3.5 stars

I enjoyed this book, but it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped it would be.

To start, this was a really entertaining read. I found myself speeding through it, wanting to know more. It had the proper intensity of a murder mystery, but a slower pace that I think was more realistic regarding a police investigation.

I loved all of the main characters. I’m excluding Simon from this, because he was dead in the first chapter and also he was a huge jerk. But otherwise, I loved everyone. Bronwyn, Nate, Addy, and Cooper were all fierce, smart, kind-hearted, and facing their own challenges. I was cheering them on, and I felt their setbacks on a personal level. I liked the side characters (well, most of them) and how they were developed, rather than left on the sidelines just to move the story along.

Alongside the mystery, there were a lot of relationships I found myself attached to: Bronwyn and her sister, Addy and her sister, Bronwyn and her boyfriend (they’re the cutest™!), and the murder squad’s* friendship.

*the name given to Bronwyn, Nate, Addy, and Cooper. I find it very amusing.

Even though I wasn’t a fan of any parental figures in this book, I appreciated that each character had parents present in some form, to some degree. Siblings were also included, and Bronwyn and Addy had real connections to their respective sisters, which I really liked.

I had two big issues with this book. The first one was prominent throughout most of the story; Addy and Jake were dating, but Jake was an extremely controlling boyfriend. I took note of several examples, all of them around or before the halfway point. Jake wanted Addy to change into a cuter outfit. He made sure she had “fancy” lingerie before they had sex for the first time. (This happened off-page, prior to the story.) After Addy’s confession, he says he “treated her like a queen,” and she doesn’t object. He was so dominant that she didn’t know what to do with herself after he broke up with her, and for a significant while believed she was nothing. I was so proud of Addy when she started to stand up for herself and decided she didn’t need another boyfriend, despite her mother’s arguments.

And on that note, after their break up, Jake does nothing to stop Addy’s former friends from shutting her out completely, and slut-shaming her. I know she made a mistake, but girls shaming other girls gets really old, really fast.

The second thing relates to Cooper being gay. His sexuality doesn’t bother me at all. What does bother me was the extent of his father’s horrible homomisia, before and after Cooper came out. The other bad thing is that, during their investigations, the police outed Cooper to the entire school, and outside of the murder squad, only three or four people supported him. So if you’re queer and you want to read this, just be careful.

I thought the mystery aspect of this book was intriguing, and I kept changing my theory on who the killer was. I think I suspected everyone at some point, no matter how brief, except the actual killer. The reveal took me completely by surprise, though it wasn’t what I’d hoped for. It made for an exciting ride, but a bit of a disappointing end.

Speaking of disappointing ends, I wish the epilogue had been a bit more detailed. I liked where all the characters ended up, but I wish I had more. I want more. *insert The Little Mermaid gif*

All in all, I enjoyed this book, despite the problems I had with it. If you’re on the fence about reading this, I recommend giving it a try! 😊