Coffee & Crime

Summary w/ spoilers:

A continuation of the Grandest Games, this is the second book of the series. As a recap, the remaining players are: Grayson, Lyra, Savannah, Rohan, and Brady. Originally, Odette Morales was in the game but gave up her spot for a then-eliminated Brady.

Because there are so many rotating POVs and things happening, I'll start with Gigi and then go on to the actual game:

After Gigi was eliminated, she was kidnapped by Slate (Mattias), who is Eve's "bodyguard". She was gonna be used as leverage or something but basically she escaped just to be caught alongside Eve and Slate by Zella (the Duchess from the Devil's Mercy).

Remember: if Rohan were to lose the Grandest Games, he would no long be the heir to the Devil's Mercy, and instead it would go to Zella. So Gigi basically discovers that Brady does indeed have a sponsor, and that person is Zella. Zella has been using Brady's love, Calla Thorpe, for leverage because he thinks she's in danger.Because Brady was personally given an invite by Avery to the games, there is something there as well.

Zella and Calla (aka the Watcher) were sisters but were not working together, apparently Calla is just sneaking in and out and kidnapped them to find more information about Lyra (of course Eve immediately snitched).

But Zella reveals the truth and helps them escape, but not without a warning about Calla. She tells them to go to a bar north, and they do so someone can help Gigi. So they arrive and Gigi says a heartfelt goodbye to Slate, who shows some compassion to her (wow!).

Back to the actual game:

Savannah and Rohan establish an alliance, but are still cold with each other. Yes, they have attraction towards each other and made out, but Savannah is stubbornly set on the game.

On the other hand, the pair are aware that Brady has a sponsor who is actively interfering with the game to give him the upper hand. The scholar, who keeps photographs of Calla with him, also comes with various hints/threats, made to be messages.

Savannah and Rohan devise a plan for Savannah to pair up with him - but Rohan quickly realizes that Savannah will do anything to win after listening to Brady's offer to her that comes with his demise. Even if that means betraying Rohan to also receive extra help. So they get into a rift, and Rohan confronts Brady.

Brady makes the first move and they get into a fight that leads to Bradyd being unconscious. Rohan discovers a tattoo on him that deciphers "Rohan must lose". Well thats not good! Rohan (and the readers) connect the dots that Brady's sponsor is none other than Zella. Because who would have the most to gain if Rohan lost?

The other group/pair is Lyra and Grayson. Lyra slowly begins to remember more from that night where her biological father killed himself. At first she only remembered the horrific imagery and "A Hawthorne did this". But know she remembers that there was a woman in the same house. After the gunshot, she made Lyra drink something (to make her forget).

Lyra, once alone, encounters Eve (imposter alert) who proposes her a deal - make Grayson lose and she'll give her a file that may have more information about her father's death. But she refuses, snitching on Grayson and as a thank you, he makes out with her.

Grayson and Lyra continue their back-and-forth romance, where both clearly like each other but cannot bring themselves to admit it (guys the game is almost over just wait like 2 days). Grayson knows that Alice is alive, and has been secretly communicating with Jameson (also Toby makes an appearance) about her still being alive.

As Alice has been connected to Lyra's father's death, Lyra wants to know more. But when she questions Grayson and refuses, she comes to a realization - when posed between a girl he met 3 days ago Lyra and his family, he will choose them. [sorry opinion insert here: no duh! I get homegirl is frustrated with this nonchalant mysteriousness and the trauma she faced but no way you just realized this...like give it two years and you'll probably be married or whatever. ugh ik y'all are gonna end up tgt based on how much JLB is pushing it!!!].

Anyways. So Lyra storms off in a huff and Grayson doesn't follow her (gasp!). Grayson crashes out and it's raining and oh, they found each other just in time for the final puzzle! Meanwhile, Savannah and Rohan are just ahead - they make out up.

So the final puzzle is here. Savannah is just ahead, and Rohan enters right behind her. He feels Lyra and Grayson right on their heels. The game is that one player has to give another player their pair of dice (they need four total) to win. Knowing Grayson would give Lyra his in a heartbeat, he gives Savannah his die. And Savannah for the win!!!

Nevermind. Poor Sav should've won but something was wrong. There was no livestream, no announcement, no nothing.

The quartet meet with security at the helipad, where they are informed that Brady hasn't been spotted for a while and Avery is missing.

Also Knox (from first book) found Gigi. So Gigi spills. And Jameson crashes out. He also doesn't like Lyra and takes it out on her, saying it's her fault for having a connection with Eve which resulted in Alice being involved. He also punches Grayson and questions why he had to keep saying Alice and being nosy.

But the thing is, Avery is missing. She left a note - that they shouldn't look for her and media shouldn't know. Calla and Zella are involved, Brady vanished without a trace (and w/ help), and Alice is behind this.

Jameson is leaving for Prague but not before striking a deal with Rohan to help find Avery in exchange for 10 million pounds. Rohan requests Gigi's assistance, who makes up with Savannah.

And that's how the book ends. The Grandest Games is "finished" and Avery is kidnapped but kind of not in danger?

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

I don't know guys. I know these characters and series are so beloved but as more books come out, it just feels more and more like a cash grab. Something about the entire series has rubbed me the wrong way. Of course, I liked it enough to read all the books from the series (+ spinoffs and co.).

And it finally clicked for me. It feels like a fan wrote it and made a self insert with Lyra Kane (because everyone loves and feels for Grayson Hawthorne). Who the hell makes out and basically feels like they are in love with another person after knowing them for like 2 days??? First with Lyra and Grayson, then we have Savannah and Rohan with their rocky romance too.

And don't get me started on Gigi and "Slate". Fuck out of here with that name btw. Like these are just so many romance tropes and I am TIRED. (the two are not a good couple btw)

We want mystery and clever games not romance. So much romance!

Another complaint is that the puzzles are intriguing yet explained so confusing. Do I understand? No. But it's cool to see how something so unexpected ends up being the answer. But the many cliffhangers and POV rotations makes it hard to follow.

I admit that the ending certainly caught my attention. Unlike Grandest Games, which had the beginning more intriguing, this one was boring as heck before it ended (like 20 pages to go)...so while the ending was good the rest wasn't really. It felt like filler to move the plot towards the twist of Avery missing. Kind of a nothing burger.

Summary with spoilers:

This book goes back-and-forth between the events of the book, where the MC and five others are trapped in a room and flashbacks that led up to the entrapment.

Our MC is Amber, a high school senior and music geek. She is trapped in the room with Sasha (queen bee/mean girl and current bff), Priya (former bff), Robbie (jock and bf), Diego (smarty pants and almost fling), and Scott (stoner and kinda friend).

About one year ago, Amber was bffs with Priya. She got close with Sasha because Sasha ran the school plays and Amber wanted to work with her on the play’s score to boost her application chances to get into USC’s music program.

The thing is that Sasha clearly takes advantage of her and Priya’s willingness, making them sneak in alcohol for gatherings. Both clearly want Sasha’s approval we can tell that Priya is liked less. They even participate in bullying their former friends (Becky and Phil). Sasha and Priya are on the cheerleading team, along with Maria and Amy. Robbie and Zane (Robbie’s friend, Priya’s crush) are also part of this popular and obnoxious group.

Amber had a sister named Maggie who committed suicide after being bullied. She also holds a grudge against Diego despite their fling and feelings towards each other because his genius invention resulted in Amber’s father losing his job, struggling mentally and financially.

Phil, one of the bully victims, was caught with a gun by Amber and was reported. Turns out that he carries a gun to protect him and his mother from his abusive father (he has previously been spotted with various bruises and crutches).

Prior to the trapped room, Robbie and Amber were in a bit of a fight because Amber did not want to apply at the university he got in for baseball. And he kept downplaying her future of music. Amber ends up getting to USC in her dream program for early acceptance, meaning she has to go to USC.

Her and Priya had a major falling out, mainly because Priya finally had self awareness and respect to fight back against the mistreatment and the person she was becoming while Amber continued to play a blind eye to the person she had become.

Another thing Amber realizes right before is that Sasha has in fact, been using her. Just because she was nicer to her than Priya didn't matter, she had the same vision. Amber wanted to create an original score for the school's play, originally Romeo & Juliet. However, Sasha told Amber that the drama club wanted to do Grease, and would only do the original score if singing was involved. However, this was just a ploy to get Sasha the main role. Maria is her main competition but she doesn't sing.

Amber also realizes that Sasha has some type of addiction to alcohol - all the sneaking and stealing was mainly for her to drink and not for the other drama club members/friends.

So all six students are personally invited to a scholarship dinner at a restaurant Maria’s parents own (cheerleader, formerly Sasha’s friend). Soon enough, they find out it is fake and there is a bomb said to go off in 1 hour. The group has to choose one person to inject lethal poison into and kill or else it goes off.

They are trapped in the basement and cannot access anybody outside cause the sole window leads to an empty alleyway. There is also a camera so someone is watching them. And it is incredibly hot in that room.

Secrets start to come out.

Such as how Sasha has been buying drugs off of Scott to maintain all her extracurriculars and grades (mostly due to pressure of her mother and success of her older sister). And how Amber knew before. But turns out it was just Ritalin not speed (so it was fake). Sasha blackmailed Scott to sell her drugs (which is why he sold her fake meth) because it was revealed that his father has drug problems and if anyone were to find out, social services would be called.

Another (non-importantish) secret is that Amber and Diego hooked up (so she cheated on Robbie) and they have feelings for each other. So Amber and Robbie spontaneously break up then and there.

So everyone is fighting on who should die - Sasha and Robbie bring up the cruel fact that Scott seems to have the least "potential" cause he's the school's residential stoner. Everyone, especially Amber, fight against this idea.

They later attempt to draw straws, but Priya rigs it and makes sure everyone gets the long straw. Again, Robbie and Sasha believe she should be the one to get the syringe but the others fight against it.

Sasha does have lore, she has always been in her older sister's shadow. Her older sister is an understudy on Broadway. So she obsesses to do all these things (valedictorian, head cheerleader, lead school play, etc.) for her mother's approval. But she never told anyone, just like how only Diego, Priya, and Robbie know about Amber's sister. Anyways this all comes out after Amber questions her.

And after the group (minus a protesting Sasha) decides that they will try to fake inject Scott and pretend to the one camera that they killed him, in hopes to be rescued. But Sasha tackles him and stops the plan.

Amber reveals to everyone about Maggie, and how Sasha's "sister" Natasha Jane was the main bully. But Robbie says that Natasha Jane was Sasha's real name, only changed after the incident. Technically, Sasha was one of the main instigators to kill Maggie.

So everyone decides to kill Sasha. Scott goes to inject her, but turns out the needle is fake. But the bomb was still going so Sasha attacks Amber. So Priya tackles her and stabs Sasha with a fallen window glass shard, and Sasha dies.

Turns out everything was fake. But it was a plan, created by Amber to test everybody's true morals.

Home girl didn't mean for anyone to die. One of her points was to show Robbie there was more to being in music, to show Diego that he shouldn't let people backstab him, to show Scott there were consequences to selling Sasha fake drugs, to show Priya that she still cared for her, and to show Sasha what a horrible person she was.

Too bad the main person she cared for is now psychologically scarred for life because she is technically a murderer.

So Amber tells the police that is was her and that is the end of the book.

- - - - - - - -

I was waiting for a book to do a twist like this. I just don't know how highly executed this one was.

I think the main thing was the writing - it felt like it was geared for 13 year olds with all the tropes. Something for Disney except a little PG13 because of the violence/deaths. But even the plot felt highly unbelievable.

And yes, I know I am talking about a murder mystery. I read tons of them, and they are generally unbelievable.

But the thing is that almost all books have a slight unsatisfactory ending, something that reminds us readers that nothing is ever perfect.

Except this book. This book kills the extremely unlikeable character (and main villain). Amber and Priya are friends now. Amber breaks up with Robbie and gets with Diego. Amber realizes what she did deserved punishment so she confesses to her crime.

Another book would have Sasha die, but Amber is ratted out by Diego/Priya. And some short passage at the end writes about how karma is karma and how the worst person died but amber needs to face her consequences as well. And how she is not OK mentally cause who decides to torture their "loved ones"???

I think my biggest gripe is the motive. I would've liked it much better if Amber turned out to be some crazy psychopath who wanted to kill Sasha but instead of her doing it, there is some twisted bomb shit that is happening where her friends help her do it and it is kinda justified. Instead we get "I just want to be friends and show everybody's true colours 🥹". BRO WE DID NOT WANT THAT!!!

Unfortunately I just didn't like the book. The pace, which typically picks up in the later half of these murder mystery books, was the same and the culprit reveal, which is usually the most shocking and exciting part (especially with this big of a plot twist), was lacklustre.

Summary w/ spoilers:

This story is set in a very small town in rural Kentucky, where our main character Lucy, is caught in the middle of suspicious murders. They also like to hunt animals for fun using rifles.

(let's introduce other characters in this very small town):

She's a high school senior, who was living with her mother, stepfather, Robert, and her stepbrother, Martin. She is an aspiring Olympian looking to compete in some competitions to secure her spot on the US air rifle team. Robert is a developer/engineer for a hydro company. When he married Lucy's mom, his company built a dam on the Grand River Dam, the main dam that helps govern the large river in this town. Martin is a football player.

Lucy also had a younger brother, named Clay. He passed away when he was 5 - Lucy was 8. Before Robert and Martin, Lucy's family plus family friends went on a camping trip near the river. There was a bad storm that swept away Clay, leading to him dying. His body was never recovered. Other Boy Scouts also passed away in that disaster. As a result, a new dam (of Robert's company) was constructed.

Lucy's ex-boyfriend, Neil, recently made the Olympic air rifle team. Though Lucy and him are broken up, they are still too flirty. He has a younger sister named Astrid.

There is also Parson, who owns the town's local restaurant and is also the close friend and personal coach of Lucy.

Owl is the town sheriff, coroner, and basically in charge of all other officer duties. He has a son named Deuce, about 7 years older than Lucy, who also works in the local police department.

As you can see, Lucy seriously lacks girl friends and basically any female models in her life besides her mom, who she has to walk around eggshells with because she is not over Clay's death (understandable but in a very unhealthy way, like she or someone else should've recommended therapy to this poor woman), and a younger sister (who she more so serves as a woman role model).

We also have Dana, who is the private investigator Robert hires (and quickly fires) after a series of missing persons and murders. Dana sticks around cause she knows something is suspicious.

Onto the actual story!

The book goes back-and-forth between present day and the events leading up to Clay's death.

But in present day, it starts with Lucy skipping school to practice her rifle shooting. She is aware Martin also skipped school, but not with her. Basically he has this project and curiousness about Clay's death and overall, the dam disaster that occurred 10 years ago. So he spent the day trying to find the body remains...

Lucy runs into her ex, Neil, after practice. He's about to go shoot some animals for practice for the Olympics, just returning from university.

Later that night, she receives a series of texts from her mother - Martin is missing. Overreaction from her mother turns serious when Lucy's texts to her stepbrother go unsent. Eventually, the entire town organizes a search party in the river-dam area but cannot find anything, except for one of Martin's shoes and his bloody car.

Deuce, who everyone assumed was trying to find his friend, is revealed to have gone missing. Turns out it was around the same time, in the afternoon, since he was last seen.

Lucy returns to her van after the search is called off for the night, where she finds Neil. Neil is supposedly finished his hunting session. He is incredibly bloody and bruised on his hands which is not typical for an experienced shooter. Wrestling with a deer or a person?? Hm...

She also talks to Owl, who for some reason makes implications that she must be extra worried that Martin is gone, not because of them being close and step-siblings, but because they are girl and boy and not blood-related so there might be feelings there??? I'm sorry I had to add this because I was like "WTF?" when I read it. He was literally implying that there was some incestuous shit going on and Lucy was not bothered at all. HUH

One day later, Lucy is made aware that Astrid is missing too. She's like 15. I don't know who or why someone would leave a young girl alone after a series of suspicious missing cases.

Unfortunately, Martin and Deuce's bodies are found in blinds - boxes where hunted down animals are usually stored. Precise shots from a rifle in each of their heads.

This is where Robert hires Dana, then fires her because it's too much and too uncomfortable. But Lucy is desperate for answers, and along with Parson and Owl, works with her.

