Real teens with a perfect scary vibe

Lara Reims is one of my favourite local authors and when I saw this book was being released, I knew I had to get my hands on it. I requested a digital arc and I'm really happy that Hamley Books granted me one!

This is an amazing YA and I'm pretty sure teens will love it even more than I did. That's firstly because the teens in this book feel like actual teens. Our heroine does some really reckless stuff, sometimes acts without thinking, makes mistakes and does the wrong thing to make up again. She's learning. She's growing. And the growth eventually shows when she does the only thing she can do at the very end of the book.

I also love the vibe of this book! It's exactly the right kind of scary. It has one-and-a-half feet firmly in our world. It feels like this could happen to everybody. This could happen in your hometown. This could happen to you. I also like how in this case the killing isn't even the worst part. I think this book does a great job coming up with something worse than dying. Something that changes you forever. Something that keeps you from being you.

The finale of this book was also thrilling. At some point I had an inkling of what was going on. I've read too many books not to recognize the puzzle pieces and fit them into a whole. It gave this book something bittersweet. There are not many books making me understand so well why the villain of the story does what they do. There are not that many books, especially not YA books, blurring the lines between good and evil, showing that good intentions can end really badly.

I can't wait for the next Lara Reims book!