Review by Booklist Review
It's an uneasy group of eight that's heading to Noah's uncle's remote beach house for senior-year spring break. Twins Danny and Colton have combined their friend groups for the trip--an uncomfortable choice since Colton's group includes Danny's influencer ex-girlfriend, Piper, who's annoying everyone with her constant social media posts, and her new boyfriend, Javier. But Danny has brought along Miles, once Ivy League bound but now expelled for allegedly selling stolen tests, and no one knows how to behave around him. Eva, one of Danny's friends, just wants to stay drama-free, and she's working up to acknowledging her crush on Colton. But when Piper is suddenly found dead in the caves by the coast, it becomes clear to Eva that only one of them could have killed her, and with Colton's help, she's determined to find out who--and why. Some characters are developed at the expense of others, and the small cast leaves limited room for surprises, but Lepore effectively layers several mysteries on top of one another. A keen, intriguing read for Karen McManus fans.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
High school senior Eva Porta is looking forward to a relaxing spring break getaway at a classmate's private seaside cabin in woodsy Tillamook County with eight friends. Despite Eva's best attempts to let loose, have fun, and get closer to her crush Colton Demarco, the trip is immediately plagued by romantic drama and tensions from a recent academic cheating scandal. Incessant and intrusive Instagramming from Piper Meyers, the most glamorous and connected of the group, intensifies the existing conflicts. When one of the friends turns up dead under suspicious circumstances, Eva finds herself desperately untangling a sordid web of secrets to uncover the killer hiding in their midst. Though the overarching narrative is sometimes bogged down by a too large cast and inconsistently developed motivations, Lepore (The Last One to Fall) keeps the reader guessing by juggling multiple perspectives, flashbacks, and fictional interstitial audio transcripts and news articles, and lightly touches on issues of economic privilege, jealousy, and social media overconsumption in this fast-paced, dramatically executed locked-room murder mystery. Most of the protagonists read as white except for classmate Alice, who is Black. Ages 13--up. Agent: Whitney Ross, High Line Literary. (Mar.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up--Nine teenagers spend part of spring break at the remote Oregon coast lodge owned by one teen's uncle; the property is undergoing renovations, so they have the run of it. The book is alternately narrated by Eva and Colton, with interspersed content from text messages, police interviews, and transcripts of videos for social media, as well as flashback scenes. While starting out tense, with Eva hearing a scream near a dark cave, followed by a news article that an unnamed teenager was found dead and another was arrested, the book immediately jumps back to the start of the trip, making the first third more teen drama than mystery. Some may find the characters and their relationships hard to keep track of initially: Eva likes Colton, her friend Danny's twin; Danny used to date influencer Piper, and now she's dating Javier, but Danny might still like her. Still, readers will catch on and become invested in the happenings. The pace quickens when the narrative returns to the present, and readers are thrown into a whodunit where everyone seems to have secrets about that fateful night. Pages flow quickly in the second half, as tension builds with storms causing roadblocks, and the teens considering who among them is a murderer. Most characters cue white; Javier is Latinx, and Alice is Black. VERDICT Fans of Karen M. McManus will find much to enjoy here. Recommended for thriller/mystery collections.--Amanda Mastrull
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A trip to a private resort sounds like a great spring break--until someone dies. At an Oregon beach resort, nine high school seniors from Seattle come together for an exclusive vacation. Eva and her friend Alice aren't so sure about hanging out with popular girls Piper and Karly. But their friend Danny, Piper's ex-boyfriend, seems to be in good spirits. Danny has invited Colton, his twin brother, and his friend Miles. Two of Colton's friends are there, too--Noah and Javier, who's also Piper's current boyfriend. Tensions flare among the web of friends as they settle into the secluded beach lodge. As the group are drinking by the firepit one night, Eva goes for a walk on the beach and hears a "bloodcurdling sound." The next morning, one of the friends is found dead--and the police think it was murder. Each of the eight surviving teens has something to hide, and if tensions were flaring before, they're blazing now. Unfortunately, the characters are flat and feel reduced to their respective secrets; Piper and Karly are caricatures of vapid cliquishness, and the other characters' interests are only briefly mentioned. Eva and Colton, who share the first-person narration, are the most fleshed out. Their alternating chapters are broken up by texts from various group chats, transcripts of Piper's vlogs, and interviews with the police. Most characters are implied white; brown-skinned Javier is cued Latine, and Alice reads Black. A fun but ultimately forgettable vacation thriller. (Thriller. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