Lucy also reveals info: Martin confided in her that he was suspicious of Robert's company coming in and building a dam right after that tragedy. It was definitely financially motivated and couldn't help but ponder if there was some tampering down prior...though Owl defends this by saying there was a large amount of rain, which surely couldn't have been controlled... Also Martin found out Robert was giving Deuce monthly deposits for some reason. Blackmail? And that Robert rejected a deal for a large pharmaceutical plant to be developed in town. Maybe they got really angry and planned some revenge...hmmm

But evidence against Neil is stacking up. He is a rifle expert, showed up with a broken hand to Martin’s search, dislikes Robert, has no alibi (because he was shooting in the range alone), and wrote an essay against Robert’s company.

Soon, a warrant is out for his arrest. And we get some very strange secrets revealed. Neil tells Lucy that the day Martin disappeared, they bumped into each other. Martin confesses that he was in love with Lucy. Neil punches him three times. But that is it. Turns out, Martin directly confessed his love to Lucy. She was kinda in love with him too and they kissed. But I believe that is it…

The book does a time skip about 3 years in the future. Neil is convicted of Martin and Deuce’s murders, along with Astrid, who is missing and presumed dead.

Lucy worked under Dana. She made the Olympic team, won bronze, and had not been back in her hometown for a while.

But when Dana tells her there is a lead on Astrid and that she may be living in another city under a fake alias, the two women plus Owl visit her. But Astrid is a no-show. Lucy and Owl visit Neil in prison, where he tells them about PoppaJack (Lucy’s grandpa) and a letter he sent about Astrid calling.

He has dementia, but Astrid visits him anyways. She finds a hidden drive and discovers a shit ton of secrets. Like how Robert has been paying for everything and visits PoppaJack annually. And how Owl might be Lucy’s biological dad. And…

How Robert was part Tamerlane, the company that originally wanted to buy the dam off of PoppaJack (he owned the land). And receipts of Tamerlane originally offering $25 million for the land but after the dam break, purchasing it for $350k. And how Tamerlane purchased a gate to be built over the dam that helped lead to the dam break. And how Robert knew.

Deuce was paid off because he found out the secret and helped save Robert’s life after almost drowning. Martin knew the secret. Robert has all the motive in the world to kill both.

So Lucy forwards the files to Dana and Owl. She knows that Robert, Andy Bedford (dude who installed the gate), and a mysterious associate had the motive to kill.

She calls Wilma, Owl’s mother (Deuce’s grandma). She says something that makes Lucy believe Owl could be the mysterious associate. But Lucy already sent all the proof to him!

Unfortunately, Lucy falls asleep and wakes up to the news that Neil killed himself. In his suicide note, he confesses to killing Martin and Deuce, him being the mysterious associate that helped destroy the LaRue Dam, and pointed out where Clay’s remains were.

She comes back to Grand Junction and finds out that Owl is Astrid’s real dad, Deuce knew. Astrid knew as well.

So she arranges with Astrid to meet. Lucy thinks that the one that killed was Neil’s father, Danny. So she goes to meet Astrid despite warnings from Parson to leave it alone.

Lucy arrives and meets with Astrid, who tells her she’s sorry and he knows and is coming to kill you.

Lucy is then shot in the shoulder by someone, and runs away with Astrid. She later discovers the person is Parson. He is the one who killed the two boys, coerced Neil to kill himself and forced Astrid to run away.

Lucy is able to trip Parson and beat him with a branch to death.

She later recovers at the hospital and discovers Parson had a horrible childhood that resulted in psychological damage. And the need for control.

But the end. Lucy is on good terms with everyone, still recovering from the fact that all her “brothers” died and her trusted coach was the true murderer.

- - - - - - - - -

I have to say - unlike other books I read and write about, this one was not specifically searched for. Reviews were not read. Instead, I saw a murder mystery while browsing my local library. So my hopes were unfairly high as I had some top-tier murder mystery teenage novelty going on.

And they were just not met.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad book. It is pretty similar to previous teen/YA murder mysteries. You are introduced to the MC, the side characters/victims/suspect. The MC always fits a trope, most likely the underdog that is a super genius/specific talents. Because it is set in high school, there is the nerdy BFF, the LI(s), the mean girl and her squad, and the mysterious person that seems like a suspect but ends up helping MC uncover the mystery.

This book is slightly different - it has the tropes, it has the LIs. Instead of the BFFs, Lucy has her father figures/coaches. But we know to never trust men, especially adult men in these types of books.

Basically all of her older trusted mentors are suspicious (Owl, Parson, Deuce, and even Danny Clark).

My issue is that there were barely any girl characters. There was Lucy, the MC, Astrid, who was missing 3/4 of the book, and Dana. That was basically it. Plus some tidbits of the typical older southern lady.

I have never been to southern US. From this book, I imagine a bunch of white people with guns eating fried chicken and talking very loudly. So again, the background is pretty different from what I am used to in these books. I mean, I guess I learnt that rifles are an Olympic sport? And Lucy has a lack of girl friends.

Another thing that I found so weird about this book, perhaps my main gripe for this one, is the incest? That is basically normalized?

Let's see, Lucy and Martin are not blood related. However, they have spent the last ~8 years or so of their lives being raised like siblings. Because they are, by law, step-siblings. Heavy on the siblings. So the fact that there were various hints about the incest shit and characters, like Owl and Parson, being OK with it? Ewwww

I get you're from the south but you really don't need all those stereotypes. Like you guys kissed? And were in love with each other??? It's just so weird and no one seems to mention this in any of the reviews!

And it is never mentioned again...like oh yeah Lucy lost Deuce, Parson (at least the person she thought he was) and Martin (stepbrother/kinda in love with him???).

And it is never mentioned again because the tragic thing about Lucy is that her home town is where she lost all of her brothers. Like what was the point of that storyline...to get Neil to punch Martin? Both are passionate about the dam break and Grand Hydro...why not have something like that? Tf????

Okay. In terms of characters, Lucy was the typical hard-headed, confident, girl boss. She had a goal to make the US Olympic rifle team (and did lol) and had the respect of everybody. She was haunted with the guilt and PTSD of her brother and the "freak" accident.

You could tell from the beginning it was a dude. It was some guy that Lucy trusted that killed Martin and Deuce. You could tell that Robert was obsessed with profit and due to his reaction, didn't kill Martin (+ Deuce) directly but had some type of ties with the dam incident and clearly felt innocent enough to move on with life and MARRY THE WOMAN WHO'S KID YOU INDIRECTLY (DIRECTLY) MURDERED.

I don't care Robert is by far the worst character. I mean Parson...of course murderers have some haunting backstory. For what it's worth, that was barely explained. He had a terrible childhood and nobody knew. It was brought up because of his secret journals. Even a conversation with Lucy and Parson, with her asking about his past would be less of a shock because it was so out of the blue.

Anyways, Robert sucks. Idc if he wasn't the real murderer, how does he have the audacity and conscience to marry a still mourning mother of a child who you basically killed???

Also Lucy's mom...it was so frustrating. She knew that Robert had a hand in that dam shit and still married him? She needs a better therapist. No more tiptoeing and whispering about everything sad to her. Because clearly she is over it enough to marry fucking Robert and not get a divorce. So what is it lady? Of course she defends her man.

Neil: Obviously is the most suspicious because quite literally everything lines up with him. So he's obviously not the murderer and some dude who is framed. I mean his death was very sad because it was painfully obvious Parson threatened Lucy and co. and coerced him into suicide. His death was shocking and probably the best part of the book because of the shock factor and how it drove Lucy further to find the truth. Despite my thoughts on it, his death was barely touched on after. Maybe it wasn't really needed, but Astrid never mentioned Neil.

Enough about my gripes. Let's talk about the book overall. The characters are good. They are written so we root for them, even if I thought things were annoying and over-the-top. The murderer was pretty obvious, there were only like 3 main suspects. Like all murder mystery books, it starts off slow. But honestly, once it got to the last third of the book, it really picks up.

There is a time skip of a couple years. Take it how you will - it skips all the grieving and the adjusting, and shows that Lucy is imperfect - she didn't find the killer right away. Neil went to jail, Lucy ran away from Grand Junction, and everyone "moved on".

I liked it. I don't like time skips in all my books, but this one is good because it fits in with the book. Lucy isn't some novel detective, she's a girl who loves her friends and family and air rifles. She has the drive but nobody is perfect.

Anyways, I was very surprised by it but it was a pleasant one.

This book isn't horrible. It isn't even bad. There are some pleasant and then not-so-pleasant portions of this book.

Yet another mysterious Lucy Foley book - but this time, we are made known of the victim. The characters are definitely connected, but do not know the main character (though are introduced during the story).

Summary w/ spoilers:

Jess, the main character, decided to quit her bartending job due to her creepy boss and customers. She gives her older half-brother, Ben, a late notice that she is coming to stay at his Paris apartment.

The two share a mother, who Jess found dead of an OD at only 8 years old. They somewhat stayed in contact while the siblings circled around the foster care system.

Jess leeches off of others, particularly her brother Ben, who is this "hotshot" journalist. The problem is that when she arrives to the apartment, Ben is nowhere to be found. She sees a bloody cat, his wallet and other personal belongings, yet no Ben. The apartment also seems to be way above his pay grade. Despite all this suspicion, she delays calling the police because she doesn't want her name on any record cause she most likely has a warrant with her name on it.

The apartment contains of 5 floors, one apartment on each. Level one contains Antoine, whose wife left him earlier and he seems like a sad, irritable alcoholic. Level two contains Mimi and Camille, two 19 year old girls. The former is more quiet and reserved while the latter is more outgoing. Level three contains Ben's apartment, where Jess stays in. Level four contains Nick, who was Ben's college friend and the reason why he decided to live in this apartment. Level five, the penthouse, belongs to a rich couple of Sophie and Jacques Meunier, in their 50s. Jacques owns a wine business (or something like that). There is also a concierge, who is the typical Lucy Foley mysterious straightforward character whose motive is seemingly to do their job, but has a tragic backstory.

The book goes back and forth between the POVs of Jess, Mimi, Nick, Sophie, and the concierge. We also get a little bit of Ben's POVs. The four permanent residents' POVs alter between Jess's arrival and Ben's arrival. There is large emphasis on how Ben "changed everything", particularly with his charm.

Jess starts getting close with Nick, gets weirded out by Mimi's reaction to her asking about Ben, and becomes disliked with Sophie, who distrusts and is bothered with her presence. Nick "helps" her by going to the commissariat (police station) and reporting details of what she knows about her missing brother, but he does it in French in which Jess does not understand at all. Hmmmmmm. They also almost kiss one time. Nick, who introduces himself as Nick Miller, also has a big secret of something that happened with Ben during a college summer trip in Amsterdam - they made out and Nick gave Ben head. Nick was very scared that Ben would tell his disapproving father the truth about his sexuality, making him further insecure and jealous of how well Ben got along with everyone else. The only reason Nick and Jess almost kissed was because Jess reminded him of Ben.

Mimi is pretty self-conscious and often compares with her friend and roommate, Camille. Camille is loud, gorgeous, and often hooks up with others, while Mimi has never been loved nor seen in a romantic way. No wonder when Ben first arrived, both were captivated by his charm and looks. It seemed like Ben was ignorant towards Camille's advances, and actually noticed Mimi (he remembered her name!). Mimi would often watch Ben through her bedroom window and would sometimes follow him to various stops around Paris.

She's actually kinda crazy, because we eventually learn that she felt the same way for her art teacher - she sent him many custom paintings of him. When she learnt he had a wife, Mimi sent the same paintings, ripped up. This time, she contours herself to be the lead singer of Ben's favourite band, watches him work across the street, and even slashed his motorcycle tires so he had to walk everywhere, allowing her to easily follow.

As for Sophie, she felt the same way towards Jess as she initially felt towards Ben. She was skeptical of his charm. She also felt like he was too intrusive, like the time he questioned the slight Russian accent in her French, or how it was like being married to Jacques. But that didn't matter, because they ended up having an affair until his disappearance. Oh, and Sophie had been dealing with a problem of blackmail. She would get vague notes like "I know your secret" and have to send thousands of euros to keep it from getting out. She accused Ben, but he genuinely seemed confused.

The concierge is mysterious and the residents don't really interact with her. Except for Ben, and she fell for his charm. She moved to Paris for her daughter, who was a dancer. But one day, the daughter told her she was moving to a new opportunity but never wrote back.

Here's the epic plot twist (not): Everyone in the apartment is related. It's actually quite a known fact, as Camille and others knew. But not Jess, who found out through a family photograph. Jacques is the father and Sophie is the stepmother. Their kids are Antoine, Nick, and Mimi. Nick is the black sheep of the family, having spent all his money on a failed investment. Nick, the person Jess was closest with, intentionally kept it a secret.

Later on, Camille (and Mimi) host a Halloween party in the apartment building's cellar. Jess comes to snoop and find more on Ben. Jess discovers pieces of Ben's t-shirt under Mimi's bed but passes out because Mimi drugged Jess's drink (cause she didn't want her at the party, not because of the snooping). In the morning, Mimi attempts to kill herself by riding a bike into a van, but comes out with a couple of bruises. The concierge witnesses and attempts to help, but is brushed off.

We find out another secret - Mimi, the supposedly biological daughter of Sophie and Jacques, was actually the daughter of someone else. A dead woman who Sophie was able to get Mimi, and act as if she gave birth to her.

The concierge grabs Jess into her little cabin and tells her that she has to stop searching. The concierge saw a mysterious someone drag out Ben's lifeless body, but kept it to herself. The family - Sophie, Mimi, Antoine, and Nick - witness the secret conversation during one of their evil plotting sessions.

Here's another (random) plot twist: Mimi blows up at Camille, so Camille decides to leave and move into her true love, Dominique's, house. Who is she? Dominique is Antoine's ex-wife, and they have been secretly having an affair. Isn't Dominique like 40-something and Camille barely an adult?

We learn more about the concierge - her daughter worked at the same club Jess had visited. But she ended up pregnant, and could no longer work. Turns out the concierge's daughter died after having the baby (who is Mimi). She has been sending notes to Sophie, blackmailing her.

Earlier in Jess's arrival, she managed to contact Theo, who works with Ben. She gave him some mysterious metal card that she found in his apartment. Later on, he called her, asking to meet wearing fancy clothing. The metal card ends up being a pass to go to some fancy underground party. There are naked dancers and clients and private rooms. Turns out one of the workers is a girl Jess encountered while running around looking for Ben. She was absolutely spooked to be questioned about him and bolted out like some Olympian track star. But Theo and Jess are kicked out before they can question her.

The mysterious girl's name is Irina, and she admits to Theo and Jess about the illegal prostitution occurring. Jacques owns the club, and Sophie used work there. She told Ben this information, who wrote it down in his computer notes for future reference. Theo and Jess are running, but hook up in some bar bathroom after running into tear gas at a riot. Jess runs away to the apartment after Theo is arrested for possession of cocaine.

One night, Mimi sneaks into Ben's apartment and snoops on his computer. She finds his notes and discovers the club and the truth about her real mother. But she hears Ben coming in, so she hides in the closet and discovers the affair between Ben and Sophie.

Mimi also tells Ben everything about the club in a panic - he then tells Jacques. Next thing Mimi watches Jacques attacking Ben in his own apartment. Fuelled by her crazy mad love for him, Mimi kills Jacques.

Sophie and the concierge find them, and clean the blood off of Mimi. Ben is not dead, but rather very injured. The two brothers, Nick and Antoine, arrive at the apartment amidst all these commotion. Because they would tattle if they knew the dead body was their father, Sophie pretends it is Ben. The two brothers bury the body in the apartment gardens. Sophie takes Ben to the maid headquarters and hides him, keeping him alive through food and water.

In present time, Jess arrives at the apartments to find the concierge pushed off the stairs, injured. Before she can call for help, Nick and Antoine chase her, until she ends up in the maid headquarters and finds Ben's body. He is still alive but very weak. Sophie reveals the truth to Nick, about who is actually dead. Jess negotiates with Sophie to let them leave, with promised protection for Mimi.

In the end, Jess has a studio apartment back in England while Ben is working to become an investigative journalist. It is revealed that to cover up the exposed crimes of the club, Jacques 'disappeared' and Antoine shot himself.

