I did think this would be a five star read. But four stars isn't a bad result.
The writing was easy enough to get into. It was fast paced and gripping.
Although it did take me until halfway to really captivate me. I was enjoying the first half just something was missing.
Ryker was clearly that something missing.
The ending was good. It gives hope that change can happen. It leaves it open for a possible sequel. For me the ending can mean multiple things. I'm interested to see which one the author was going for.
Ryker really captured my heart. He was secretly a softie. He would do anything to protect the ones he loves. I needed more from him. I'm also sad for him.

I was putting off this book for some reason. But when I did actually pick it up I found it pretty easy to get into. I actually didn't want to put it down. That being said the first handful of chapters read like a list (I did this, then I did this, next I did this), but I started to wonder why. Was the character setting up an alibi?
Part One:
This part was in the fathers POV. I started to theorize that maybe he was involved. Or that maybe things he was accused of did happen but his blocked them out of his memory to protect himself. Something wasn't right about him and his behaviour.
Part Two:
This was Stella's POV. Which was the POV I was most interested in hearing. What I found interesting was how Shirine (her psychologist while in prison) had her read books that all followed a similar theme. Something Stella could relate to. But without Stella really knowing what she was doing.
During this part I felt maybe I was wrong about her dad. Maybe it was someone else. Someone who it made sense as the story developed.
Part Three:
Her mums POV was the only one where someone new wasn't added to me suspect list.

What I loved about this book is that I found myself questioning my theories every part. There was 3 or 4 people who could have easily been guilty. None of them would have shocked me in the end. But I did find myself unsure up until the epilogue.

I went into this knowing the basics. But enough that I was intrigued. I wanted to know was Kyra's death more suspicious than the town let on.
Although I was getting through this quick enough I still felt something was missing. I was struggling to connect with the characters.
By halfway I was more interest. I felt so sorry for Kyra. I just wanted to protect her. Take her away from that town.
This is such a heartbreaking story. Discovering how Kyra felt and how she was treated by an entire town of people.
The whole town filled with delusional people who never cared for a girl who needed help, needed someone to love her and put her needs first. Instead of treating her the way they did.
Kyra deserved better.

The writing threw me off at times. I liked the diary entries and the letters. Adding Kyra's voice was an important part of this. But the random parts what were like someone describing a scene (idk how to really describe what the chapters were) but those pages just did nothing for me. I don't think it added anything.

I did manage to complete this in one afternoon/evening. Which surprised me. I had assumed it would take me longer. But everytime I was going to put it down I decided just one more chapter. That ended up being the rest of the book. So I guess it gripped me more than I thought.

I will be checking out future work by Marieke. She discusses such important topics. I'm interested in what she discusses next.

Going into this expected an intense and heartbreaking read a book that I have to take breaks from just because the topic is distressing. This is exactly what I got.

An early chapter/part of a chapter in the POV of a short got me wondering. What was the motive behind this? Why did he target a school? Where so many innocent children will be affected.

I don't want to say this was easy to get into since it's such a distressing story. But I found myself not wanting to put it down. I needed to know how many survived. I needed to know why this was happening.

I soon had some ideas of at least one of the shooters involved. Just something about how he was spoken about just wasn't right. The more we learnt the more it made sense for this character to be involved. I ended up being right.

Overall this book was intense. At times I felt like I needed a break. Just a moment to breathe again. But at the same time I wanted to carry on reading to know how it ends.

By the end I was holding back tears. I never cry at books but this got to me. At one point I felt like for a moment to stopped breathing. My heart hurt knowing this is a reality way too often.

I went into this knowing very little. But I prefer going into mystery thrillers knowing as little as possible.
I didn't expect it to be such a quick read. But I found once I started I didn't want to put it down. From the first chapter you have questions just like Seraphina.
I liked that there was alternate chapters. From present day with Seraphina to past, 1991/1992, with Laura, the au pair, straight away. It made you wonder things. You get to see things build up before Seraphina speaks to Laura.
The more I read the more intrigued I became. I wondered if maybe murder was involved. Some things just made it seem that way.
The twist at the end I should have at least partly guessed. But it was also messy. Yet I liked it. I think in a weird way it made sense.
I would love to read more by Emma. Her writing kept me interested the entire time. I never wanted to put the book down. Even at times it felt like I'd read a similar book I still was intrigued to find out the reveal. I felt it wasn't going to let me down and I was right.