I don't know about you, but when I solve the plot of a whodunit at approximately fifty percent in, I get up and dance and toast my brilliance. It doesn't happen often, but it IS happening more frequently which means I am starting to figure this shit out. And that doesn't mean that the book let me down, by the way. On the contrary, I was paying attention all the way through to see if I was right and there were a few times where I was like, "Huh, maybe I'm wrong." But no. I was right and when I got to the end and saw how it all went down, I was like over the moon. So y'all will have to tell me if you figured it out too and if it was that easy and I am really dumb, okay? Haha!But, that just goes to show you how much I loved this book. I was riveted to the pages. And no, technically it is not perfect. The writing is a little uneven, especially at the beginning. The dialogue is a little wonky and a bit ridiculous and there is a bit of skipping that made me roll my eyes. Characters do not skip or bound down the hallway without me snort-laughing. The rest of it is tightly plotted though and I was really into this reading experience. In some ways this is a typical thriller with a protagonist, a crime, and a cast of probable suspects, but it's a bit more than that. It's a little more sophisticated even though it does have a linear story arc. There is more imagery, more character development (though I would have liked more from Chloe's character). If you are a fan of the Christopher Pike and Lois Lowry books of the 90s, if you remember those reading days as fond ones, reading Fear Street novels and Richie Tankersley Cusick, then you will most likely enjoy this. I like figuring things out, and I had a hell of a time with this book.Maybe I am giving it an extra star for making me feel like a smarty pants, but I did like the protagonist, and there is something to be said for a reading experience that gives you a lot of fun. That's what reading should be, and there were times during this book when I threw my technical judgments aside and just enjoyed the love of reading, which is really hard for me to do these days since I started editing. And for an author to make me do that? I have to reward them for making me lose my reading ADD as well.Definitely recommend this one to readers who like books like this. And readers looking for a little bit of nostalgia, because I think you will find it here.