Jess is taking the train back when she sees a figure in a headscarf, similar to Sophie. She leaves it be, letting everyone go on their own journey.

- - - - - - - - -

Well this book was eerily different than the other two Lucy Foley books I have read. Instead of an isolated site, the book takes place in the busy city of Paris. We also have a different main character, one who is a bit more reckless and less polished compared to the others. It is the same in terms of central theme of class.

But it wasn't all that good of a book. It was very confusing, and predictable compared to Foley's other works. Once the family "twist" was revealed, it was obvious that the residents all had something to do with Ben's disappearance.

Another thing I didn't like was how similar Ben's connections were to Nick, Sophie, and Mimi. All of them were romantic and it was pretty tiring. I get it, he had a secret fling with Sophie. Then apparently Nick. And now Mimi is crazily obsessed with him? It just seemed very repetitive.

Speaking of repetitiveness, I thought there was too much emphasis on Ben's charm and all. Relating to the fact he could get anybody he wanted, there was so much repeating on things that "he changed everything with his arrival" because of "his charm and smile and spark and way of words" and blah blah blah. It was so eye-roll worthy.

There was the plot twist of the wine business actually being a sex club...which wasn't as momentous or shocking that it was supposed to be.

Another complaint I have is the lack of closure. What happened to the concierge? While everyone was fighting and negotiating, homegirl was lying on the ground after being pushed from like five flights of stairs. She deserved the most out of everyone cause she just wanted to protect her daughter (and granddaughter). Nothing was mentioned from her after everything, at all.

What happened to Theo? Why have him hook up with Jess? Was it to show the moment of passion and Jess's spontaneous actions? There was literally nothing on him after he was tackled by the police. I didn't expect him and Jess to prance of in the sunset together but to have nothing???

We really only got closure on Sophie, Ben, and Jess. Mimi was a crazy girl and I really hoped she got some karma coming her way. Instead we got nothing.

Unfortunately, this book was not as good as I expected it to be, especially coming from Lucy Foley.

The Guest List

Summary w/ spoilers:

So the story is similar to The Hunting Party, in which there are rotating POVs of a murderer, the murderer’s victim, and other people hiding many secrets. This story takes place in a distant and creepy-looking island in Scotland, in which magazine editor Jules and actor Will are getting married. First, let me introduce the POVs the book circles around:

Aoife - She is the wedding planner (and spoiler alert - not the murder’s victim, as seen in several flashbacks of the discovered mysterious body) and lives on the island alone, with her husband, business partner and chef, Freddy. This is the first wedding they are hosting, and the spooky and gloomy history of the island speaks to the future drama that will occur soon. She seems very good at her job and enjoys to listen and learn the wedding party’s secrets.

Jules - The bride, she seems very stern and polished. She’s in her 30s, similar to her groom, but they haven’t been together all-that-long (I presume less than a year) before they decided to tie the knot. She has some issues in her childhood, as her mother had her as a teenager and her dad was barely present. She spent her childhood years being neglected by her mother as she was too busy chasing boys and fame. Her mother now is the typical overbearing, attention-seeking stereotype and they do not have a strong relationship. She has a 19 year old sister, someone who she isn’t close with. She is jealous because she got to have the attention and childhood her mother never gave to her. We also learn she received a mysterious letter warning her not to marry Will, and while it is the back of her mind, she goes through with it anyways.

Olivia - She is Jules’ maid-of-honour, and her half-sister. She is 19 years old and recently dropped out of university. She is clearly going through it, hiding a massive dark secret that has to do with her ex-boyfriend Callum and her ex-friendgroup she left behind once she left university. Callum actually got with her good friend afterwards. She also self-harms and doesn’t do much to try to build the weak relationship she has with her sister.

Hannah - She is wife of Jules’ longtime (and only) friend, Charlie. Hannah is intimidated by Jules and how posh and rich she is, and she often compares the wedding couple to her and Charlie. She secretly watched Will’s wilderness survival tv show and has a crush on him. Her and Charlie have two kids together (like in the past 5 years), which resulted in him and Jules not spending much time together.

Joono - Will’s best man, he is much different than the other four ushers - less polished, more scruffy and doesn’t care much about his image. Will, him, and the other ushers all met while attending a posh private academy as kids. The others got in through money while Joono got in with a soccer scholarship. Don’t be fooled, he is completely aware of the difference, and does feel insecure about it time to time. But he is the typical ‘fun-loving’, party-going, adventurous sidekick to the handsome main character. Him and Will are closer because of…guess what?? A deep, dark secret that bonds them closer. Also, he is sort of a creep because he is like 30-something and eyeing Olivia. He is also not a big fan of Jules.

Those are all five of the suspects and victims.

The story starts as Hannah and Charlie arrive on the island, one night before the wedding occurs. Hannah lets Jules and Charlie catch up, and wanders around the island to a cave, where she meets Olivia, have a little sad-girl bonding time, before she leaves. She recalls the time Charlie went to the bachelor party and something must’ve happened because he was upset and reserved for a couple days.

Then, Aoife catches Jules and Charlie being perhaps a bit too friendly (Hannah notices this too). Jules reveals that she was in love with Charlie while they were teenagers. During the wedding-practice (or whatever the dinner/gathering the night before the wedding is called), Hannah starts to really notice the relationship Jules and Charlie may have. She also assumes that Will constantly is checking her out, and hopes there is mutual attraction (but I have a hunch she is just imagining things). Jules makes her feelings (then and now) to Charlie more clear but he doesn’t seem to be receptive.

At night, Jules and Will discover a supposed prank of seaweed under their bedsheets. This means someone was in their room…but it was definitely not any of the troublemaker ushers nor Joono.

On the wedding day, we learn a few more things: Johnno and Will were not close leading up to the wedding, and it was Johnno who forced him to be the best man. They also auditioned for the tv show together that got Will his big acting break. But Johnno finds out that the creator wanted him, but Will tricked him into missing the audition, stealing the role for himself. They had a cruel tradition at their old school where they would tie up and blindfold a kid and leave them to survive the night on their own called Survival They did this to Charlie at the stag/bachelor party.

But back in the school, there was a boy that constantly followed them and did things they asked to, no matter how outrageous the requests. They nicknamed him Loner. He had another friend, which they nicknamed Fat Fuck. One night, Will and Johnno stole GSCE test answers, and Loner caught them. Because of how threatening knowing this is to their academic standing, Will tells Johnno to play Survival with Loner. But they tie him up near the dock, and when they wake up, Johnno realizes that the tide was too big for him to break free, causing him to drown. But Johnno has suspicion that Will knew the tide was strong that night. He had always harboured this guilt but kept it in between them.

Olivia’s story revolves around her being depressed after the breakup, and so she went on a dating app, pretended to be 26, met and hooked up with an older guy named Stephen. They frequently saw each other until she brought him as a date to Jules’ magazine party. She drank too much, left, and he ghosted her. She found it she was pregnant but Stephen ghosted her, and she had an abortion with the support of her mother.

And Will, during his wedding speech, reveals how Jules and him met: after he attended her magazine’s party with a ‘friend’ who left early, he met her. So Will is Olivia’s Stephen and she wrote the note to warn Jules. She makes a mess of herself at the ceremony, almost drowning herself after the ceremony before someone came to save her, and she got very drunk around dinner time.

As for Hannah, she was right in being suspicious for Jules and Charlie’s relationship. Charlie got really drunk at the wedding, causing him to reveal that during the bachelor party, the other guys were horrible and bullied him. And after Hannah had their kid and was dealing with bpd, he and Jules slept together. Hannah gets upset, starts dancing with some guy, and reveal that him and Will went to the same university.

Hannah's backstory was covered, essentially alluding to her lively and clever sister dated some guy, feel head over heels, and then dumped him. He posted revenge porn, causing her to commit suicide. Hannah and her family never knew who this guy was, but overhearing conversations, Hannah realizes that guy was Will.

So where does Aoife, the wedding planner fit into all of this? Throughout the entire book, she is focused on one job: making sure the wedding celebration is as perfect as can be. Having a successful wedding means a write-up in Jules' magazine. And she has her dark secrets too, her whole family is buried up on the island.

Anyways, the sequence of the night of the death is very, very chaotic and I've only covered about over half of it (and sorry, it's not in order).

Johnno snorted a bump and pretended to be very drunk when doing his best man speech, being very aggressive in blaming Will for being perfect and doing no wrongs, also hinting at being upset and sharing secrets together. They play a game of Survival with Will, leaving the two alone in the cave. Johnno is very upset but Aoife comes in to stop the situation from escalating further.

After dinner, Olivia gets very, very drunk. So drunk guests tell Will to take care of the bridesmaid, in which he aggressively brings her somewhere else. On the way there, Olivia is upset and keeps bringing up their secret relationship, in which he constantly shuts her down and brings her near a cliff. Unbeknownst to them, Jules saw them and followed them. And yes, she know nows about their relationship. Possibly seeing her stopped Will from doing harm to Olivia.

At the cake-cutting ceremony, Jules smashes the cake into Will. While he is cleaning up, Will is approached by Aoife. Aoife needs help with the wiring because the storm is getting bad and the power is constantly turning on and off. So she lures him outside, and that is where she confronts him.

Because her dark secret is that the Loner kid him and Johnno killed was her brother. His death destroyed her entire family, killing her parents. Her husband, Freddy? He was the Fat Fuck kid and actually overheard everything happen the night Loner died.

So she stabs him with the cake-cutting knife and leaves him to die outside.

Johnno finds him, but in a panic he pulls out the knife, causing more blood to spill. Will is probably dead anyways.

But the ushers are finding the dead body, and they also discover a bloody Johnno holding the murder weapon. Johnno doesn't resist because he knows either way he is a murderer.

We don't get much information about what happens afterwards.

After the police arrive, Jules tells Olivia that she knows and they hug, while Charlie and Hannah are sailing back to the mainland in silence.

- - - - - - - - -

If that book taught us one thing, that is that men are most likely the root of the problem. The stupid frat that caused this entire commotion to happen. Everybody getting somewhat karmic justice because Will was the perpetrator to most of their problems.

I cannot help but compare this book to The Hunting Party.

This group was way more messier. But the thing I disliked was the pacing of the book - I sort of expected it to be similar to The Hunting Party, in which the victim would be revealed early on.

I also assumed that the victim would be one of the five POVs being rotated around. I had so many guesses because everyone disliked everyone.

Miranda dying in The Hunting Party made me sad but Will's was satisfying because he was a total dirtbag. He even made me feel bad for Johnno.

Jules has clear flaws but I can see that she isn't a horrible person. Just a greedy one. I think her main issue is that she still had inappropriate eyes for Charlie. Their relationship from her POV wasn't as full-fledges as it was through Hannah's POV so it was hard to tell. Don't marry someone you've only known for a year, people.

Olivia is a mess. I was initially confused on her suicidal tendencies until they finally revealed Will and her abortion. Jeez, that guy sucks. She won't tell Jules the truth because that is how she is, but also because of Will and his intimidation tactics. But their moment at the end is very sweet, where the two trauma bond over this horrible guy. It makes total sense how cold both of them were but at least something went right.

Hannah is the one I felt the most bad for. I don't even think she had serious flaws, she just had an attraction to Will which was fine when her husband cheated on her and pretended not to. Screw Charlie, trying to be the nice guy and ended up being an asshole like every. single. guy in the story. Lowkey wanted her to be the killer because she was the most normal one and her descending into madness would've been interested but maybe too predictable. But her ending sucked for a person who genuinely seemed good. She wasn't hiding a dark deep secret. Just a mom and a wife and a person who wanted to feel loved and good about herself but instead discovered her husband cheated on her during one of the toughest moments of her life.

Johnno. Uh. So, he is obviously not meant to be likeable. He is a pig and the author does this so when he is falsely accused of murder, it is not a horribly unsatisfactory ending because no one really likes him anyways. He didn't mean to kill the boy, but being a better person than your accomplice is still bad. He should've spoke up. Also understand why he may have been the better choice for the survival show, but no offense Johnno, Will was the better looking guy and probably made for better reviews and a bigger audience.

Aiofe. At the end, it was almost predictable. Like the person who is the most upkept, perfectionist of all always ends up being the crazy one. Ya know, the one 'twisting the knife'. I respect the determination but obviously she didn't mean to kill him because how else would she get that good write-up from Jules? But she was girl bossing the entire book just to be the killer.

And I didn't like it. Because I hate how there is this big buildup of all these characters' pasts and truths just for the biggest truth to be at the end. I wish the secret was built up more. It was a big ass truth bomb when I expected it to be anybody but her. I get that it was the author's attention but think it was just too much.

But Will is a supervillain. he really deserved to die. At least we had that.

I enjoyed the buildup. Good tension was built, though there were the stereotypical relationships. But the ending and killer reveal wasn't hype enough for me, as much drama as there was. It was just too atypical for everyone's secrets being related to this one person that dies.

Summary w/ spoilers:

This book takes place prior to the events of We Were Liars, when Cadence's mom and aunts were teenagers spending the summer on Beechwood.

It is written in Carrie's perspective, who in the first book was mother to Johnny and with Ed Patil, uncle to Gat. She is the eldest daughter to her needy sisters. Then there is Penny (Cadence's mom) and Bess (Mirren's mom). I'm not sure if Rosemary was mentioned in We Were Liars but I did not remember so. But she is the youngest daughter.

Other family members on the island are her father (Harris) and mother (Tipper). The wealth of her family comes from her mother. Tipper has a brother (Uncle Dean) and along comes Tomkin and Yardley.

One tragic night, Rosemary drowns after wading too far in the sea. Carrie is devastated but the rest of her family doesn't seem to grieve and seems like they are trying to forget her existence. This is not the only case of Carrie feeling like an outsider. She also feels inferior to her sisters, who are prettier and get more attention than her. Another thing that contributes to this is the jaw surgery her parents make her get. It reduces her jaw and makes her seem more like her sisters.

Carrie finds comfort in consuming codeine, so much so that she's on them during dinner or family activities, and she depends on them to fall asleep. Because of this, she sees Rosemary and believes she is real, though it is just a hallucination due to her substance abuse (similar to Cadence and the Liars).

She's close to her cousin, Yardley. One summer, Yardley arrives with three boys - George, Major and Pfeff - along with Penny's friend Erin (who is a regular in the summer). George is her boyfriend and Carrie takes interest in Pfeff. She's never been loved before, and when he kisses her one night she can't stop thinking about him. The day after, the two go to the main island and spend the day together. But Pfeff bumps into an old 'friend', and abandons Carrie for her. She waits like 5 hours at the dock until Pfeff finally shows up. Upset, they act as friends for a while. When Carrie brings the situation up to her sisters, they believe he didn't spend the day showing the girl around the island like he said. They believe that Pfeff was probably hooking up with the girl.

Carrie finds a picture of her mother and a man, but the man's face is scratched out. After bringing it up, her mother admits a shocking truth: Harris isn't Carrie's biological father. It is another guy that Tipper had an affair with (and was seeing before Harris), named Buddy. He was Jewish, and because of inter faithful marriages being disapproved by Tipper's family, they did not get married. Harris is aware that he isn't blood-related to Carrie. Carrie keeps this a secret from everyone as she is told, as nobody but her mother knows that she knows the truth. But Carrie suspects that Tipper only tolerates her because he has to. Buddy is dead, and it clearly has something to do with Harris's doing.

One night, Carrie is drunk and Pfeff notices. She runs out to the yard and breaks down over everything. Pfeff goes after her and tries to get her to open up. That doesn't work and he kisses her.

They begin a romance that is mainly physical, from the way Carrie describes it. They kiss and touch each other all the time. One night, Pfeff comes to her bedroom and practically begs to stay the night, but Carrie adamantly refuses. Carrie seems very in love with Pfeff. But one day Yardley and her are walking and see their fathers arguing with each other. Carrie asks what is going on, and Yardley is about to tell her when they see a shocking sight.

