I don’t know where to start with this review. I was super excited to read a book that was a
perfect mashup of “Pretty Little Liars” and “Riverdale” but this book did not
live up to my expectations or hopes. Don’t
get me wrong, the actual writing style of the book was great and Thomas does
something that I think is hard to achieve when writing YA novels- she writes in
a realistic and mature way. It didn’t
feel juvenile in the least. However, the
content and the way the story played out was just not compelling.
In an attempt to make this novel a mystery, Thomas jumps
from witness to witness, and some chapters are narrated by different characters. I had a harder time following along with each
successive chapter (and come on…that says a lot for someone who watched all 7
seasons of Pretty Little Liars). By the
end of the book I wasn’t 100% sure about who was who, and it seemed like a far
stretch with how everything was tied together.
And the ending? Don’t get me started
with the ending. While it was slightly
unrealistic and out of nowhere, it was mostly just random. And not in a good way. Yes, sometimes it’s great to have mystery
novels end on a surprising note. But
this ending just seemed like it wasn’t well thought-out. Characters that make a big appearance at the
end of the book aren’t written into the body of the novel enough to make it a
satisfying ending.
In conclusion, I had this on my list of books to read for
about a year. And in truth, I’m not mad
that I spent a week reading this book, but I wouldn’t recommend this read to
anyone else.
