can i just say ive never guessed a killer so quickly. 96 pages in and i guessed it. pretty proud of myself for that one. 

anyways um this book to me perfectly encapsulates booktok. not in a bad way. i mean this in a nice way i swear

it’s got plot twist galore, thrilling scenes, cute charm, humour, suspense, mixed media, and a smidge of romance.

but why oh why is it only a 3 star then?

i got bored.

man this book reads like a YA. it’s a heavy YA-leaning book.

not saying that’s a bad thing! i also knew it was a YA going in so i can’t blame ignorance like i do in every other review (/lh). but yeah u can really tell this is a YA.

it kinda reminded me of my year 8 mystery novel where i had to write a complex murder. mind u i only got 70% and i wrote a wonderful story about a missing lia atsni dying of exsanguination. yeah i used that word at 14 and what. anyways i mean that to say is that this book is quite juvenile. i mean that’s ok but with how people rant & rave about it (side eyeing u alastair & lily) it was….. ok! it wasn’t outright bad but it wasn’t a masterpiece. and that’s ok not every book is meant to be like that. but i think because i had this hyped up to me my hopes were too high?

like seriously i know this book was more complex than just one clear cut killer but…. i guessed it <100 pages in. 

i don’t know if that’s a good thing or not for a general reading audience but i don’t like being correct with my guesses because i always guess someone out of left field.

granted i also could just be goated at guessing killers in fiction because i guessed the killer in the movie “happy death day” (2017) about 30 minutes in so do what you will with that information.

this is kind of a ramble but that’s to say i can’t actually pin point anything specific that sucked or excelled in this book! i mean i can defo say the “confession” flopped so hard. but also i like that pip is lowkey fire ass autistic representation. i don’t even know if she was consciously written like that but idc.

um anyways i will be reading the rest of the series but my ass will not be buying them. this was a perfectly average book. it does not spark joy. it is marie kondo’ing out of my house tomorrow (aka entering facebook marketplace)