Pfeff and Penny are making out and they are caught. Carrie storms off and hides in her bedroom the next couple days, hoping that both will come and apologize or acknowledge their actions. Instead, Carrie seeks out Penny and yells at her. Penny doesn't seem too upset about her actions and reveals that she only kissed Pfeff because she is in love with Erin and is wanting to get back at her. She knows their parents won't accept her as gay. Carrie feels slightly bad but realizes how little her sister thinks of her as she kissed the only guy that has ever shown Carrie special attention.

Afterwards, Carrie goes to confront Pfeff. But he acts like it is no big deal, and that basically he can't help it, he makes mistakes. He pushes her away when she tries to talk about it more. Carrie also gets into a fight with Bess, who doesn't understand why Carrie is so upset about Pfeff and Penny. Bess thinks she is too expressive with her emotions and that she basically makes everything about her. Oh, and that she knows Carrie uses pills.

The day after, Carrie is instructed to drive Erin and Yardley back because they are leaving the island. Yardley reveals that Uncle Dean has been helping white collar criminals as a way to earn their living. She revealed this information to Tipper, who planned to cut Dean off. It is referenced then that the house Yardley stayed in was demolished, along with others that are now built up as the houses in We Were Liars. The houses are basically seen as a symbol of present day, and how the Sinclairs push everything down (aka demolish houses) and build new ones, pretending everything is fine. So Yardley, Tomkin and Uncle Dean are never seen again, in Beechwood or elsewhere.

Carrie spends the days alone (sometimes with ghost Rosemary) until one night, Bess knocks on her door. She goes outside to discover Penny and a dead body on the dock. The body of Pfeff. Penny reveals that her and Pfeff were sneaking off to make out, but Pfeff kept trying to push it further while Penny kept resisting. Bess was following them and hit Pfeff on the head with a plank, which killed him. Now it's clear that Pfeff is a creep who only wants girls for the physical things. He didn't care about Carrie's emotions and didn't care for Penny's pleas. Her sisters, despite their differences, asked for her help because she is used for things like these. So they cover up the scene. Carrie also gets some closure about Rosemary, as her sisters reveal that they think about her often, but keep it to themselves. They go ahead with the lie that Pfeff was drunk and swam and was never seen again and the police and their parents believe it. But there is one thing…the plank used to kill is missing, and none of the sisters took it.

There is just one thing. Carrie made that story up. Bess didn’t kill Pfeff, Carrie did. Carrie heard Pfeff pleading with Penny to go further outside her bedroom. She went down and used a plank and bashed his head multiple times. Bess saw. Penny believed her older sister saved her from being assaulted. She didn’t know that Carrie was doing it out of rage for both of them, and that Penny could’ve been the dead one.

So that is the real truth. And Harris tells Carrie that he saw his daughters row the boat at 2:30AM and he saw the plank out of place and knew what happened. But he won’t question it further and he tells Carrie that he also knows about her pills problem. So he basically tells her to suck it up and live through the moment.

Then the book skips through the years, revealing that Carrie went to college but dropped out to go to rehab. And once she recovers, she has her last visit with Rosemary.

It skips to present day, where it is revealed the entire book is her talking to Johnny. Like Rosemary, he is a ghost. But instead of grieving, Carrie talks about healing and how she is learning to handle her heartbreak.

- - - - - - - - - -

This book was pretty good for a second one in a series. Usually after a wildly successful (originally) standalone book, the authors get greedy and the books are a stretch. But the themes are well-connected between both books.

Poor Carrie. I mean, yeah, she's an unreliable narrator but it is incredibly sad to see how insecure and isolated she feels, especially after a tragedy. And Penny did her so dirty. I just cannot believe she kissed Pfeff, was confronted, and did it again! But Carrie is obviously very crazy but dare I say...Pfeff deserved it. Even though she was not in the right mind and the dead body could've easily been Penny, Pfeff deserved it.

Carrie is just struck tragedy after tragedy and you cannot help but feel horrible for her. She has a constant victim mindset which helps her case in some viewers mind. She is also very similar to Cadence with their issues but far more likeable, imo. She has a pill problem that results in her seeing ghosts. She doesn't realize it.

I feel like this book definitely had more closure than the first one. Obviously, the first one took place like 20-30 years after this one so we know that Carrie is alive...though her son and nephew (in-law) are dead. But knowing she gets closure with her sister (and initial drug abuse) as well as being able to be honest about her past with her son (albeit, he is a ghost). For her to talk about her healing is nice because I grew to like her and appreciate her. I mean, we've all felt insecure and inferior to others, particularly family. Carrie's feelings are just stretched for because of everything she goes through. So I can definitely relate to her more than Cadence.

The most heartbreaking part of this story is Rosemary and Tipper. Rosemary is so young when she passes and her ghost never fails to remind you of it. How all she wants to do is hang out with her oldest sister and be a kid again reminds you of all the things she won't be able to do. And when Tipper opens up to Carrie about her grief, it only makes your heart break more (and your hatred for Harris to grow). A mother's heartbreak is horrible and to see it be written out in such a sad way made the story so emotional. For Carrie to finally understand that her sisters and mother are not choosing to forget but rather coping in a way that they can is nice to see.

In the end, this book has one main message: the men are the problem.

I'm only sort of joking, because we never get in-depth information on Harris's feelings towards Rosemary's passing. We do get some closure with Harris revealing he helped cover up Pfeff's suspicious death, which shows that he cares and protects his daughter. But nothing in detail and still, he seems cold. And for Pfeff...well, it was very obvious how physical him and Carrie's relationship was. All the time, it was touching and kissing and getting alone together and not much about talking and spending time with each other. So it was definitely obvious. I initially had hope that Carrie found someone who actually liked her and hoped she would gain confidence but then I realized that this was not the book for this to be the case.

In the end, this book was really good. I liked the ending a lot because it had closure and was satisfying in a way. Though I thought the fast-paced flash forwards and summaries about Carrie's life were out of place because it didn't fit the pace of the rest of the book. And it was a difficult read at first because it started off really slow. I think the book only becomes good when Pfeff and Penny's hookup happens + when Carrie finds out the truth of her biological father.

So I want to rank it higher, but I think people may think this book is boring or not good simply because it takes a while to ramp up, and Pfeff's death becomes a major storyline in the latter third of the book, but it seems all too important to just be a shorter part compared to the longer storyline of Rosemary's ghost.

As usual, here is a summary w/ spoilers :)

The book starts off with the main character, Cadence Sinclair, reminiscing about her summers on Beechwood Island when she was younger. She's 18 now and has clearly gone through some things. She is depressed and in pain, constantly experiencing headaches.

She belongs to the Sinclairs, a very rich and highly respected family that are well known in the Northeast region of USA. Every summer she spends her days with the entirety of the Sinclairs - there are four houses for each of the families. One for the grandparents and three for their children and grandchildren.

When she was 14, her cousin Johnny brought his mother's boyfriend's nephew, Gat (confusing, I know). Gat is not like the Sinclairs - he understands what it is like to not be white and privileged - he is Indian and doesn't come from a wealthy family. Alongside the two boys and her cousin Mirren, Cadence constantly hangs out with the group and call themselves the Liars. Cadence grows extremely close to Gat and develops feelings for him.

Next summer, she is 15 and her father had just left her and her mother. She is broken but her mother makes her pretend everything is alright on the outside, because that's what Sinclairs do. It is also implied she starts hurting herself to deal with her pain (idk she talks a lot about bleeding, can be metaphor for how she feels on the inside). Gat has a girlfriend, Raquel, back in New York. However, Cadence and Gat still get together in the summer.

One evening, Cadence decides to wander in the ocean. Next thing she knows, she is found on the sand, in her underwear and no clothes to be found. She hit her head hard and was very injured. During recovery, she has no idea what happens. The Liars don't bother to respond to her messages, and her mother refuses to tell her what actually happened.

In the summer she is 17, Cadence visits Beechwood for four weeks, the first time since her accident. It's clear that her family is hiding something from her. She continues her confusing situationship with Gat. They love each other but Gat cannot fathom how privileged and out-of touch she is. Cadence catches the Liars lying to her, but refuses to answer when caught. Another suspicious thing is she sees her Aunt Carrie walking to one of the houses during nights.

Slowly, the story starts to fall into place. During flashbacks to summer fifteen, her aunts and mother are constantly arguing and belittling each other because they want to inherit from their father. Tipper, Cadence's grandmother, recently passed away and her grandfather is suffering from dementia. All three of his daughters live off their trust funds and are desperate to suck up to him, even manipulating their own children, for the inheritance. Her grandfather is no saint, he realizes his power and uses it as well.

Cadence slowly starts to regain her memory. It's revealed that she suggests to the Liars to burn down Clairmont, the house her grandfather and dogs stay in. It's a symbol of her family's inheritance, the thing that is tearing them apart. The Liars agree, because they know that everything is going to go to shit after the summer. They will be able to call and text, but will not return to Beechwood all together.

So they burn it. Each of them are assigned different floors to douse in gasoline and set on fire. Cadence gets the ground floor. She douses everything carefully, and lights it on fire. But she doesn't check if any of the Liars are out, and she runs out of the house but not before she hears a scream from above her.

Realizing that she burnt and killed not only her three Liars and two dogs, she tries to go back but is stopped by the fire. Then, she goes into the water and that is when she is discovered, her clothes half off because she washed away the evidence.

It's back to present day when she regains her memory back, and Cadence feels so guilty that she has been acting out on her mom, when everything is basically her doing. She tries to accept her grief at the end.

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I have to admit, I knew this was a mystery novel but didn't realize how confused I would be. Yes, I'm slow. Honestly I genuinely thought that Cadence's dad shot her at first 😭. But this book was written in a very compelling way. It was definitely different than the typical teenage-turned-murder-detective stuff I usually read.

The plot twist was good. I should've seen it coming. Why Gat kept disappearing and why the Liars never interacted with anyone else (though I didn't realize it at first!).

I have to admit that the ending was rushed. I feel like there should've been more explanation. Because wdym Cadence didn't check on the others? It was such a careless mistake, and I get that things don't always go the way it seems, but the way they died was very, very infuriating. I don't know. Just seems very rushed and disappointing because I liked the book.

I like happy endings. This was not a happy ending because Cadence didn't get her forever with Gat. She had to accept that everything she was blaming on others was because of her. Because of this, I liked her but disliked her at the end. I was originally pretty upset that the three others passed away (and the two dogs, rip), but accept that the ending was a pretty good plot twist.

I recommend this book to people. I want to recommend it to my friends, so after they finish we can talk about the ending and how frustrating it was.

I rate it an 8/10. Started off well, ended poorly.

Stepping away from my usual posts of murder mystery series, I have read a gigantic book containing 3 stories, all from the same series, titled Most Likely To. I will summarize and review each of the stories in this post.

I like romance books, and once upon a time I was the biggest fan of YA romance books. My favourite type is when the man yearns for the woman, and after a long time of angst and stuff they end up together. And the miscommunication trope.

The first book is titled "The Biggest Flirts":

Tia Cruz is a senior in high school who plans to have fun and drum in the marching band. She resides in a small town near Tampa Bay and has two best friends, Kaye and Harper. Her carefree plans are turned upside down after new boy Will Matthews arrives. After a brief hookup, she doesn't want anything serious and Will decides to go after smart girl Angelica while she continues her friends-with-benefits relationship with goofy boy Sawyer. Jealous but unable to explain her feelings, her and Will still flirt during band practice, causing tension between Will's relationship with Angelica.

Their flirting does not go unnoticed as their superlatives are Biggest Flirts. Will likes Tia, but she doesn't want a boyfriend. After an accidental kiss, Will affirms that he is seeing Angelica and things grow tense. It takes a turn for the worst as Tia challenges Will to drum captain, intending to come in third so she doesn't have to stand next to him. However, she forgets to do bad and ends up drum captain, Will unhappy. After Harper locks them in a closet to talk about their issues, and they agree to be friends.

Tia attempts to talk to Angelica and make up with Will, but Angelica refuses. So, Will convinces Tia to fake date to make Angelica jealous. Angelica rejects him and Will confesses that he likes Tia. They share a nice night on the beach, but Tia breaks up with him.

At band practice, Sawyer has a heat stroke and Will helps him. Tia shares a moment with him and the next day, they officially get together.

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I read this book the most often because it was the first one of the series. I have to admit, Tia is not my cup of tea. I think it's because her personality is unique to other romance novels I've read and opposite to my own personality. She is outspoken and outgoing and says shit without thinking.

The miscommunication trope is used quite a lot in the book, but some things are so easy to clarify that it does get quite annoying. I think that the key to a relationship is being loyal and honest.

With Will initially having a girlfriend and coming in and hooking up with Tia before knowing his ex cheated on him, that is weird. It's even weirder that both were eager to touch and flirt with each other in public, in front of everyone. And even when Angelica and Will were confirmed to be seeing each other, Tia kept going after him. It is frustrating because I'd rather have Angelica be free of whatever situationship happened. I want to root for this couple, but it's so hard because of the unloyalness.

I get Tia wants to have fun because of her older sister's experiences with settling down and getting knocked up at a young age only for the guy to leave them. It is a unique trauma to explain why a teen doesn't want to settle down. And I do appreciate that Will is straightforward with his feelings, but I think it was unfair to Angelica to be in a relationship where the guy isn't even totally invested in you. Good for her to stand up for herself.

The back-and-forth hookups to dating to breakup and repeat is so tiring by the third time. Especially the one at the end, like y'all had a nice time at the beach and you just reject him in the morning?

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The second book is called Perfect Couple:

Artsy photographer Harper and star quarterback Brody get elected Perfect Couple That Never Was for their senior superlatives. Harper is on friendly and slightly flirty terms with Brody, who she also has a crush on. However, her boyfriend Kennedy and Brody's cheerleader girlfriend Grace are in the way.

Kennedy happens to be the editor for the yearbook while Harper is the photographer. Her job is to take pictures of the superlatives, including her and Brody. Kennedy is not the ideal boyfriend, being sarcastic and unsupportive of her. Harper is clearly unhappy in the relationship.

During Labour Day weekend, the seniors decide to go to the beach. Harper gets a mini-makeover, trading glasses for contacts and wearing a new red bikini. Brody definitely notices and as they try to take their superlative photo on the beach, it ends in a makeout. However, Harper sees Brody feel up Grace so she spends the rest of the day with Kennedy.

One night, Harper's dad is yelling at her mom. They should be divorced, but he keeps calling it off. Harper calls Brody over to stop the fighting, and it works. They end up making out in her bedroom, and Harper says she'll break up with Kennedy.

She does, and while Kennedy moves up her photo deadline, she quits yearbook. Though that goes sour, she ends up kissing Brody after the football team wins. Thinking all is well, Will and Tia drive her home when she's informed that Brody left the game with Grace. In a plot to get back, Harper makes out with Sawyer. Brody sees and explains to her that it was a mistake and he wants to be with her. She doesn't forgive him, but the next day she goes out to dinner with him and a bunch of other couples from high school.

They get together again, but Kaye reveals to them that they weren't actually nominated Perfect Couple That Never Was, instead they were just the two most voted guy and girl. Nobody voted them together. In the heat of the moment, Harper breaks up with Brody. She soon takes it back but Brody refuses.

Another day, another fight resolved. Harper is out taking pictures of the incoming tropical storm when Brody spots her. They agree to date again and happy ending.

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I found Will and Tia's multiple breakups annoying. I found Harper and Brody's even more unnecessary and annoying. At least Tia had a decent reason to break up with Will. Harper's was just cause she was upset they weren't actually nominated.

I found the trope cute, artsy girl with athletic boy. But they were all sort of friends first, so the buildup wasn't as angsty nor exciting.

Speaking of angst, I know that there was some yearning and shit but the constant cheating was something else. Kennedy is the worst character in the book by far, with his condescending comments and selfish actions. However, the cheating wasn't cool and Harper should've broken up with him long before that.

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Third and last book is called Most Likely To Succeed:

In the previous books, Sawyer reveals to Tia and Harper that he is hopelessly in love with Kaye. Now that this book is in her POV, we learn that she likes him back, despite being in a 3 year relationship with Aiden. Kaye is vice president of student council while Aiden is president, and Sawyer is also a student representative. We also learn that the winning couple for the Perfect Couple That Never Was is Sawyer and Kaye, but Kaye doesn't reveal it to Sawyer.

