Quick Stats
Age Rating: 14+
Overall: 4 stars
Characters: 4.5/5
Plot: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing:4/5
TW: racism, suspense, bullying, homophobia, forced outing, death, PTSD
First of all—can we talk about that cover???? I’m obsessed! It’s absolutely stunning.
As for the actual book—I… wow. I don’t read a lot of thrillers, but I’m so glad I grabbed this one. It was so good! Twisty, private school mysteries are definitely my favorite genre of thriller, and this one did not disappoint. It was a lot heavier than I expected, because it felt more real in a lot of ways. This isn’t a typical murder mystery set in a prep school. The things it dealt with—racism, homophobia, cyberbullying, etc—are things that happen all the time in real life. Yes, they were embellished because it’s a thriller, but it still felt a lot more real than the average prep school thriller, and that made it a lot harder-hitting.
There were definitely some things in the story that I felt weren’t adequately covered. Like Devon’s dad. That felt out of place with the story. It was really interesting, but it was such a serious topic, and something that just felt like it needed to be explored, talked about, thought about more. It felt like it just got a throw away chapter randomly, and I think that it deserved more, but I also feel like, within this book, that issue couldn’t have been done justice because everything else was so big and chaotic. Similarly, Chi’s sexuality felt oddly thrown in there, and I feel like it could have used a little more exploring and internal thoughts directed towards it.
Some little side plots and subplots like that felt like they didn’t get closure. The book just felt like it ended too soon. I would have liked a few more chapters to sort everything out.
However, I still think it was a really well written, hard hitting, and immersive debut and I can’t wait to read more from Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé!
Age Rating: 14+
Overall: 4 stars
Characters: 4.5/5
Plot: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing:4/5
TW: racism, suspense, bullying, homophobia, forced outing, death, PTSD
First of all—can we talk about that cover???? I’m obsessed! It’s absolutely stunning.
As for the actual book—I… wow. I don’t read a lot of thrillers, but I’m so glad I grabbed this one. It was so good! Twisty, private school mysteries are definitely my favorite genre of thriller, and this one did not disappoint. It was a lot heavier than I expected, because it felt more real in a lot of ways. This isn’t a typical murder mystery set in a prep school. The things it dealt with—racism, homophobia, cyberbullying, etc—are things that happen all the time in real life. Yes, they were embellished because it’s a thriller, but it still felt a lot more real than the average prep school thriller, and that made it a lot harder-hitting.
There were definitely some things in the story that I felt weren’t adequately covered. Like Devon’s dad. That felt out of place with the story. It was really interesting, but it was such a serious topic, and something that just felt like it needed to be explored, talked about, thought about more. It felt like it just got a throw away chapter randomly, and I think that it deserved more, but I also feel like, within this book, that issue couldn’t have been done justice because everything else was so big and chaotic. Similarly, Chi’s sexuality felt oddly thrown in there, and I feel like it could have used a little more exploring and internal thoughts directed towards it.
Some little side plots and subplots like that felt like they didn’t get closure. The book just felt like it ended too soon. I would have liked a few more chapters to sort everything out.
However, I still think it was a really well written, hard hitting, and immersive debut and I can’t wait to read more from Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé!