carolesrandomlife

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.

Every once in a while a book that is a joy to read ends up in your hands. This was one of those books. Initially this book completely escaped my notice but then I started seeing some really great reviews for it from a lot of different people. I saw a bandwagon and decided to jump on. I am so glad that I did. This book was such a surprise for me. I hoped that I would like it but I never expected to love it. Once I got about midway through the book, I didn't put it down until I turned the last page.

The characters in this story are great. I had hoped that I would like the characters when I started reading this book. I never dreamed for a moment that I would love them. The four main characters at the heart of this book are all very different from each other and I really felt like I got to know them over the course of the book. There were times that I felt like the book was really focusing on one character more than the others but then the focus would move on to the next character for a while. I really enjoyed getting to know all four members of the group.

This book starts out in detention. Simon, Bronwyn, Addy, Cooper, and Nate are the only students in detention that day but after a terrifying emergency only four students ever get to leave. Simon is rushed to the hospital where he later dies. The authorities think that one or all of the other students might be responsible for his death since Simon was about to reveal big secrets about each person on his gossip blog.

The mystery in this book was really very well done. I had no idea what happened to Simon. I would come up with a theory only to realize that I had to be wrong soon after. I was literally guessing until the end of the book. I also really felt for each of the characters as their secrets were revealed. All four really go through a major life change during the course of this book.

I would highly recommend this book to others. This was a very smartly written story that was next to impossible to put down. I am very impressed by the fact that this is the first book written by Karen M. McManus. I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

I received an advance reader edition of this book from Random House Children's - Delacorte Press via NetGalley.

Initial Thoughts
I can't even believe how good this book was! I liked the whole thing but the ending really got to me. I cannot believe that this is the first book the Karen McManus wrote.