Published by: Harper Teen on August 28th, 2018
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 448
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
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Synopsis: Embry Woods has secrets. Small ones about her past. Bigger ones about her relationship with town hero Luke and her feelings for someone new. But the biggest secret she carries with her is about what happened that night at the Sea Cliff Inn. The fire. The homeless guy. Everyone thinks Embry is a hero, too, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Embry thinks she’ll have to take the secret to her grave, until she receives an anonymous note—someone else knows the truth. Next comes a series of threatening messages, asking Embry to make impossible choices, forcing her to put her loved ones at risk. Someone is playing a high stakes game where no one in Embry’s life is safe. And their last move...is murder.
Review:
I had a lot of hope for this book because I had been so disappointed in Stokes' release last summer. Generally, Stokes' books are a hit or miss for me and since last year's release was a miss, I was hoping this one would be a hit. While this one was definitely not a slam dunk for me, it was definitely a hit, and more importantly, may very well be my favorite of Stokes' books.
I was worried at first because it started off kinda slow and Embry was a tough nut to crack at first. I do adore unlikeable characters, in fact, I have a soft spot for them for many reasons. Embry seemed unlikeable in the beginning because you just had to wonder what in the hell she was thinking with some of her decisions. Yet, I kept having to remind myself that she was a teenager and many teenagers make really crappy decisions.
I had a lot of hope for this book because I had been so disappointed in Stokes' release last summer. Generally, Stokes' books are a hit or miss for me and since last year's release was a miss, I was hoping this one would be a hit. While this one was definitely not a slam dunk for me, it was definitely a hit, and more importantly, may very well be my favorite of Stokes' books.
I was worried at first because it started off kinda slow and Embry was a tough nut to crack at first. I do adore unlikeable characters, in fact, I have a soft spot for them for many reasons. Embry seemed unlikeable in the beginning because you just had to wonder what in the hell she was thinking with some of her decisions. Yet, I kept having to remind myself that she was a teenager and many teenagers make really crappy decisions.
Embry's relationship with her mom was what won me over though. I know there was a lot of emphasis on the blackmail & the mystery of that, but I found that some of my favorite parts were when Embry and her mom were together. Their relationship reminded me so much of my relationship with my mom. Watching Embry deal with the real possibility that her mom could die caused me to have honest to goodness stomach cramps. All I wanted to do was hug my mom. Sure, Embry's mom was fine...now, but the ever-present threat lingered over Embry's head.
Embry's mom is a big reason why she refused to own up to her part in the Sea Cliff Inn fire. She knew that they could lose her mom's coffee shop & their house if she confessed and they were already financially struggling. So when the blackmail starts, Embry chooses to do what she can to spare her mom. Again, I understood that. I would have given anything to spare my own mom pain if I were in that situation.
The problem with doing a mystery in a small town like this is that there are a very small pool of suspects. Granted, that's probably good for the law enforcement department. So, I had a very small list of candidates for the blackmail scheme. And every time something new was uncovered, my thoughts about who could be doing it, changed.
There were a few little things that I totally predicted, but they didn't detract from the story. Love when that happens.
I wasn't 100% sold on Holden & Embry as a couple by the end. Maybe it was how they got together, maybe it's because I didn't totally trust him, I don't know.
Final thoughts: Really engaging mystery and probably my favorite of Stokes' books.
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