About the Book
-
Author:
- Gabriella Lepore
- Genres:
- Contemporary
- Mystery
Cover Story: Face the Facts
Drinking Buddy: Spring Break!
MPAA Rating: R (language, sexuality, alcohol)
Talky Talk: That’s a Lot of Characters
Bonus Factor: And Then There Were None
Bromance Status: Bad Like Us II: The Revenge
Cover Story: Face the Facts
Unsettling, and I like the flame as the letter I. Still, I don’t care for being shown what the people in the book look like, and one of those kids wasn’t really a main character.
The Deal:
Nine friends decide to spend spring break at a remote cabin on the Oregon coast, owned by one of the kid’s uncle. Days of drinking, partying, and who knows?
Eva, one of the POV characters, is crushing hard on the other POV character, Colton, and the feelings are mutual. But not all is well. Colton’s twin brother Danny used to date annoying blogger Piper, but she dumped him and then dumped on him online. And now she’s here with her new boyfriend, Javier. Everyone swears that it’s all water under the bridge. High flying student Miles has been kicked out of school for academic dishonesty. But it seems so unlike him! The twins are having issues with their mother. Everyone needs a some time to relax, to swim, to decompress.
And then one of the kids shows up dead. Was it an accident? Or was it something sinister? The remoteness of the cabin means it had to have been one of the survivors. So who had a motive? Who was alone with the victim? Who’s hiding something?
Drinking Buddy: Spring Break!
I liked these kids, but there was nothing that really stood out about any of them. Piper, the influencer, was desperately annoying, constantly blogging about her friends’ personal problems, and interrupting Colton and Eva when they’re about to connect. Javier gets jealous and possessive when he thinks Danny is trying to win Piper back…and may not be wrong. Something had to give, but no one expected it to be someone’s neck.
MPAA Rating: R (language, sexuality, alcohol)
All I can say is that Piper must rival Helen of Troy. Every guy is smitten with her, and yet, she just strikes me as really irritating. As for the rest, they’re typical teens, with the normal gossip, fights, and crushes. Until someone really gets crushed.
So why did the victim have a recording of them saying ‘I know what you did!’ to someone on their phone? Why did Piper text Eva that enigmatic question on the way to the cabin? Who really left that note to Piper? Why were the twins so angry with their mother? Is Miles really a cheater?
Talky Talk: That’s a Lot of Characters
So with nine characters and two POVs, it took me nearly a third of the book just to get everyone straight in my head. It’s easy to fall in love with your creations as an author, but for your reader, it’s just going to be a lot of names and hair colors thrown at you at once. We could have done with one or two fewer suspects.
As for Eva and Colton, they were kids who’d been hurt, but not in a way that jumps off the page at you. And quite frankly, each of these characters had the right to punch someone else in the face, for reasons unconnected to the murder. And yet, everyone just kind of lets it go.
Bonus Factor: And Then There Were None
We’re all familiar with the classic Agatha Christie story, where the murders take place at an isolated location, and the culprit must be one of a dwindling group of suspects. The book exploits that theme nicely. So which of the eight did it? And why?
By the way, the resolution was absolute garbage, but I can’t elaborate without giving away the ending.
Bromance Status: Bad Like Us II: The Revenge
The book wasn’t great, but I think the author has talent and I’ll pick up the next thing she publishes.
Literary Matchmaking
Shawn Sarles’s Campfire is another ‘trapped with an unknown murderer’ book.
As is The Troop by Nick Cutter.
Or Sarah Jude’s The May Queen Murders.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, but no money or watertight alibi.