More mistakes come from the superlative miscount, and Aiden is fed up after a fight during a council meeting. He asks Kaye for a break, and while she is devastated, she realizes that she doesn't want to be with him and instead wants Sawyer. The thing is that Kaye's mom is very controlling of her. She wants the best for her, and pushes her academically and socially. She disapproves of cheerleading, student council, and of Sawyer.

But during a bus ride home from a game, her and Sawyer share a kiss. Kaye asks if they could go on a date, but Sawyer dismisses her. She gets upset and he tries to explain, but she doesn't bother to listen.

Another day, another make up: Kaye and Sawyer make up and fool around on Harper's grandad's beach before the cops find them. Kaye's mom is called, which isn't going to end well. Kaye's mom does not think very high of Sawyer because of his formerly imprisoned dad.

They sneak around for a bit, but Sawyer discovers a note between Tia and Kaye trying to set them up. He is angry because it is implied in the note that Kaye thinks of him like an experiment before university. Don't worry, of course they make up! The book doesn't end with a huge kiss, but more of a hopeful 'we'll make it' end.

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Wow, I think they got together and broke up like 3 or 4 different times. Their story is clearly the best because it was built up over the past two books. The fans wanted them and got it!

I think this is the best book of the series solely because of the built up romance. The plot is clearly the best. Kaye is the most likeable of the girls, and I like Will slightly better than Sawyer (it's harder to rank them because we only see the girls' POVs).

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Overall, the series was not as good as I remembered it to be. I think the main reason why is the constant breakups-and-makeups. The yearning part is great. #1. Tia likes Will but has mommy issues. #2. The artsy girl and the jock is a good trope when done right. #3. The smart girl and the class clown is also a good trope.

All of them had reason to yearn for each other and not be together in the first half of the book. But the constant breaking-up-and-getting-back-together is sooo annoying. Once, OK. Twice? Getting tired. Three? Pls just break up for good.

Seriously, I stopped rooting for all couples, even Kaye & Sawyer, because of how many times they would fight and make up. It was so annoying! Also, it was always the same. One of them found out something that hurt their feelings, though it was always miscommunication. Then, they would ignore the person for a day or two and get back together quickly. A little drama after they got together would've been cool. But for all three couples? And for it to happen like 3 times each?

It straight up pissed me off. Ruined the books for me. Too much forced drama.

Anyways, who do I think would end up together? This is what I think would happen if there was a sequel:

While doing Drum Corps, Tia and Will get into a fight about their future and break up, but dramatically get together during their final performance

Meanwhile, Angelica attempts to take over Kaye's VP position but fails. Aiden gets kicked out of his position for trying to mess with Kaye. Kaye gets promoted to president and Aiden is now VP.

Harper and Brody are still boring...

Kaye gets early admission into Columbia, Sawyer does not. They get into a fight and break up for a week.

Tia's dad proposes selling the new house and moving to another place in Tampa, resulting in conflict and resentment with Tia unsure of her future

Brody gets injured badly during a game and is bitter towards Harper. They break up. Get back together after 4 days.

Sawyer ends up getting into Columbia too.

After graduation, Brody doesn't end up getting a football scholarship but gets into University of Florida anyways. But Harper gets into some Liberal Arts school for digital media in Massachusetts or smth. So they end up breaking up in August.

Sawyer and Kaye move to Columbia, Kaye lives in dorms with one roommate and Sawyer has 8 roommates living in some basement. They struggle adjusting to life there, Kaye is homesick but Sawyer feels the opposite. Also Sawyer stays in Kaye's dorm often. They don't break up officially but get into many petty fights.

As for Will and Tia, Will ends up going to University of Minnesota like he envisioned - she ends up going to University of Florida. They break up after senior year ends.

After first year summer, they end up having a get-together in their tiny town (idek the name of the damn place)

Both previously broken up couples get back together. JK. Tia and Will hook up but don't get back together. Same with Harper and Brody, they exchange a tearful goodbye instead.

Kaye, unhappy and pressured into holding up her parent's legacy, transfers to Yale (idk how it works dont ask). Her and Sawyer end up breaking up too

It's been a long time since I did one of these. Best to start with one of the more popular YA/teen murder mystery book series.

Summary w/ spoilers:

Cassie Hobbes is a 17 year old girl that lives with her father's side of the family. Five years ago, she discovered a crap ton of blood in a bathroom, implying her mother's death. Part of Cassie still believes that her mother is on the run somewhere. Her mother was a travelling psychic who did shows.

Cassie has a unique ability to profile people based on their looks and actions. She is approached by a boy her age, Michael, to contact the FBI. She does, because she is unhappy with her life living with people she doesn't feel like family with. Cassie meets Agent Briggs, and she joins the program.

She moves into a house where four other teenagers are already in the Naturals program, along with Judd, who is basically their housekeeper. Her roommate is Sloane, a peppy blonde girl who specializes in statistics. Michael, the boy who recruited her, specializes in the ability to read people's emotions. Lia is a snarky "mean" girl who specializes in the ability of other's telling the truth or lies. Dean is a quiet, broody boy who is also a profiler. Cassie finds out that his father was a serial killer and he has been in the program since he was 12.

She is also introduced to Agent Locke, who takes her and Dean on profiling lessons. Cassie is adjusting to her new life, with no help from Lia. One night, the teens play a truth-or-dare game, resulting in Dean and Cassie sharing a kiss. This prompts jealousy from Michael, and they share a kiss in the pool later. Lia makes it known to Cassie that her and Michael had a on-and-off thing, and implies that she still likes him.

Meanwhile, there are several flashbacks not in the POV of Cassie, but from a serial killer. This serial killer kills girls and carves their faces. One day, Cassie discovers this ongoing case as her teachers are trying to solve it. She realizes that the killer's victims are redheads, even dying one victim's hair red, and some of them are psychics. This is similar to her mother, who had red hair and was a psychic. She believes that this is not a coincidence, and that this person may have killed her mother.

Cassie is not wrong, as she receives a package with her name on it, with red locs of hair inside. A couple days later, Sloane receives a package for her, but it has blonde hair. Lia shows Cassie a lipstick that was bought, but coincidentally was the same shade Cassie's mom used. Briggs and Locke realize that the serial killer is after Cassie. After a senator's daughter, Genevieve, gets kidnapped and Cassie is sent pictures of her beaten, the group follows her clues into a theatre. There, Lia reveals that the lipstick was placed on her desk.

Michael and Cassie are discussing it, and they share a kiss. Then, she realizes that the killer was probably someone in their house. She calls Agent Locke and is instructed to come to a location with Dean, who grabs a gun for protection. Once at the location, Michael arrives at the place, also with a gun. Concerned for Cassie's safety, Michael and Dean face their guns to each other. However, Agent Locke arrives and shoots Michael twice.

In a turn of events, Agent Locke is revealed to be the killer - and Cassie's aunt. She is a couple years younger than Cassie's mom. Their dad used to beat them, but Cassie's mom fled the house when she got pregnant with Cassie. Locke didn't kill Cassie's mom, but was so angry that she was left all alone with her abusive dad, that she took revenge by taking victims that were similar to her. She wants Cassie to join her on the killing spree, but she refuses. Genevieve is revealed to be barely alive, still kidnapped. Locke knocks Dean and Genevieve unconscious, but Michael shoots her dead before she can attack Cassie.

A two week time skip occurs. Genevieve is alive, but refuses to meet with any of the Naturals. Michael needs a lot of physical therapy, and may walk with a limp. Dean is OK physically, but Cassie has not talked to him since the incident. Cassie wants to stay in the house despite the events, knowing that none of them will be the same as before, and all of her roommates are dealing with difficult and dark pasts.

Lastly, Michael limps towards her and tells her that he'll back off, knowing that Dean and Cassie have something more.

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I'm not sure that the concept of this series is original, but it is very intriguing to me.

I feel like Cassie is a decent main character, because of all these murder mystery books need to have the main girl be sought after by at least two boys and have a tragic backstory that includes a dead mom and/or being poor.

I know that from the ending, Dean and Cassie are probably going to end up together. I thought the love triangle was intriguing, but a bit distracting from the main plot of the serial killer. I was honestly rooting for Michael and my heart dropped when I initially thought he was the killer.

Speaking of which, I think the killing reveal scene was written well. It made me think that Michael was the killer, then Dean, and then finally Locke. I also had in my mind that the killer was a man, so it ending up being a woman shocked me.

I was a bit skeptical with how much romance was being implied, especially since there was a big love triangle. I predict that after much yearning and angst, Dean and Cassie will end up together by the third book. And Michael and Lia will probably end up together in the last book. And I don't know about Sloane.

Maybe I was in a more romantic mood while reading, because usually love interests annoy the heck out of me and I always suspect of them being the murderer. It wasn't as annoying in this book.

Summary w/ spoilers:

This book is about a friend group of 9 upper class adults who go on a trip for their annual New Year's Eve celebration to a secluded area filled with nature. The group includes: Miranda and Julien (couple), Emma and Mark (couple), Samira and Giles (couple, brought six month old baby Priya), Bo and Nick (couple), and Katie.

The book revolves around Heather and Doug's POVs after one of the guests' body was found, murdered. It also rotates Emma, Katie, and Miranda's POVs leading up to the guest's death.

The present POVs don't reveal anything about who the person is, until the middle of the book until they say it is a girl. Heather is the manager and Doug is the gamemaster. They both reside on the site as part of their work. Iain also works there but does not live on site, he is said to be living back home with his family during the book. Doug and Heather are attracted to each other, but both do not make any advancements. Doug is a bit mysterious and dark, as he has trauma from being the only one to survive from his place at the Marines, with the accident that killed all being perceived as his fault. He also his issues with anger management. As for Heather, she took the job to get away from the city and everyone after trying to heal with her boyfriend's death.

Once the group arrives, they are all go to drink with the exception of Samira, who attends to Priya. Miranda complains that she is too obsessive with being a mother. Samira, Miranda, and Katie were all close friends from Oxford, with the latter two being best friends. Samira and Miranda were known as the extroverted ones while Katie perceives herself as the forgettable, less pretty friend who follows. Miranda is also a bit jealous as she wants to be pregnant but has had fertility issues.

On the other hand, Emma is the one that has planned the vacation. She is very obsessed with everything going well, and is a bit upset after she discovers that they are not alone, and an Icelandic couple is staying on site as well. She is with Mark, and their relationship is the reason why she is in the group. Emma has had trouble fitting in, but has tried every effort to do so. However, the group, specifically Miranda, have been giving her a hard time in doing so. Despite this, Emma tries her best to be close to Miranda. Katie notices this and knows that her and Emma are not close, both do not give much effort in their relationship.

Katie feels more distant with Miranda than she did in the past, which is noticed by the latter. Miranda is upset and tries to make more effort, but Katie still acts the same. She is labelled as a workaholic. Miranda is attracted to Doug, and makes multiple attempts to seduce him. He does not reciprocate.

Miranda recalls the fact that she had a stalker but it stopped a couple of years ago. The stalker would leave her notes about her secrets, like cheating or shoplifting. They would also take little things from her house. Though she never told anyone, it terrified her. Luckily, it stopped a couple of years ago. Miranda sometimes thought it was Mark, because he has always had a 'secret' crush on her. Everyone knows, including Emma. Emma accepts this, because she acknowledges that her and Mark don't have a fiery romance like Miranda and Julien. Instead, they are together because they could support each other and have a future.

Miranda knows Julien's supposed worst secret - he is insider trading, allowing them to gain lots of money. Miranda does not work, and Julien justifies it, saying that it helps support her lifestyle.

As a day goes by, the weather worsens, and during the search for the dead body in present time, authorities and no one else are able to come and assist. The group plays a truth or dare game to pass the time. During this, Miranda reveals that she slept with someone other than Julien. Julien and the rest believe it is Katie, but it is actually Giles, and Emma overhears this. In another round, Miranda dares Katie to go into the icy lake in her underwear. Though pissed, she does it.

They later get into a big fight. Miranda storms off and attempts to seduce Doug at his cabin. In the present, he does not recall anything because he got very angry. This reveals Miranda as the person who is dead. Heather fears that he killed Miranda, as she was strangled and then thrown off a cliff.

Miranda leaves Doug's house and attempts to find Katie. She walks in on Katie and Julien in the sauna. She also realizes that Katie is pregnant with his baby. Devastated, she goes on a walk.

Heather realizes that Iain has been staying on site and may have killed Miranda. She goes to confront him and sees that he has been using an abandoned house to package drugs. He attacks her, but is stopped by a gunshot from Doug. He says he didn't kill anybody, and her and Doug rush to the group because he says that a blonde woman killed the other blonde woman, meaning it was Emma.

It turns out that Emma was Miranda's stalker. She has a mental disorder and likes to attack on other people. She did this since she was a kid. Emma would act exactly like the people she targeted. She was upset when Miranda chose Katie to be her best friend, not her. She spent years following her, and Miranda didn't recognize her because she lost weight and dyed her hair. Emma meets Miranda on a bridge and she confronts her after revealing everything.

Miranda goes on to yell at her, but Emma cannot take the abuse from the person she admired the most. She chokes her until Miranda is unconscious and then pushes her off the cliff. She later goes to the group, knowing that she will be caught soon. She takes out the rifle and shoots Katie, but Heather jumps in front and saves her.

There is a time skip and Heather reveals she was shot in the ribs, but survived. Her and Doug have some type of reconnection and they are staying together over the weekend, which is implied to possibly be romantic.

Katie is almost at her due date but attends Emma's trial anyways. The jury feels sympathy for her so she only gets four years. Katie is still alone, and acknowledges that Miranda was the glue for the friend group, as they are no longer talking much. Julien is not there for her and she is still lonely.

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This book is more mature than the other books I read. I think I am biased to say I like it, just because of how different it was compared to other books.

The plot twist was honestly unexpected, I did assume that Miranda's stalker was a guy. Julian sucks and I didn't like Miranda but I really wanted her to live. The way this book is written, it gives us more insight to the victim. She is more humanized compared to other books that usually start off with a death or have little insight about the victim.

I like this book a lot, though the multiple flashbacks and different character POVs were confusing initially.

Summary w/spoilers:

This is the sequel to The Cheerleaders.

This book is in Hadley Dougherty's POV. Set six years after the original book, she is an aspiring journalist in Sunnybrook. She moved about a year ago because her mother is the superintendent of the Sunnybrook High and its school district. Her father was an alcoholic who had left the picture and she also has an older brother who goes to some fancy Ivy League school and is rarely mentioned, implying they are not close.

It's the beginning of the year and Hadley is looking forward to hopefully becoming the next chief editor of the school's newspaper. She has one competition though - Peter Carlino. Yes, he is the younger brother of Jennifer and Monica Rayburn. Hadley doesn't know about his family's past in the beginning of the book, but eventually learns it. As for the time jump for the Carlino-Rayburn's, Tom retired after Brandon's arrest. Monica graduated university and is secretly seeing Ethan McCready (???). Peter is a know-it-all. 

As for Hadley, she doesn't really have any friends. She has a competition going with Peter. She is also friendly with Alix Maroney, captain of the dance team (which holds the same prestige as cheerleaders for the average US high school) and is dating the star quarterback of the football team, Cameron Burnham. Alix is nice to Hadley, while her friends, Chloe and Gabby, are impartial to her.

Hadley gets assigned to cover the football team for her newspaper assignment. The thing is that last year, she published an article empowering the dance team, but the football team was upset because they thought the article was putting them down. It was about how the dance team deserved the same recognition as the football team, but didn't because they were girls and they weren't taken as seriously.

However, when she interviews Tyler and Logan, members of the football team, she does not encounter any resentment. In fact, Logan was flirting with her. She is later invited to a party, where a bunch of dance and football team members will attend.

Here is also some backstory: high school football is a big deal in Sunnybrook. Many of the players go to D1 universities, though they don't often find NFL success. The Burnham's have like four sons, all of which have or are been star players on the Sunnybrook football team. Their dad is the head coach of the football team. 

Back to the story. She gets emails from someone going by the username SportsFan, warning her to stay away from the football team and the party. However, Hadley attends the party and is getting along with Logan well, but she rejects his kiss. Though awkward, they still play beer pong with other attendees. Logan drinks for Hadley, as she is the designated driver. During the game, Logan collapses. Through a frustrating moment as none of his friends want to call the police because of underaged drinking, Hadley drives Logan to the hospital with Alix. Later, it is said that Logan is in a coma. 

