2/5

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Becca is a 17 year old farm girl whose best friend, Rose, just died of apparent suicide. She's devastated and grieving, and that is only exacerbated by Rose's brother's return to town. Becca has had a crush on Ben for years now, but when she tried to make her move 2 years ago, Ben rebuffed her. She's hated him ever since. Ben always viewed Becca as his little sister's friend... until that night 2 years ago when he realized he had feelings for her, but wasn't nearly good enough to be her guy.

Now years later, they're both struggling to believe that Rose died by suicide. Surely something else must be going on. From here, Becca and Ben strive to figure out what could have happened to Rose that night while also struggling with what they feel for one another.

This book..... didn't do it for me. I felt uncomfortable with how romance-heavy it was. I mean, Ben-- your sister just died for goodness sake. Stop thinking about kissing her friend and focus on grieving in a healthy way. The mystery itself was *fine*. Nothing too horrible; nothing too special. But it did seem to have entirely too many twists and turns that just didn't really make sense or feel necessary. I wanted to know how the story would end, but I didn't really enjoy the journey to get there.

**SPOILERS*****

I also had a hard time suspending my disbelief at just how ridiculous everything is. Rose gets into an affair with Becca's ex-boyfriend's dad (Leaf)? But gets knocked up by Becca's ex? Because he was blackmailing her??? And this all just goes unnoticed by every single person in town?

Plus let's not forget Leaf trying to kill Becca and then just... running away? And then her getting beaten up several times for a warning? And her ex's best friend just randomly getting killed? And Ben getting amnesia?

It's all just too absurd, even for a YA novel