this was better than i expected it to be! i went in thinking this would be a low three stars, as most young adult mysteries are for me. i tend to pick up a decent number of them, but i hardly ever find myself loving them, or even particularly surprised and compelled by them. this was my first book by this author, but i was definitely impressed. while i didn't find the mystery groundbreaking or super exciting, i did feel the plot was solid and well-crafted. it played into several cliched tropes and topics that come up a lot in young adult murder mysteries, or even novels that take place in high school, but that didn't bother me too much, because that's much of what i expect from a book like this one. overall, i was impressed and surprised by the quality of this novel, both writing and plot wise. it's not the kind of book i will remember for very long, but i do think it's worth the read if it's something you're interested in.