Love hurts...
Makani Young thought she'd left her dark past behind her in Hawaii, settling in with her grandmother in landlocked Nebraska. She's found new friends and has even started to fall for mysterious outsider Ollie Larsson. But her past isn't far behind.
Then, one by one, the students of Osborne Hugh begin to die in a series of gruesome murders, each with increasingly grotesque flair. As the terror grows closer and her feelings for Ollie intensify, Makani is forced to confront her own dark secrets.
Flo's Review
This is going to be an interesting review to write, because my thoughts on this book are not completely in line with each other. I think the headline is that I liked it, and it's a good book, but I didn't love it only because it's not really a genre I usually and thoroughly enjoy? It was clever and I had fun talking about it with my friends, but I definitely didn't love it.
Let's start with the romance. Makani and Ollie are perfect for each other. Both are broken, but they are similarly broken; and their cracked and hollow spaces are filled by each other. Stephanie reassured her readers that this was still a Stephanie Perkins book, with all the romance involved, and she was right. Ollie is no Etienne St. Clair, but let's be honest -- no one can compare to Etienne St. Clair. (Rhyme on purpose.)
The mystery was laid out in a interesting way. I don't want to spoil it, but Stephanie set it up the plot line uniquely, and I respect that. It worked. It definitely threw me off and had me questioning. Actually, she did that twice. You go, girl!
It's weird, even though it starts off with the action right away, I still felt like it took awhile for me to get into. I felt like there was such a gap between the first and second murders. I understand that you needed some context and story building ... but maybe because I was listening to this on audio, it felt like that part went on a little long.
Makani has a secret of her own in this book. When I finally learned what it was, it felt a little....anticlimactic. But literally as I am typing, I am realizing that it's supposed to be that way. The whole 'how you see yourself versus how other people see you' thing, and the ensuing character growth for Makani.
So...yeah. I probably wasn't going to read this one on my own, so I am happy that I listened to it with friends while road tripping to YALLFEST. If mysteries are your thing, you should definitely give this one a read.
The ending was the best part. Such a good mystery book about psychotic murderer. The development of the characters throughout the book makes this piece of literature that much better.
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