Hadley realizes that the warnings from the anonymous person were suspicious and tries to get more answers. Wondering if the poison was meant for her, because Logan was drinking for her. She also recalls a conversation she overheard with members of the football team - Gavin, Logan and Tyler. Gavin was telling Logan to "shut up" about something and asking "what you told her". Thinking it was about their previous interview, Hadley realizes that the football team is keeping a secret. She confides in Peter, after realizing that he is not behind the anonymous messages.

Hadley also gets told to look in Gavin's locker, because in there, she discovers a cheat sheet to a test. She realizes that teachers are afraid to fail football players because of the consequences they will get from the Burnhams. Attempting to get this matter resolved, she anonymously sends out an email to all teachers, asking if they pass football players because they are scared into doing so.

This backfires, as the only responses are from offended teachers and the question soon gets leaked to the students. While Hadley was able to stay anonymous for a couple of days, it is soon revealed that it is her. Soon enough, the entire school knows. She is put in suspension, tensions between her and her mom increase, and everyone, including Alix, doesn't really speak to her. The only person she has is Peter, who she becomes friendly with. She was also appointed editor-in-chief, but the title was taken back after her controversy. She was also kicked out of the journalism team.

However, this controversy is all set aside when Gavin is announced dead after a hit-and-run. With one star player dead and another one in a coma, the football team unravels, and they start to lose. Though most are devastated by Gavin's death, Hadley believes that this is no coincidence. And she is right. In a whirlwind of events, Hadley discovers that the person behind SportsFan is Chloe. She is revealed to have been raped by ~5 members of the football team a couple of years ago. Though her memory is a bit groggy, Cameron and Gavin did it, while Tyler and Logan chickened out but did not attempt to stop the assault. She never talked about it, partly because they gaslighted her into thinking it was her fault that she got so drunk.

As for who put something in Logan's drink, it was Alix. One evening, Hadley goes to her neighbour, Alix. She discovers her in a panic, with a gun in her hand. She reveals that the poisoned drink was meant for Cameron (her bf) but Logan accidentally drank it instead. It's because Cameron is abusive to her but she is scared to break up with him. She was hoping that it would be a way out for her. Soon after, Cameron shows up at the door, attempting to let himself in, and is successful. He confesses to killing Gavin, saying that he wanted the rape to still be a secret, and he is one of the people that knows. Alix, still in a panic, lets Hadley run but makes Cameron stay. Hadley ran out the door and heard a gunshot soon after.

Afterwards, it is revealed that Alix shot Cameron, but he is alive. Alix was arrested for attempted manslaughter and may possibly be tried as an adult. As for Cameron, there are a bunch of Burnham supporters who think he is innocent. Chloe reveals her story to the public, but stays anonymous. Hadley and Peter become friends.

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I think this book was in the middle, if I were to rate all the books of this genre that I have read, from worst to best. I really liked The Cheerleaders, so it would be very hard to follow up with an equally great book.

Hadley is an OK main character, though I cannot get over her name. I was glad we got some more information about Monica. I don't know what to think of her, or that Ginny wasn't some creep after all. I know I didn't mention Ginny in the summary, because she wasn't important to the final outcome of the book. But she and Monica weren't friends, but became closer after all of the trauma bonding, though Monica doesn't know what Ginny or her dad did.

This book was just OK. I didn't really know where the direction of the book was going. I thought there would be more justice for Chloe and the other victims, but the book took a realistic route as they still saw the Burnhams as heroes.

I really don't have much to say.

Summary with spoilers:

The haunting deaths of five cheerleaders haunt the small town of Sunnybrook, NY five years later. Two cheerleaders, Colleen and Bethany, died in a gruesome car crash. Then, Susan and Juliana were murdered just before homecoming, with their presumed killer being Susan's neighbor. Lastly, Jennifer Rayburn committed suicide.

Monica Rayburn is our main character and the younger sister of Jennifer. She lives with her mother, stepfather, and younger brother, Peter. Tom, her stepfather, is a police officer and was at all three crime scenes. Monica is on the high school dance team with her two best friends - Rachel and Alexa.

She often experiences pain, for which her mother gives her medicine. One afternoon, she decides to snoop in Tom's drawer for stronger relief medicine. Upon doing so, she discovers her late sister's phone. Curious to why he has it, she opens it to see that her sister's last phone call was to a number with no contact. Monica also discovers notes addressed to Tom, on every anniversary of Jennifer's death. It states "connect the dots".

Monica connects the unknown phone number, who presumably also sent the notes to Tom, and they tell her why they think the five cheerleader deaths are suspicious. The car crash's aftermath showed that Bethany wasn't texting and driving. It is also very common to speed on that road, so they are confused to why Bethany would crash into a tree, killing her and Colleen.

Susan and Juliana's murders showed no forced entry, which does not fit the narrative that Susan's creepy neighbor killed them. Lastly, Jennifer was always known as a happy person so the unknown person is suspicious that someone killed her. She also didn't leave a note, as far as Monica was aware.

Monica has a tense relationship with her mother. During the summer, she had a secret affair with Brandon, the new cross country coach, who is almost 30. She got pregnant, and had to get an abortion. Thus, Monica knows that her mother is wary and does not act the same around her anymore.

Monica is determined to figure out the mysterious deaths of all five cheerleaders. To do so, she has to secretly overstep the work of her stepfather and his partner, Michael Mejia. She soon befriends Ginny Cordero, who is on the dance team but is quiet and not popular like Monica and her friend group.

With the help of Ginny, she discovers that the mysterious person is Ethan McCready. He went to school with Jennifer but was expelled after he wrote a hitlist of members of the cheerleading squad and football team. After meeting with him, he gives out crucial information about the night Susan and Juliana died. He saw a black pickup truck at Susan's house and saw an argument between Juliana and the driver.

This leads Monica to tracking down Carly Amato, who was a new girl on the cheerleading squad, and Allie, the former coach of the cheerleading team. Monica and Ginny and certain that the killer was not the neighbor, but Monica is scared to let Tom know that she is investigating, because he was the one that shot and killed the neighbor in a confrontation, not allowing him to admit or deny anything.

During her investigation, Monica and her best friends start to fall out, and she grows closer to Ginny. Monica then discovers that Ginny's father, who left around the cheerleaders' deaths, was actually spotted a week after Juliana and Susan. She also learns that he owned a pickup truck. Monica keeps this information hidden from Ginny, and goes on the search to find the person that killed Juliana and Susan. She learns that the person who did this was from a fancy college prep town and was rich. He was with his best friend, who most likely dealt drugs, as Carly Amato said.

After spending the evening alone with her brother, Peter, Monica is interrupted by Brandon showing up at the door. Turns out he is the boyfriend of Allie, who Monica questioned about Carly and the former cheerleaders from five years ago. Allie then relayed the information to Brandon. He confronts her, admitting to murdering Juliana and Susan. He confesses that Juliana and him were having a secret affair, while he was an adult and she was 15. He broke up with her for Allie, in which Juliana threatened to release their relationship. In a moment of rage, they fought and it ended up with Brandon killing the two girls. He managed to get away with it, but because he confessed to Monica, he has to kill her too. Luckily, before he can do so, Peter was sent to Ginny's house, in which she called 911, and ran to their house. She strikes him with a baseball bat before he can kill Monica. 

He is later arrested, and it goes in the record that he was the real killer of Juliana and Susan. As for Jennifer, there were a couple of chapters throughout the story in her POV during all the deaths of her friends. She is shown becoming less close with her best friends, Susan and Juliana. She was supposed to be at the sleepover that killed them, as well. She also grows closer to Ethan, who attempts to comfort her and they share a romantic relationship, though secret. However, she is also becoming less and less happy with her life. In a crucial context clue, she tells Ethan that she hasn't been happy in a long time.

Unfortunately, Monica's mom and stepfather reveal that Jennifer did in fact, kill herself. She left a note, but the parents kept it hidden from their daughter, as she was pretty young when her sister passed. The note mentioned that Monica should visit California, as they both wanted to see it one day.

At the end of the book, it gives information to Ginny's mysterious past, including her father. Her chapter is a POV when she was ~12. Her father is an alcoholic, and often beats up her mom. One day, he drives her around Sunnybrook. He is a bit drunk, and gets upset when Ginny talks back to him. He ends up hitting a car, and flipping their car upside down. He is stuck but Ginny manages to climb out of the car. She sees two dead girls in the other car, very dismembered. It looks like they hit the tree. On the other hand, Ginny refuses to help her father, who is calling her, and runs away. His car and himself sink into the lake, which was never recovered.

Back to Monica's POV, she is attempting to recover after everything that has happened. There is no mention of Ginny in the aftermath, so it is assumed that they grow apart after having solved the mystery together. Instead, she is comforted by her friends, Rachel and Alexa. 

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I really enjoyed this book. I understand why it is recommended by numerous people when looking for YA murder mystery reads. 

I think the main character is somewhat interesting, but clearly the most intriguing character is her mysterious new friend, Ginny. She is introduced and solely focuses on solving the cheerleaders' deaths, making her suspicious and interesting to the reader. The revelation at the end was amazing, as I initially thought her father was the suspicious guy with the pickup truck meeting with Juliana at Susan's house the night of their deaths. Instead, she was concealing the truth to protect herself from her father. I thought it was devestating but a good plot twist.

I thought I would get tired of the whole 'past murders with no found culprit' shtick that I have read quite often, but turns out this was an exception. I liked the backstory of the five cheerleaders, though it turned out to be a coincidence. Did I want some more closure for Monica? Yes. But we do get some in the sequel (that I will read next). I think that is my only bone to pick.

I was also upset that Jennifer did in fact kill herself, but Monica believed otherwise because her parents never revealed the suicide note. I thought it was rational, at the time, because Monica would've been too young. But she was around ~17 (?) at the time of the book, so they definitely should've showed it to her by then. Letting her get caught up because she did not know the truth sucked. From the flashbacks, Jennifer seemed like a good person, connecting to how Ethan and Monica thought of her. She deserved better.

Again, this was a good book and I would have it at the top of my list for recommendations.

The previous Alexa Donne reads have been pretty good, so I decided to take a chance at one I spotted in the library!

As always, here is a non-spoiler free summary:

The story starts off with our main character, Cecilia Ellis, moving into the small Northern California town of Seaview to live with her estranged grandmother after her mother passes away due to cancer. Her grandmother, Maura Weston, is a famed author who has written many murder mystery books. Her most famous one is based off a real life murder that occurred when Maura was a senior and the homecoming queen, Caroline Quinn, was found dead in a pool. The janitor, Joe Bedecki, was arrested for the murder after Caroline's underwear was found in his locker.

In present time, Cecilia has to adjust to moving in mid-October for her senior year. She quickly befriends Amber and Bronte, a couple, and seemingly part of the 'popular' squad. They also include Luke, Morgan and Natalie. The latter two are frenemies and Luke seems to have had possibly romantic relations with them as well. It also seems that their parents/grandparents are important in Seaview. This includes Natalie's father, who is the town mayor, and Natalie's mother, who is the town's only therapist and who Cecilia attends therapy with. Cecilia also meets Suzanne, who works for Maura, and Ben, Maura's intern and a fellow high school senior.

Knowing almost nothing about her famed grandmother, Cecilia attends the "murder tour" in Seaview, hosted by Luke and Ben. She finds it very insensitive. On the way, they arrive at Caroline's former house, now inhabited by Bronte's family. She meets Bronte's younger brother, Gabriel. She is also greeted by two creepy super fans of Maura - Chris and Reama.

Afterwards, she attends the homecoming football game with Amber and Luke. The three other girls are on the cheerleading team, Ben is the school's mascot, and Gabriel is on the football team. Though she has been getting close with Ben, Cecilia is also conflicted about her attraction to Gabriel. Soon enough, Luke leaves for his halftime hookup, a tradition at Seaview High. At the same time, the homecoming queen is about to be announced. Natalie and Morgan show up in practically identical dresses, and Natalie had dyed her hair, which now looks similar to Morgan. They get into a fight and Natalie storms off. Cecilia needs to go to the toilet, but the lines near the stadium are long, so she goes to the one near the pool. After peeing, she ventures out and sees a body in the pool. She realizes it is Natalie but it is too late as she has passed already.

Traumatized by her discovery, Cecilia absorbs herself into finding who killed Natalie. The murder is seemingly a copycat of Caroline's murderer. Cecilia knows that Joe isn't the murderer, and was framed. She confines in her closest friend, Ben, and together they attempt to solve the murders. She quickly checks off Amber and Bronte, as they were together and had alibis. She also assumes Ben isn't the murderer for whatever reason. That leaves her with four main suspects - crazy superfans Chris and Reama, Luke (who disappeared for his hookup), and the mayor (who was seen arguing with Natalie prior to her death).

Cecilia finds incriminating texts from Luke to Natalie, saying that Luke will threaten to kill her if she exposes who his halftime hookup is. Luke is suspicious of her snooping but does not attempt to harm her. Cecilia gets a call that Suzanne is in the hospital after her brakes failed, but she knows that it was intentional, as Cecilia was supposed to be in the car with Suzanne.

After an interrupted therapy session with Natalie's mom, she goes upstairs and snoops on Natalie's laptop. Cecilia discovers that Natalie has a secret camera to spy on various Seaview residents and blackmail them for their secrets. This gives a lot of people reason to kill her - for revenge. However, Cecilia still trusts three people - Amber, Bronte, and Ben. Gabriel has also been of help, but his history of aggression was revealed, which does not help his case. He also doesn't have an alibi and refuses to tell Cecilia what he had been up to.

Cecilia soon discovers that the reason Natalie and the mayor were arguing was because he was having an affair - with her best friend, Morgan.

At Natalie's wake, a heated argument occurs between Luke and Ben. Luke soon points the finger at Cecilia, asking why as soon as she turned up, someone died, and that she is suspicious for continuously snooping on everyone to try and find the murderer. This leaves with Cecilia exposing Morgan and the mayor's affair to everybody.

No one attempts to contact Cecilia afterwards, expect for Ben. Ben and Cecilia visit Joe Bedecki in prison, where he gives very vague answers as to if he killed Cecilia, leaving them with more questions. They are certain that someone framed him.

The day afterwards is the homecoming dance. She goes with Ben. Cecilia gets a text while Ben goes to the washroom, telling her to meet her in the pool so she can finally discover who the killer is. Though a stupid decision, she decides not to alert Ben and go to the pool by herself. She ends up finding Gabriel, also on his phone. Before he could do anything, Cecilia pushes him into the pool and runs away. Ben is able to get her in the car and they drive to his house.

Cecilia is hysterical, scared that she has no proof that Gabriel admitted to being the murderer. Ben is able to calm her down and they get intimate. Afterwards, Ben goes to the washroom. Cecilia finds a master key similar to Natalie's in his drawer. Realizing that he may be the killer, she also has gotten many texts from Bronte, saying that Ben doesn't have an alibi either. Ben arrives, but Cecilia is able to alert Bronte that she is at Ben's house. Acting suspicious, Ben realizes that she knows he killed Natalie and they get into a physical fight. Eventually, Ben is grasping onto Cecilia for dear life, as he is on the edge of a cliff. Gabriel and Bronte arrive and rescue the duo. Ben is arrested afterwards. Maura takes her in and Cecilia questions why Maura confirmed that Ben was with her. Realizing that she helped Ben and is the murderer, Cecilia and her engage in a fight. It ends with Cecilia pushing Maura into the dumbwaiter, killing her. After being in shock, she bumps into Reama, who is at the porch. She reveals she is an FBI agent and has been looking into Maura over the years.

At the end of the book, Gabriel and Cecilia are dating. Luke reveals his hookup is with Caleb, who is not out yet, so that is why he threatened Natalie. Suzanne looks after Cecilia until she eventually turns 18.

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I think the concept of the book was interesting. I'm sure it is not exactly unique, but it is the first one I have read about an author being a little too invested in their stories. For that, I have to give it points.

