After reading this book, I have concluded that I can read anything Holly Jackson writes. I may love or hate her books in the end, but they are all books that hooked me in and had me binge-reading late into the night.
About the book
18-year-old Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mom’s mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished, and young Bel was the only witness, but she had no memory of it. Rachel is gone, long presumed dead, and Bel wishes everyone would move on.
However, the case is dragged up from the past when the Price family agrees to a true crime documentary. Bel can’t wait for filming to end and life to return to normal. And then the impossible happens. Rachel Price reappears, and life will never be normal again.
Rachel has an unbelievable story about what happened to her. Unbelievable because Bel isn’t sure it’s real. If Rachel is lying, then where has she been all this time? And – could she be dangerous? With the cameras still rolling, Bel must uncover the truth about her mother and discover why Rachel Price returned from the dead.
~Synopsis from GoodReads
My Review
This book was fun to read. I started off not liking Bel as a character. She was mean and sometimes a jerk, and she totally got on my nerves, but as I read on, I loved her character growth. She’s an extremely well-written, rounded character with flaws that aren’t easily hideable or easy to work around.
The suspense and the family dynamics was good, but somewhere along the way, I felt the middle part of the book was a bit too baggy. There was a romance, which was completely unnecessary but also had zero chemistry. The banter between Bel and her love interest Ash felt forced. I really liked Ash as a character, but his niceness did not play well against Bel’s meanness.
The ending was cheesy, unrealistic, and convoluted. In real life, the characters would never have gotten away with what they did. Still, I thought the suspense was good. I definitely did not guess the whodunnit. But I would have preferred a less dramatic and over-the-top ending.
Still it was a good book, although not as good as A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.
