavorite.

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Neither Thrilling Nor Twisted!!!

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and from the premise of this book I should have loved it, but the execution was lacking.

The characters were one dimensional stereotypes and unlikeable. I really didn't care about any of them, their predicament or the outcome, which is sad as I really wanted to love this book. I just think the YA mystery genre really isn't for me.

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