Book Review - They'll Never Catch Us

 📖Recommend for Grades 10 and up📖

They’ll Never Catch Us

by Jessica Goodman

Cross-country runners and sisters Stella and Ellie Steckler are determined to get scholarships to help them get out of their town. After events that unfolded last season, it looks like a scholarship may be out for Stella, but Ellie still has a shot. That is until a new girl, and star runner Mia joins the team. When she disappears, all eyes are on the Steckler sisters as suspects.

Alternating between Stella and Ellie’s perspectives, this book is part sports story, part mystery, and part suspense. It is also just as much about the sisters as it is about what happened to Mia. Readers aren’t likely to predict what is revealed but will have fun trying to guess. Warning, this book is a tad slow to start, but worth it in the end, if you can stick through it.

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Book Review - The Ivies

  📖Recommend for Grades 10 and up📖

The Ivies

by Alexa Donne

The Ivy League, also known as The Ivies, are eight prestigious universities in the North East United States. At Claflin Academy, The Ivies are also five girls who would do anything to get into an Ivy League Schools. When ringleader Avery gets rejected from Harvard, the student she believes took her spot suddenly turns up dead. Olivia is one of the Ivies and was also accepted to Harvard but knows better than to share that information. She suspects Avery and her friends may be behind the murder, and she is determined to prove whether it was them or not.

The story is told from Olivia’s point of view, and readers discover the book’s many twists and turns as she does. The characters are a mixed bag of likable and not, and Olivia is thankfully not painful to spend the whole book with. If you’re looking for a good mystery-thriller novel, this is one to highly consider.

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Book Review - This is Not the Jess Show

  📖Recommend for Grades 8 and up📖

This is Not the Jess Show

by Anna Carey

It's 1998, and Jess Flynn is trying to get through junior year without drama, but it keeps finding her. Her parents are overprotective, her sister's health condition is getting worse, and she is developing a crush on her childhood friend. Add in the fact that her town of Swickley seems to get weirder by the day, and not just because half the town seems to have come down with the flu. Jess begins to question her town, especially after a strange rectangular device falls out of her friend's bag.

If you think this is historical fiction, you're wrong. It's actually a thriller/suspense novel. There are several twists and turns, most of which you won't see coming. When it comes to the characters, they are a mix of likable and not. A fun and enjoyable read.

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Book Review - The Project

 📖Recommend for Grades 10 and up📖

The Project

by Courtney Summers

After almost dying in an accident that killed her parents, Lo Denham also loses her sister Bea to The Unity Protect. Years later,  a man comes into the investigative magazine she works at claiming The Unity Project killed his son. With this recent development,  Lo is determined to prove the group is the cult they are. She also hopes to reconnect with her estranged sister. The more time Lo spends investigating them, the deeper she finds herself inside.

Told in alternating viewpoints of Lo in the current timeline and Bea in the past, this suspense story will have you wondering what will happen next. There are, though, clues and hints that will allow for guessing and trying to put the pieces together. This book can be heavy at times, dealing with topics such as death, suicide, and of course, being part of a cult, and may not be for every reader. Lo, Bea, and the other characters are well done, and readers will find themselves wondering who they can trust and like. 

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Book Theme Graphic - Thrillers & Suspense

 

Book Review - The Cousins

📖Recommend for Grades 8 and up📖

The Cousins

by Karen M. McManus

Twenty-four years ago, the four Story children were disinherited by their mother with contact cut off. Now their children, who are basically strangers, are curiously invited to her island resort for the summer. Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah have no choice but to go, as their parents are hoping this invitation means something good for them. The longer the cousins spend on the island, the family secrets they brought with them start to come out. There are even more family secrets that they discover along the way.

Fans of Karen M. McManus will not be disappointed by her latest stand-alone novel. The story alternates not just between Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah's perspectives, but also Aubrey's mom Alison back in 1996. The primary and supporting characters are an intriguing mixed bunch that will have you wondering if you should like them or not. This page-turning thriller will keep readers on their toes till the very end.

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Book Review - Girl, Unframed

   📖Recommend for Grades 9 and up📖

Girl, Unframed

by Deb Caletti

Even before she got on the plane, Sydney had a bad feeling about heading to San Francisco to spend the summer with her mother. It doesn't help that her mother is a famous actress Lila Shore. Meeting Lila's new boyfriend, Jake, doesn't ease Sydney's worries. Jake's an art dealer who seems nice, except when he's not.

"Girl, Unframed" is a fantastic YA thriller that will keep you hooked. Sydney is not the most likable character, but readers are likely to feel for her and her situation. Honestly, the only appealing character is the dog, Max. Readers know some crime has been committed and will have to figure out what happened as Sydney unravels her tale. There are fun hints at the start of each chapter in the form of notes of the evidence exhibits.

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E-books - Thrillers & Suspense

• A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
• We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
• Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus
• Panic by Lauren Oliver
• Sadie by Courtney Summers

Book Review - 2 for 1 - One Of Us Is Lying and Two Can Keep A Secret

📖Recommend for Grades 9 and up📖

One of Us is Lying

by Karen M. McManus

            Five students go into detention, but only four come out alive. The school outcast and gossip blog runner Simon is dead and now his fellow detention mates are under suspicion. There’s Bronwyn, the brainy good girl, drug dealer Nate, Cooper, the baseball star, and homecoming queen Addy. They all have the secrets that Simon was about to expose on his blog, which gives them all not only an opportunity but a motive.

            It’s The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars. Alternating between each of the four teens, readers will get a well-rounded aspect of this who-done-it. As much as you may want to, don’t skip to the end to find out who the liar is.

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📖Recommend for Grades 8 and up📖

Two Can Keep a Secret

by Karen M. McManus

            Twins Ellery and Ezra are moving to Echo Ridge to live with their grandmother. Echo Ridge is a town known for disappearances and murder. When she was seventeen, the twin’s aunt went missing, five years ago the homecoming queen was murdered and upon their entry into town they discover the science teacher’s dead body. As the teens settle into their new town, including jobs at the Halloween themed amusement park, Ellery is nominated to the homecoming court, another nominee has gone missing and there are new threats to be had. Ellery decides to try and figure out the mysteries and gains an ally in Malcolm, whose older brother is suspected of the murder years earlier.

            Despite none of the characters being real stand-outs, readers will still like them. With multiple mysteries, this story is a real page-turner. There is the question of if any or all of these mysteries are connected, and if so, how?

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Book Review - Sadie

📖Recommended for Grades 9 and up📖

Sadie

by Courtney Summers

            Sadie has run away from home in order to hunt down her younger sister Mattie’s killer. West is a true crime podcaster, hired my Sadie and Mattie’s surrogate grandmother to investigate Sadie’s disappearance and hopefully find her. As Sadie sets out on her quest, she makes intriguing discovers and remembers times from before Mattie died. While investigating, West makes his own discovers and learns about Sadie as well.

            A great story that should not be missed, especially if you like true crime podcasts. The story is in alternating chapters of West’s podcast and Sadie’s narration. Readers will have themselves on the edge of their seats wondering if West will find Sadie and what will happen if and when Sadie finds Mattie’s killer.

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