However, it was also incredibly obvious who the killer was. Because of the murder mystery author trope, the killer had to be Maura. As well, I am not fooled by the suspicious boyfriend trope. 1. if the main character is new, trust no one 2. if a character is mentioned as having moved in recently, it is 90% them 3. never trust the love interest

I am pretty proud of myself for guessing the killers right. As for the rest of the book, it was meh. I think it was just alright. Not a bad read, but also not the best read ever. I think the plot was also standard for a YA murder mystery.

I didn't feel strongly towards any of the characters besides Gabriel. I was automatically team Gabriel when he appeared, because Ben was a bit too invested with Maura for me.

Another thing for me is the attempt at grasping for diversity. I know it is a good thing, especially as a POC myself. There are countless books I have read that have white MCs and white authors, and there are few for POCs. I laughed out loud when Donne had to outwardly describe Bronte as Filipino and a teacher (or some authority figure, I forgot) as Black.

It pains me because you don't see descriptions for white characters. We aren't going "she is white" or "his parents are both German". Unfortunately, white is seen as the default. Even I just assume that all characters are white and that either the best friend/sidekick or love interest will be a POC for some diversity.

The book took me pretty long to read.

Summary with spoilers:

This book contains 8 short stories that occur throughout the story of The Inheritance Games. It contains a helpful timeline at the beginning of the book.

The first short story is titled That Night in Prague and is in Avery's POV. It occurs just before The Brothers Hawthorne. The story covers Jameson and Avery's time in Prague. It alternates from when Jameson returned after gone missing, with cuts and the smell of smoke on his shirt and before, when they were playing games that they gave each other that made them run all over Prague. In the end, Avery doesn't force Jameson to reveal what happened. It is revealed in The Brothers Hawthorne that his secret is that Alice Hawthorne is alive.

The second short story is titled The Same Backward as Forward and is the longest story, by far, in this book. Taking place prior to The Inheritance Games, it gives Hannah Rooney's POV to taking care of Toby Hawthorne (aka Harry) after he sets fire to Hawthorne Island, killing her sister and two others. Hannah was clearly close to her sister, though they had differing lifestyles. She had a strained relationship with her parents, and her family is notorious for handling the drug and weapons trade in the area. She was a second-year nursing student who took care of Harry/Toby with a fisherman named Jackson Currie after he discovers him. Harry is in bad shape and has no memory of what happened. She struggles through her grief and hatred of the boy who killed her sister, but they eventually fall in love while he is being cared for. Once Harry finds out what really happened, they both know he has to leave. Hannah decides to leave as well, but not with him and changes her name to Sarah. Harry visits Hannah when she is in labour with Avery and helps her give birth. He also signs the birth certificate, though forging the signature of the real father. Unfortunately, the love story ends there as he hands her a bunch of postcards with invisible ink and leaves after he knows they are safe. The story comes full circle-ish as at the diner Sarah/Hannah works at, Avery and her are visited by Alice Hawthorne, who offers them money in exchange for Harry/Toby's location. She declines and the story ends there.

The Cowboy and the Goth: Gives more story between Libby and Nash’s relationship. From the time they met, became friends, lovers, fiancées, and when Libby took a pregnancy test.

Five Times Xander Tackled Someone (& One Time He Didn't) is the fourth story. The first is when he was two and tackled Grayson. Second one was when he was playing go fish at 11 and tackled Grayson. Third is when he was 15, and tackled Thea in attempt to bring her and Rebecca closer.

The fifth story is named One Hawthorne Night and is in Grayson's POV. It starts with his breaching of the Hawthorne brother's 9-1-1, which leads to a night of atonement for him. It starts with him being dropped off in the middle of nowhere in only his underwear. His task? To flag down the first car he sees and give them an envelope. The envelope contained money and directions to Thea's house. There, Thea and Avery gave him a makeover. Afterwards, he was dropped off where he performed karaoke with his brothers, to a bachelorette party.

The sixth story is in Avery's POV and is titled $3CR2T $@NT@. The story recaps the Hawthorne brothers, along with Avery and Libby, playing a Hawthorne version of Secret Santa. The general rules are that everyone draws a target, they have to establish a secret base somewhere in the estate's premises, and have to find their target's base and eliminate them with a "perfect present". If eliminated, your target goes to the person who eliminated you. Avery gets Nash and eliminates him, inheriting Jameson as her target. After eliminating him, she gets Grayson as her target. It's down to those two. After exchanging gifts, Grayson declares her the winner.

The seventh story is called What Happens in the Tree House and highlights Nash's bachelorette party with his brothers. They go to London and do crazy rich people stuff, like ice climbing, sky walking, and a boat ride.

The last story is titled Pain at the Right Gun, which reassembled spells That Night in Prague. It gives a short detailing of what happened to Jameson - he solved a puzzle and ended up handcuffed. He hears Alice and Zara's voice. He gets cut, and there is flames around him but he passes out. He wakes up, and Alice Hawthorne tells him that he needs to keep what he knows a secret.

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Here are my thoughts on each story:

That Night in Prague: I found this boring. I know that Jameson and Avery are fan favourites, hence starting out this book of short stories "strong". However, this chapter was just repeatedly emphasizing how in love they were. The puzzles were easier to understand than the Grandest Games, at least. Unfortunately, it doesn't say what actually happened in Prague with Jameson. I think we will find out in the Grandest Games II and III instead. Because of this, I was disappointed and found it boring. What was the whole point of this chapter if it didn't reveal anything? I'll rate it a 3/10

The Same Backward as Forward: Though predictable because the main points of the story were mentioned in The Final Gambit, I still really enjoyed this one. It gave great insight and made the story so interesting. I couldn't stop reading and got too invested in their story. I cried at the end, knowing that Hannah passes away before Harry could see her again. I really want to know his reaction, though it will be upsetting and probably make me cry again. Though it was the most upsetting, I thought the ending was the best part. The insight it gave to them, especially the aftermath of the event that shaped The Inheritance Games, made it very interesting. In the end, Hannah deserved better and was a great character in the short time she had. 10/10!

The Cowboy and the Goth: Nash's whole cowboy shtick has got me tired since the first book. The mentions at his southern drawl and his damn cowboy hat tire me out. We get it! He's a Texan boy who likes to sling ropes and ride horses. I don't care about him. Libby - I care slightly more for, but I also think the author leaned in too much to her goth (?) style. I don't think she is that "different" because of her brightly coloured hair or unique outfit choices. I wanted more in depth about her character, especially her nature. I don't like the fact that she let her sister live in her car. But she is a domestic violence survivor, and that makes her strong and her character should be more interesting than she was written to be. How did it change her mindset about being in a relationship, especially because her one with Nash moves very fast? How did she cope with the aftermath of Drake and her father attempting to kill Avery? But Libby becomes a background plot in the latter books, with her only story was her quickly-evolving relationship with Nash.

I feel very neutral about them and this story did not change my opinion. I also feel that their story is very rushed. It’s been like 2 (?) years? I wonder how long Nash was with Alisa. I forgot that she transferred Avery when she was in a coma. I didn’t realize how upsetting it was. I like Alisa, so I know that obviously without her actions, the rest of the Inheritance Games wouldn’t be continued. Things would obviously be different. So Libby and Nash should’ve thanked her 😃 (jk). 2/10.

Five Times Xander Tackled Someone (& One Time He Didn't): It was fine, I didn't adore the style of writing (and the random exclamation marks that seemed sarcastic). I liked how it showed more in depth to Xander's relationships with the most important people in his life. Also, I appreciated the now rare sightings of Rebecca and Maxine. I feel that in the latter books of the original trilogy of the Inheritance Games, these two (plus Libby and Thea, and basically all of the female characters introduced in the first book) were pushed to the side. I would've liked to see more of Avery's female friendships. However, I liked how it showed a different side and it had relationship moments I expected to see in this book. 7/10.

One Hawthorne Night: Again, a nice short story that gives a unique perspective on fun bonding moments. Grayson needed to learn to lighten up a bit, and his brothers helped him do so. There was a rare Thea sighting, who I swore JLB just forgot about. Please give more information to her! Thea, Zara, and her uncle are barely seen anymore, though they were important suspects in the original book. But it's a cute story and is enjoyable to read. 9/10.

$3CR2T $@NT@: It had some nice moments, but I honestly found the rules a handful. I am confused at the push for Grayson x Avery moments, considering Jameson x Avery are presumably (and like 99%) endgame. Sure, they can be platonic but the way the author was writing about them didn't seem like it. "Grayson Hawthorne managed to place it on the ground without ever losing his balance. Without ever taking his eyes off me." I just feel like it's more suggestive, and I don't like that. I hate love triangles with brothers. I hate it even more when the two brothers used to be in love with a dead girl. Maybe it wasn't supposed to be romantic, but in One Hawthorne Night, Grayson mentioned that Avery touched him. OOoooOOooh. Leave them alone! They should be a closed chapter, stop bringing up random moments. Despite my rant, it was a decent read. 7/10.

What Happens in the Tree House: Weird to say, but I forgot how damn rich they all are. I found it sort of boring, I feel pretty neutral about all of the brothers. I wonder if they also threw a bachelorette party for Nash's engagement with Alisa. The book's timeline says this occurred just after The Brothers Hawthorne, and in the book after, the Grandest Game, they weren't married. #justiceforAlisa 5/10.

Pain at the Right Gun: Short and disappointing. I don't know what I was expecting, but the fact that Jameson was unconscious gave no information to the reader other than Zara also knowing Alice is alive. 4/10.

All in all, this book was OK. I didn't expect much, and the story of Hannah and Toby was definitely a pleasant surprise. The mini happy moment stories were what I was expecting. But for some books, they seemed to have more of a romantic purpose - but did not meet my expectations.

Other notes:

I'm tired of every man in this entire series being described as essentially perfect. "He looked like he was sculpted and his muscles are so big" or "his amber/green/grey/blue eyes are so majestic and his sharp jawline ever so clenched" (just finished Hannah googling over Toby and now I'm reading Libby googling over Nash as I write). I resist the urge not to roll my eyes every time I read. Do all of them just have 5% body fat, wavy hair, and a 12 pack? Give me a break.

Relating to my point, I find all the characters very fictional. Obviously it is very unrealistic for some homeless teenager to inherit billions of dollars. But I find that the characters are too stereotyped in order to give them some personality.

For example, I found Avery bland in the first couple of books. I think she's somewhat grown, but her personality is very boring. I honestly don't mind, she's still rootable for in my mind. On the other hand, characters like Xander and Gigi are too over exaggerated. I feel like they are these overactive, hyper Nickelodeon characters come to life. I expect a laugh track to play every time they say one of their perky thoughts with an exclamation mark afterwards. I can say this for the majority of the characters in the book. Too many over exaggerated stereotypes of characters in order to prove that these characters have a personality or something that differentiates them from the others (ex. Nash is a cowboy - cowboy hat, drawl).

I wish I liked the characters more. I wish some characters (the forgotten women of the first book) got more scenes.

I think that Toby and Hannah's story was far too important to be included in this book. The rest of the book mostly contained filler stories, meant to satisfy the reader for more content of their favourite character or couple.

I would read this book for The Same Backward as Forward but it is not a need, especially if you aren't a die hard fan or you are not too interested in the characters.

Summary w/ spoilers:

This book is the first part of the second Grandest Game by Avery Grambs. There are eight contestants: Gigi and Savannah Grayson, Rohan, Grayson Hawthorne, Lyra Kane, Odette Morales, Brady Daniels, and Knox Landry.

It rotates Gigi, Rohan, and Lyra's POVs. Lyra is Grayson's mysterious caller in the Brother's Hawthorne. They are all flown out to Hawthorne Island and are given until the evening to explore the island. Three people were given tickets (Odette, Brady, and Savannah) while the other four found them (but it was revealed at the end that Grayson sought out Lyra and gave her a ticket).

Lyra finds trees with her father's name, Thomas/Tomas/other spellings of the name. Her and Grayson share moments of tension, she wants nothing to do with him.

Gigi finds a duffel bag with a used wetsuit, a snorkel, a necklace, and a knife. Knox wants the bag, and she throws it away in the ocean while secretly keeping the knife and the necklace. Her and Odette also overhear Brady and Knox argue about a girl, who they assume is either dead or missing. It appears as if her relationship with Savannah is strained, as Savannah doesn't want to talk to her and seems very locked into the game.

Rohan is confident he'll win, and engages in a fierce fight with Savannah to obtain clues.

In the evening, there is a masquerade turned into a puzzle. They are split into teams of three: Savannah & Rohan, Gigi & Brady & Knox, and Lyra & Grayson & Odette.

All of them are subjected to a bunch of puzzles and are given until dawn to reach the dock in order to continue in the game.

Savannah and Rohan share intense moments while completing the puzzle, with Rohan realizing that he likes her. Savannah reveals that she is competing to take revenge for her father and Rohan (thought not revealing it to her) is competing to prove himself worthy as a Propertier for the Devil's Mercy and if he loses, he is kicked out. Rohan cuts Savannah's hair as part of a dare. Though Savannah is still acting cold towards him, they agree to have an alliance for the rest of the game.

Gigi connects with Brady, while Knox acts cold towards both of them. Brady tells her that they used to be close and both liked a girl, Calla. He thinks Calla was kidnapped, but Knox tells her in secrecy that she left on her own. Brady tells them that he is playing because his mother has cancer. Knox is playing for a sponsor, which is Calla's family, alluding that some other players have sponsors as well. Gigi discovers that the necklace she found is bugged and someone is listening, and that there is someone on the island that is not supposed to be here. When the lights go out, she calls out and someone answers. She later realizes it is Mattias Slater, the bodyguard/Oren for Eve.

In the other room, Lyra and Grayson share even more intense moments, trying to ignore their feelings for each other. Odette reveals she is dying and was the person Tobias Hawthorne was with after Alice Hawthorne had presumably passed away. When Alice returns, Tobias completely drops her. Odette met him as she worked for the law firm that only works for him. Odette experiences a seizure and acknowledges the growing tension between Lyra and Grayson.

Everyone manages to solve their puzzle, but when racing to the dock, Gigi falls and hurts her head. Knox checks on her, but her fall costed her team at competing further. The other two teams make it. Gigi realizes that Brady lied about his mother having cancer. Brady insists that the little moments they had were real, but Gigi feels like she was being used.

Odette voluntarily leaves the game, initially giving her place to Gigi, but when she refuses, she offers it to Brady.

At the end of the book, Rohan and Savannah share a kiss, along with Lyra and Grayson. Edit (forgot this tiny massive detail): Savannah reveals that she is taking revenge on Avery, who she knows killed her father.

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This book had the potential to be very interesting. I am disappointed that it is split into three, with the second one, Glorious Rivals, set to be released soon. I was wondering why it was taking so long to wrap up the puzzle at the dock. I was set with the prediction of who was going to win! FYI, I think it is Lyra.

I am neutral on almost all the characters introduced.

The main problem I have with this book is all the allusions to romance. Our three featured characters were all paired up with someone, with two pairs ending up kissing. As mentioned in my previous reviews, I am not a fan of romance in the Inheritance Games saga. Honestly, I don't think that the author does it well. I find myself rooting for couples in other books, but I don't have a soft spot for any in this series. I feel that the characters could be rooted for in a way that isn't romantic.

Another thing I had a problem with is the puzzles. I have no idea how JLB creates all these puzzles because I was so lost. I had no idea what was going to happen with the random objects and other clues.

I only liked Gigi and Knox (I hated him at first bc of his name, but he redeemed himself at the end). The others were just meh for me. I just wasn't expecting this to be the first of three parts, so this book was definitely a let down and hard to read.

Summary, with spoilers:

Crystal Donovan, the main character, is attending Claflin High, a prestigious private academy, on a scholarship. Her financial situation is far more different than her classmates - including her "friend" group, The Ivies. They consist of Crystal, the so-called leader, Avery, Margot, Emma, and Sierra.

Each of them have been assigned different Ivy League schools to attend. Avery assigned herself Harvard. However, Crystal's dream program is journalism at Harvard, but she is assigned to go to UPenn instead. At early decision (ED) day, unbeknownst to anyone else, she applied to Harvard instead of UPenn. She gets in while Avery is rejected. Crystal is scared to tell the truth, so she confines in Sierra in secrecy. This is because the Ivies have a reputation as being in the mean girls, taking down anyone who gets in their way of getting into their prestigious schools. This means catfishing, sleeping with partners, calling in fake bomb threats, and others.

