Pip is a character that is on a mission. That is pretty much all we get from her. There are barely any layers, if there are they are just skimmed over. Sure, she is a big sister and a friend, and all those kinds of things but all we are getting of her is this quest to prove Sal as innocent and find the real murderer of Andie. There is a moment at the end of the book that seems to be showing that Pippa herself is aware of her tunnel vision and that she does not know who she is outside of being a workaholic. Sure, she is self aware with a quarter left of the book but honestly I believe this to be a quick excuse for the lack of character development. I did not feel a connection towards her. All of this sounds a bit harsh but I actually did not dislike Pip and the cast of characters… they just lacked development.
This is a good fall read to kick off the spooky season. I would even say it is borderline dark academia for those who like that sphere of literature. As for the writing, I devoured this writing style. It was fast paced, short chapters and an accessible way of words. I was easily reading over a hundred pages a day with this one. It is easy to believe the author is British though as there were some terms that American teenagers aren’t saying such as fancying someone. Other pieces of dialogue were unrealistic.
The story reminded me of the thrillers that I was reading when I was getting into reading as a young adult. It was really fun to get back to that. I also found that I love to annotate thrillers as I am trying to unravel the mystery with the characters. I did predict who our killer was quite early on but I was coming up with so many other theories throughout my time reading that I did not think this person could actually be the one. That being said, I was not too terribly shocked with how the story wrapped up and none of the plot twists had my jaw on the floor. I did enjoy reading the book and I do think the progression of the mystery and all its twists and turns did make for a logical story and nothing was ever too out there. (Except for some of that cringey dialogue or lenient parents). This is a good book, a good palette cleanser and I would recommend it.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Izzy Reads 