2.5 stars rounded up - clumsy story with plotholes
This had a great setup--locked door mystery, glamorous 1920s-themed graduation party, a murder where literally everyone had a motive--but even with my expectations lowered for a YA, I was still sadly let down by this. I don't like getting super negative...but I do owe a review to BookishFirst.
*
To start off, it just tried way too hard to set up a red herring with the prologue. And then teasing throughout about this secret that Izzy, the main character is carrying around. And ultimately, when the secret is finally revealed and we get the explanation for Izzy's behavior...it's just really illogical and clumsy.
*
The plot also felt somewhat lazy, in the way it set up for Izzy to learn about the entire investigation.
*
I also had a really hard time believing this set up for high-schoolers (or recent grads.) I think if this was a company retreat or something it would be easier to believe, but the amount of time and money needed for a teenager was hard to believe, even with the references to her parents' money and her own interest in costume design.
*
There was a twist I enjoyed, which got me almost to 3 stars. It was also a fast read. But unless you're really into fairly simple YA mysteries, I wouldn't recommend this.
*
To start off, it just tried way too hard to set up a red herring with the prologue. And then teasing throughout about this secret that Izzy, the main character is carrying around. And ultimately, when the secret is finally revealed and we get the explanation for Izzy's behavior...it's just really illogical and clumsy.
*
The plot also felt somewhat lazy, in the way it set up for Izzy to learn about the entire investigation.
*
I also had a really hard time believing this set up for high-schoolers (or recent grads.) I think if this was a company retreat or something it would be easier to believe, but the amount of time and money needed for a teenager was hard to believe, even with the references to her parents' money and her own interest in costume design.
*
There was a twist I enjoyed, which got me almost to 3 stars. It was also a fast read. But unless you're really into fairly simple YA mysteries, I wouldn't recommend this.