Emma tells Crystal that she got into Harvard, but Crystal doesn't tell her that she did as well. Emma reveals this to Avery at the ED party, and they get into a physical fight, ending with Avery telling Emma that she will kill her. Crystal leaves after and goes to sleep, drunk, at her shared dorm with Emma. She wakes up from what she assumes is a nightmare, and notices that Emma hasn't returned, despite her sweater that she wore from the party being on her dorm chair. She decides to look for her, going out the window where there is no security cameras. After a bit, Crystal stops searching as Emma is dating Tyler, Avery's new stepbrother, and assumes she is at his dorm.

Crystal wakes up and heads to rowing practice with Sierra in the morning, with Emma still not returned. She discovers Emma's body, facedown in the lake at the rowing facility. Emma was murdered, and Crystal knows it was someone at their school. She teams up with Ethan, her co-editor of the school's newspaper and her crush, to find the murderer. However, with Detective Cataldo is wanting to interrogate all the Ivies, Avery rounds them up and wants them to lie and say they all left the party at the same time. Crystal goes along with it and grows increasingly suspicious of her "friends".

Ethan and Crystal interrogate different suspects throughout the school, all of who Emma wronged while being an Ivy. However, nothing comes through of this.

Crystal finds Emma's burner phone that she used to text her secret lover. Avery eventually finds out that Crystal got into Harvard, and they get into a big fight in front of everyone. Avery reveals to Ethan that they pulled some strings in order for Crystal to be co-editors with him, resulting in him being angry at her. On the same day, there is a candle memorial hosted by a seemingly broken-hearted Tyler, she texts the number and finds out it was Mr. Tipton, a guidance counsellor, who was Emma's secret lover. Mr. Tipton calls her, prompting for him to discover that it was Crystal who found out their secret relationship. He follows Crystal outside and tries to assault her, but is stopped by Detective Cataldo. He is arrested and also assumed to be the murderer of Emma.

Crystal is called back by Detective Cataldo during winter break. Mr. Tipton was being blackmailed into telling someone about their secret relationship, meaning there was someone else involved. She also tells the detective everything she knew and was trying to find behind her back. This includes a SAT scam Emma was running. Students would pay her to take their SATs for them. This included Avery and Margot. She also had male customers, meaning she had a male student working with her. It was revealed to be Tyler, but then someone replaced him.

Ethan is waiting outside the FBI office for Crystal, and they make up. There is a party being hosted by her and Tyler. Most seniors are there, including her former friends, the Ivies, and Ethan. Crystal reveals everything she told Detective Cataldo to Ethan, and he gets upset. He reveals that he was the person who replaced Tyler in the SAT scam, meaning that his college application could be revoked. Crystal storms out of the room, realizing that Ethan could be a possible suspect, as he was closer to Emma than she thought.

Crystal reveals she told Detective Cataldo about the SAT to Margot and Avery, which could jeopardize their applications if the truth got out. After being told off, Crystal goes to the basement and finds Tyler's room. After trying to hide, she is discovered by Tyler. He holds her at gunpoint and reveals that he is the real murderer. He forces her near a lake, but Avery finds them. Tyler attempts to convince Avery to help him kill Crystal, as then the secret about the SAT scam would never get out. She considers it, but turns on Tyler and he is later arrested. Tyler reveals his motive for the murder - he helped Emma become academically successful and he wanted to go to Harvard, but she got in instead. This resulted in him being jealous and killing her.

The book ends with a time jump. It is 1 year and 3 months later. Harvard revoked Crystal's acceptance, and so did all the other colleges she applied to. She suspects it had something to do with Claflin and the message they told to the colleges. She is taking a gap year, working two jobs in her hometown to help pay for her future college's tuition. She is called back for Tyler's trial, and the book doesn't disclose what happens at the end of the trial. There is a documentary being filmed about the case. She learns about the other Ivies - Sierra got into her dream school Yale, Margot had to go to Northwestern after her Ivy League acceptance was revoked, and Avery is at Stanford. Crystal learns she got a full ride into Smith College. She then is interviewed for the documentary and asked if she would join The Ivies if she could start over. She lies and says no, but in her mind, she knows that she will always want their acceptance and she also used them for their privileges. As for Ethan, she realized that she got played as he never revealed that he was part of the SAT scandal, which was framed on Crystal. She knows that he is selfish and she realizes she no longer has feelings for him.

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I liked this book a lot. To be fair, I read it in two days, with most of it being on a day-long road trip. Of course, I always like to include readability as part of my rating, and I found this very readable for me.

I found The Ivies whole mean girl shtick very cringy. It's not the dialogue or anything, but more so the idea. I imagine that when they walk down the hallway, everyone stops and stares to be jealous or admire their power, like in the movies. I've never gone to some fancy schmancy high school surrounded by incredibly rich teenagers, so I guess I'll never know if it's true.

Once again, the main character is not like the others (aka the ones who do more of the wrongdoings). In this case, she is struggling financially, isn't skinny like her friends, and get this - she only wears mascara and blush! She is so not like other girls. I am incredibly tired of this stereotype. I read lots and lots of teen/early YA murder mysteries and the main character always has something that makes them an underdog and more rootable for, and it always has to be pointed out. I will not mention the other books that have the same type of...not disadvantages per se, but things that are looked as in a negative light, and they are often attributes of the main character because I mention them in my previous post!

However, being poor at a prestigious high school such as Claflin High, you are more likely to be bullied than to be pitied, compared to other books where the story takes place in a public high school in some random town in Massachusetts.

Crystal somehow manages to get in the most popular, powerful, and thus, dangerous students at her school. I still don't get how. She is not like them, due to the aforementioned reasons.

I hate Avery. I don't care that the author tried to create a little redemption arc when she was nice to Crystal near the end of the book, or how she helped arrest Tyler. She is nasty like her other minions. Speaking of her minions, why were Sierra and Margot barely relevant? They were quite literally there for some diversity and for other people to be in the "friend" group.

On that note, please recommend me murder mystery books by POC authors! I'm so tired of the Black/Asian (specifically always East Asian) best friends who are practically irrelevant to the story and have their race randomly mentioned because the author feels that it is important to share that no, not all the characters are white, but the important characters are.

I understand that there are some underlying racial issues - that is, in this book, they only care this much when it's a pretty white girl getting murdered, and the incredibly powerful rich white girl who ends up being able to go to a good university, despite everything that occurred.

I am glad the murderer was not Ethan. You always have to suspect the love interest in these type of books, because the MC is too blind to see the suspicions. It was obvious that he was the other dude involved in the SAT scams. Also, it was incredibly obvious that Mr. Tipton was hooking up with Emma.

Because the blurb on the back of the book mentions that someone who got a Harvard acceptance dies, I immediately knew Emma was a goner. I was surprised by how little everyone grieved for her. I mean, they did some shitty things but never tried to kill someone...right? The way they all moved on and Avery hoped that since she died, Harvard would reconsider her??? Crazy.

I really like the ending. I know that Tyler's fate is not decided, and I'm assuming that since he is a rich white male, he'll probably get out scot-free. That is obviously not the part I like.

It's because it is more realistic. Margot doesn't go to ____ (she's so irrelevant I forgot where she wanted to go in the first place), she goes to Northwestern instead. Boohoo. Isn't it the consequences of your own actions. And it's not even that bad of a university. Sierra, who I liked better than the others, was able to go to Yale because she wasn't wrapped up in the whole SAT scam. She gets her happy ending (however, I'm sure Margot is fine because it is mentioned that her family is mega-rich). Avery is also still able to go to Stanford, probably due to her status and connections. The three rich Ivies get their somewhat happy ending.

Crystal, on the other hand, doesn't but not to a full extent. I liked her ending because I don't really like her. I get that there would be no story without her obsessiveness over her roommate's murder, but I found it annoying. Can she be nonchalant for once? It's not like the police/detectives were not being cooperative, they were trying to do their job, but Crystal would attempt to hide evidence and information from them for literally no reason other than her attempting to find the secrets her friends hid from her. I found it surprising that the author wouldn't give her a happy ending to Harvard. Claflin wrote bad shit about her to all universities so she wouldn't be able to be accepted no matter what. I'm confused, did they just let her take the fall because someone had to? Why did they hate her so much, she wasn't as bad as her friends (or was she...). The gap year was fine, in the end she got a full ride to a decent university near Claflin, ironic.

Good riddance to Ethan. I was so confused to all the weird Canadian references (as a fellow Canadian). What is the obsession with his nationality? Is it supposed to be this funny joke? I didn't get it. Anyways, he got into Harvard as well and is sort of happy because the secret of his involvement with the SAT scam is hidden away. Crystal chose not to reveal it, and he did the same. His decision cost Crystal Harvard, but also a chance to date her. I don't think he ever truly liked her. The random remarks about how nice she looked were just a ploy to get her to trust him, so his SAT secret wouldn't be revealed. I enjoy how Crystal shoos him off at the end.

Crystal is crazy. She is attempted to be painted in a different light than the other girls because she experienced struggles none of them will ever be able to. But she is an enabler to their bad actions. Yes, they did a lot of things behind her back. But she knew the current things they did. These are the types of girls that wouldn't hesitate to do it to other girls in her position, and the consequences would be way worse than doing it to some rich student. She used them for their materials (so what, their lipgloss?). Jk. I know it is because it gave her the upperhand in being able to attend some fancy university. But why does it matter so much to these rich girls? Their families status will probably be able to get them an internship at wherever they want.

Summary, with spoilers:

The main character's name is Crystal Donavan and the entire story is in her POV. She is 16 years old and lives with her younger sister, Caelyn, and her mother. Her father is an alcoholic that recently left them, leaving her mother having to work extra shifts as she struggles to pay the mortgage. She is obsessed with these game, MortalDusk, and plays with five other people in her friend group.

They consist of: Akira (her best friend), Randall (Akira's boyfriend), Matty (who has a crush on Crystal), Dylan (who Crystal has a crush on), and Zoey (seems to have a strained relationship with Crystal).

There is a MortalDusk competition occurring, and they have to compete in teams of five, meaning one of them have to sit out. To do so, the group plays MortalDusk and individually try to earn a goal of 20,000 of in-game currency to qualify for their own group. Crystal views Zoey as the one she wants out, as she is one of the weakest players and because of their strained relationship. Crystal discovered that Zoey was cheating in MortalDusk and she also drunkenly kissed Dylan, which is why there is tension between them.

The book provides short chapters from 5 years ago, where the group (excluding Dylan, who joined more recently), was playing together with another kid, Brady. In one of their games, they had to partner up but no one wanted to be his partner, prompting him to leave. Crystal goes to his house, saying that she will be his partner. Later, they end up playing Manhunt and when it is Brady's turn to hide, they never find him. Assuming he left to go home, the group stops looking for him. After Brady went missing, he is discovered a couple days later in a neighbour's shed, deceased. The group lied to the police, saying that he left on his own accord and did not face any consequences.

At school, Crystal receives a video of her sister being tied up and threatened with a knife. She is ordered around and instructed to not tell anyone, or else her sister dies. Her first order is planting a test answer key in a locker, which turns out to be Dylan's. He is eventually suspended, promptly diminishing his dream of going to MIT. Next, she is ordered to make brownies. While they are in the oven, she is instructed to go to a park and make a phone call to 911, essentially SWATting a house.

Her friend group arrives after school at her house. Her brownies are somehow not burnt and they eat them. Matty, who has a nut allergy, eats it and goes into anaphylactic shock, eventually passing away at the hospital. Crystal is shocked, as her house (as far as she knows), is nut-free out of respect for her friend's allergy and knows she did not use it in the recipe the anonymous person gave her. It is revealed that her mother had almond extract for her coffee, and the anonymous person must have snuck into her house while she was out at the park.

When dropping her friends off, it is revealed that Randall's house was the one she SWATted, resulting in his father having a heart attack, but surviving. Knowing that her friends are next, Crystal suspects Celia Ramirez, who she was mean to, after she was rudely rejected from their gaming group, but she is not guilty. She also suspects "Fishman", a rival player from MortalDusk. Crystal ends up going to his house, but he is also found to be innocent. The only other person Crystal knows that has a reason to do all these things to her is Zoey.

However, she is ordered to go to a hiking trail by the anonymous person. When she arrives, she meets Akira, and is told to push her best friend off a cliff. Stunned and unable to come to a decision, Akira takes her phone and sees Caelyn being threatened. However, she slips and falls off the cliff, taking Crystal's phone with her. After getting passerbys to call for help, she leaves to confront Zoey. After doing so, Zoey denies everything.

She eventually realizes that Dylan is the culprit and is Brady's brother getting revenge. After finding him at a house, she tries to go unnoticed. Crystal smells natural gas, meaning that an explosion could occur if a match was struck. She eventually confronts him after being unable to find Caelyn in the basement. Dylan confesses but Crystal is unable to find her sister in the house. Telling Crystal to run, she does so and the house is blown up.

Afterwards, Crystal is confronted by police and her friends. She tries to show proof, but had no recordings of confessions and all the messages that she got sent, including the app it got sent from, were erased. She is thrown into juvenile detention and is there for a couple of days when she gets visited by Zoey. It is revealed that Akira survived the fall, Caelyn never actually got kidnapped and it was a deepfake, and Dylan's body was never found, meaning he escaped. Zoey admits to deleting all the files that were proof of Dylan's crimes. Though it is not shown, it is assumed that Crystal gets out and is proven innocent. The book ends with her feeling sympathy for Andrew, hoping that he is able to find peace elsewhere but she also wants to avenge Matty.

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This was the first time that I can remember where I got the murderer right. This fact made it less enjoyable for me to read. Rule #1 of murder mystery books is to never trust the new guy, especially when there is some deep secret. The flashbacks of this book made it similar to The Bitter End by Alexa Donne.

I am not used to the characters being some video game geeks, as they are usually outcasts who are somehow connected to the popular kids at school. Thus, I found some of their obsession with MortalDusk to be extremely cringy. I also found the writing to be very stereotypical. For example, the end of the flashback chapters were very eye-roll worthy, because they kept alluding to the fact that Crystal regrets asking Brady to be partners, or for him to come back, or that they regret not looking for him, etc. and the point is stretched out far too long.

Crystal is also very frustrating. I understand that she is scared, but she thinks too much! I get that it is also in the writing but for her to go on and on about who she thinks the killer is or whatever is annoying to read knowing that the killer is your damn crush!

I hope that everyone else who read this book realized that Dylan was the killer. Trust me, I do not have the best track record when it comes to this but I knew that I was right. I am not sure if it was done on purpose, but two prime suspects were outlined from the start: Fishman and Zoey. However, they were too obvious because Crystal suspected them as well, and MCs are not supposed to know who the killer is until the near end of the story. As aforementioned, it is usually the new guy. Especially when they have a secret. Not to mention, the anonymous person was tech-savvy as they hacked into her phone to download an app. Whose dream was to go to MIT because he was such a tremendous computer nerd? Dylan.

One last thing that I disliked was Matty's death. As someone who also has a severe nut allergy, I hate when deaths are due to allergic reactions. It is very predictable, and I knew that it would be his demise once it was first mentioned in the beginning of the book. It's because it seems innocent, that they accidentally consumed something with nuts and coincidentally, their EpiPen is not present. It is thought to be a mistake, but eventually is just a well-thought out plot by the murderer(s). So far, this book, The Bitter End, and One Of Us Is Lying includes this death, and I'm sure many more. I also dislike it because it is a possibility that it could happen to me :(

Also, I forgot to mention, but Dylan's real name is Andrew Cullen. He was briefly mentioned in the flashbacks after Crystal went to Brady's house to apologize and get him again. He seemed protective of his little brother but never actively prevented Brady from leaving again. Also, it was revealed that his parents passed away in a car crash. I lowkey understand his crash out, because it must be hard being alone. The revenge was kind of understandable, and thought out because Crystal thought she almost lost her sibling, unlike Andrew/Dylan, who actually did.

I like to rate my books on the readability and pace. I think this book did it exceptionally well, as the way of revenge was fun and exciting. Though I knew who the killer was early on, it kept me on my toes, wondering who else would be a possible victim and when the murderer reveal would occur.