I liked this a bit better than the first one - there was more action and less backstabbing over boyfriends, which I appreciated. Shane is still far and away my favourite of the bunch, with runner-up going to Brandi's little sister Raven, who is pretty awesome herself. I continue to dislike Marisa, though - beautiful but humble my arse.

The increase in action here is due to a kidnapping, and I don't think I'm giving away any spoilers there considering what the title of the book is. I did like that the kidnapping wasn't sexualised, though. I don't enjoy reading about sexual abuse so I'm glad there was another motive (she says, trying not to give anything away). I did side-eye the resolution a bit, because surely there were other ways to convince the adults of the existence of the drive-by car. I can think of several off the top of my head, but given the kids were already brushed off by the cops once, I can understand that, in context, they may not feel the police were that interested in solving the disappearance of a young black girl. Besides which, you know, it allows for more action rather than staying home while adults do the work, which is far less exciting to read! I also liked that Shane's belief in Raven allowed her to explore her investigative skills further (without actually beating readers over the head with the fact that that's what she was doing). It was a nice subtle carry-over from her journalist aspirations in the first book, and is yet another reason why Shane's my favourite.