J's Musings

 By Karen M. McManus

Book Review by Janhavi

When the outsider, “Simon”, has a gossip website where your deepest darkest secrets are likely to be posted. How far will you go to protect them?

I read this a month ago and my immediate impression was “wow, this is cool”. I felt like a fish caught on a hook, unable to leave. The beginning was engaging and the entirety of it was…well, fine, to sum it up.

The book brings all the stereotypes into a pack, all with fingers raised at them. Because that, reveals everything about a person. When a jock, princess, nerd and criminal are found falsely put in detention, with a dead body present by the end. Who will be considered guilty? Or will it be all of them?

The plot was genius. And very well done in the first part. The middle felt a bit dragged, without many secrets. It was a build up to the climax, for sure, but it wasn’t as exciting as it could have been. The beginning had many revelations and surprises. The end had a lot of drama. The middle was just, any other teen book. Gossip and friends and more.

The characters make up a lot of the plot and are creatively structured. We have the 4 typical archetypes, the nerd [Bronwyn] who wants to go to Yale. The criminal [Nate] who is one misstep away from a lifetime of jail. The jock [Cooper] who lives for baseball and has it all. The princess [Addy] who has the perfect face, the perfect life and the perfect boyfriend. But when one of them is lying, who can trust who? Karen takes all these stereotypes, and forms these real people out of them. Messy, reachable, understandable and honest. Out there in the open, no one is safe or good.

I personally though it was a good read, with an easy pace and easier writing. The book narrates in first person perspective, with multiple narrators. Following the main characters through the mystery is fun, but not particularly remarkable. It’s nothing very different or grand, but it has a thrill and can keep one on the edge of their seat. If you don’t mind a book that you cant remember a long time after reading, but can just have fun with it. This is the book for you.

My overall rating for this book is: 3.5/5

Picture Credits: autumngirly13 on Pinterest