4.5 stars

This book was a wild ride and I loved it. I’ve been meaning to read more thrillers, more murder mysteries, and just haven’t gotten a chance. Reading this brought back that need.

OH MY GOD.

I never, ever expected the killer to be them, of all people! Not in a million years!

First, let me get what I didn’t like out of the way.

Some of the main characters were incredibly disturbing, especially toward the end when more was revealed. I can’t be really specific here, but the journal. You’ll know if you’ve read it. Creepy stuff. I wouldn’t necessarily consider this an issue, except I have to wonder... how was this not noticed before?!

And then there was the whole girls hating girls thing, back again. Bridget didn’t really like anyone. Bailey hated Val and Meg, and the latter was literally never mean to anyone. She was described as super nice, but Bailey absolutely hated her. Kacey’s younger sister Lauren was bullied and excluded by a bunch of girls in her grade. I know that these things fueled the story, but I’m really sick of girls hating girls.

Otherwise, this was a really good book! I liked the small town setting, the unreliable narrator aspect, and the fact that Kacey’s step-family actually cared for her, rather than isolating her. Also, can we talk about how clever this mystery was?! I was second-guessing everyone and everything, and I didn’t want to stop reading. This is definitely the perfect book to binge while your cat is sleeping on your lap. (True story.)

I can’t think of much else to that’s safe to say, so I’ll stop here. I definitely recommend this, and I can’t wait to read more by Kara!