Author: Jane Casey
Series: Book One in the Jess Tennant Series
Published By: St. Martin's Press (August 26, 2014)
Source: ARC Copy Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
Genre: YA Mystery
My Rating: 3.5 Stars!
Book Description:
Sixteen-year-old Jess Tennant has never met any of her relatives, until her mom suddenly drags her out of London to spend the summer in the tiny English town where her family’s from. Her mom’s decision is surprising, but even more surprising is the town’s reaction to Jess. Everywhere she goes, people look at her like they’ve seen a ghost. In a way, they have—she looks just like her cousin Freya, who died shortly before Jess came to town.
Jess immediately feels a strange connection to Freya, whom she never got to meet alive. But the more Jess learns about the secrets Freya was keeping while she was alive, the more suspicious Freya’s death starts to look. One thing is for sure: this will be anything but the safe, boring summer in the country Jess was expecting.
This book has been described as an unputdownable YA thriller and I have to say, that is probably a pretty accurate description of it.
I quickly found myself immersed in the world that Casey had created. One filled with the death of a young girl and the mystery surrounding it, all set in a small town in England.
This really was a great read, whether or not it could be called a thriller, is debatable however but, what it was, was a really good mystery that was pretty suspenseful at times and left me turning the pages until the very end.
It was never quite clear to the reader the real reason behind Freya's accident, murder or possible suicide but instead one was left with multiple guesses and options as to not lonely what really happened but why.
Even towards the end of the story you are left knowing that it isn't over, that there is more to it. We may have gotten some answers but not all of them and I honestly couldn't tell if that bothered me or not.
I didn't go into this one knowing that this was only book one of a planned series, which explained why so much was still up in the air.
Whether or not I could live with the ending, while still debatable, what this did leave me with was that urge we all get after finishing a story left unfinished was the urge to have to have the next book.
There is just so much more to Will's father and Jess' mom and I want to know it all and I wanted to know it all in this book and was somewhat disappointed that I didn't get it. Which of course, leave me without a doubt that I will be picking up the next book because I truly must know it all. I need to uncover the whole town's secrets, every single last one of them.
*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*
I haven't heard of this one but it seems like a really good mystery. I really hope you'll get the next book soon to find answers to your questions. Great review, Ali :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Tanja!
DeleteOh this one completely skipped my radar but it sounds so interesting i'm going to have to read it when it comes out! An unpoutdownable thriller? Sign me up!
ReplyDeleteI hope you like it Lily!
Delete"Unputdownable." Love it!
ReplyDeleteI like a good thriller and I haven't read a lot of YA but it's intriguing. I should try too! thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteI hope you do!
DeleteOooooo, I want!! This sounds awesome, I'm a hopeless sucker for mysteries xDDD Though the series thing would bug me, I mean, the mystery isn't solved in the novel? Might want to wait for all of them to be out before I dive in...
ReplyDeleteSome of it is but not all of it...you'll understand if you read it. ;)
DeleteI guess I'll just have to find out for myself if this book really is unputdownable. Unanswered questions are annoying, but they are to be expected from book 1 in a series.
ReplyDeleteThat is very true.
DeleteThis is the first time that I'm hearing of this book, but it sounds like the mystery part is well done. While I can understand why you were a bit frustrated with the lack of answers, I think the fact that this is a series is enough to appease me. I'm glad you liked this one! :)
ReplyDeleteLovely review.
Thanks so much Nick!
Delete"Unputdownable" is definitely the best adjective a thriller could possible receive! I'm so happy to know that this one was exactly like that. That makes it even more xciting for me, because come on, who wants a boring thriller, right?! Haha. In any case, I just read DANGEROUS BOYS by Abigail Haas and it was mighty awesome, and unputdownable as well ;) Just putting it out theeere~~ *whistle*
ReplyDeleteFaye at The Social Potato
LOL! I will definitely check that one out Faye. ;)
DeleteUnputdownable, wow! That's a good sign of awell done mystery! This is the first time that I'm hearing of this book, but it sounds like the mystery part was really done well. I'm with you on those endings, but thank goodness there's a book two. Glad you enjoyed it, Ali :)
ReplyDeleteAh kindlemom it looks like the author's evil machinations worked, you'll be picking up book 2. ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks for a great look at this novel
LOL so true. Darn those authors. ;)
DeleteI have this for review and you've got me curious Ali. I am curious about Freya's accident..eep
ReplyDeleteI hope you like it Kim!
DeleteI haven't read a lot of YA mysteries, I'll have to keep my eye for this one!
ReplyDeleteIf you do find it and try it, I hope you enjoy it Jayne!
DeleteThis one sounds pretty cool. I don't like it when you go into a book not knowing it's a series.
ReplyDeleteYeah I should have paid more attention I guess.
DeleteI hadn't even heard of this before. I do like mysteries lately so I might enjoy it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
ReplyDeleteI hope you do if you decide to give it a try. :)
DeleteThat good eh! I love YA reads like this over the sweet contemporary romance once. Thanks for the recommendation!
ReplyDeleteYou should try this one Braine. ;)
DeleteI'm a little glad I skipped this one when it first came out, considering that the ending doesn't wrap everything up and leaves you wanting the next book. I'll probably wait until a few books in the series are out and then I'll give it a try. Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteNever a bad idea. ;)
DeleteI think I do too mostly because I know they won't be part of a series and have a definite conclusion by the end.
ReplyDeleteSounds interesting...but maybe something better to read when all the titles are out so you aren't left hanging as much.
ReplyDeleteYeah I kind of wish I would have done that instead of left feeling like I am hanging a little bit.
DeleteHmmm . . . I think I'm going to pass on this one, b/c while I do love the occasional open ending under the right set of circumstances . . . this doesn't sound like those circumstances. But I'm glad you were still able to somewhat enjoy the book despite your dissatisfaction with the ending. Great review!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jessica and I think reading it after they are all out would be better. ;)
DeleteOooooh. This does sound like a good book. I like how there are so many secrets. I mean, while reading I can see why it frustrated you why you didn't get the answers to them all. I like the secrets in books, but I also want to know everything. It's quite the dilemma. Thank you for your review! I think I will have to look this one up. I think the cover is pretty cool too.
ReplyDeleteI think I would have been less frustrated if I would have known it was part of a series before going into it.
DeleteI do like thrillers, not sure if this would be for me or not though. Again, that you so much for your review. Your reviews really help me determine if a book is something I'd like to read or not.
ReplyDeleteAwww thanks Ellen, that means a lot. :)
Delete