The book is about:
I Killed Zoe Spanos tells the story of Anna and her confession that she killed Zoe Spanos. The story began with her trip to the Hamptons one summer, to serve as a nanny there. Surprisingly, many people thought of her as Zoe because they are said to resemble each other. But Zoe is missing… Fast forward to two months after, Anna believes she is the reason why Zoe is dead.

What drew me in:
If you have been here a while, you probably know that I am a huge fan of YA thrillers. So when an invite to join the blog tour came, I grabbed the opportunity right away. A mysterious disappearance and an unreliable narrator is more than enough for me to go crazy about the chance to read this!

Characters & connections:

I have to admit, I was very confused about the beginning. I go back and forth about the characters and I kept going back to the earlier pages just to make sure that I’m at the right spot. However, as the story progressed, its cast of characters offers an amazing and thrilling experience, perfect for people who love whodunnits.

Everything I liked:
When you pick up a mystery book, you would want the author to keep you guessing and at your toes. I Killed Zoe Spanos will give you just that. It gave my brain a chance to exercise its detective skills – and I have to admit I had a slight guess about the ending but I didn’t know that the author will go that way. It was truly a fun experience.

Overall thoughts:
Kit Frick was a new-to-me author and this book was a great one to sample her prowess. I Killed Zoe Spanos is the perfect read for fans of Sadie (missing girls & podcasts) and now that I know that this book will have a full cast audio, I will surely make it a point to listen to it as soon as it is out! If you are looking for a good time with a YA thriller, this read will not disappoint.

Anna is a 17-year-old girl who is deciding that her life needs a little change before she heads off to college. Her high school life has not been a very tame one and she has decided that she needs a break from all the parties. She gets a job in the Hamptons in the town of Herron Mills being an Au pair for a wealthy family. Anna soon realizes that she looks suspiciously like a girl who has gone missing. A girl who she has memories and visions of. Soon the body of Zoe Spanos is discovered. Anna starts to put pieces together and cannot help but wonder. Did she kill Zoe?

I killed Zoe Spanos was a book that I did not expect to fall in love with. I do not usually read a lot of mystery or contemporary books. The story moving between two different time periods really gives you a sense of knowing whats going to happen and then flips on its head. Many things did not make sense and that feeling of needing everything to fall into place kept my attention. I finished this book in one day not being able to put it down. I needed to know what happened to Zoe and if Anna was a part of it.

The influence on Anna’s drinking and slightly hinting in that she is an alcoholic is an important part of the story that I think should have been resolved a little better in the end. I believe that people need to see that not only can you stop drinking on your own, but you can get help for it too. Her being an Alcoholic is what has her so confused and believing in the possibility that she could have killed Zoe.

The book did a particularly good job of showing the difference between different class structures and what is possible when you have money. The fact that Anna is placed in juvey after she confesses to something without a lawyer present and without a parent. Along with the fact that her story does not hold water and she is still charged. While after a different individual confesses, they are given very lenient treatment because the family has money. This also comes up when you think about women going missing. Zoe is of high importance because of her status and family but some other women might not even be reported missing.

This book is a remarkably interesting book that I think is coming out at the perfect time. Would be amazing to sit on the beach or alongside a pool in the sun reading this book. The scene that is set in the book makes me want to go to the beach and soak up the sun.

OMGoodness! I may have forgotten to apply a second layer of sun block, as this book was a page turner! The connections between characters, the twists, turns, and guessing who did it keeps the reader engaged! I thought I had it figured out, but oh was I wrong! Highly recommend! April Henry, Karen McManus fans-check this one out! @kitfrick has written a thriller, must read mystery that will be impossible to put down until you know the truth about what happened to Zoe Spanos! #bookposse @simonteen #ikilledzoespanos

Mystery, podcast, summer in the Hamptons, unreliable narrator. The perfect combination of aspects to make you really think while reading. I absolutely loved reading this book, and it felt like a perfect mix of Sadie by Courtney Summers and We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. Kit Frick wrote an absolutely addicting book that had my jaw dropped by the end of it. Personally, I usually try to figure out the mystery before it is revealed and often get it right. This book was so different, I was too caught up in the story to even think about what could have happened, I just needed to read more and more.

One of my favorite parts of this book was how fleshed out all of the storylines were, all of the characters you got to know had more to them than you originally think. Mixing the pacing and the jumps through time the story unfolded seamlessly leaving me blown away.

This being my first book by Kit Frick I am excited to say that I will be picking up any future releases from her.

NetGalley provided me this arc but all thoughts and opinions are my own I have not been paid to review or promote this book.

When Anna takes on a nanny job she finds herself in the middle of a missing person's case. Not only does she look like Zoe Spanos, she's accused of murdering her. 

Anna often forgets things. Appointments, conversations, and even events she's been told she attended. When she's questioned about her relationship with Zoe she starts to believe she may have actually killed her despite not remembering everything that happened. She doesn't even remember meeting Zoe but must have if the detectives questioning her say she has. 

Martina did have any idea how quickly her podcast would gain traction. As she starts to piece together what happened to Zoe she starts to wonder if Anna really is guilty or if there's more to the story. 

You'll find a variety of formats between past and present as well as snippets from the podcast Martina has put together. I enjoyed these differences because it helped build the mystery aspects of the story. All the pieces coming together will lead you to a surprise you won't be expecting! 

I would definitely recommend this to those who love a good YA Thriller! It's got a variety of characters, formats, and twists that'll keep you guessing from beginning to end!

This summertime thriller by Kit Frick did not disappoint! It is the first novel I've read of Frick's, and now I am a fan!

With terrific writing, a complex cast of characters, and a non-linear timeline, Kit Frick's I Killed Zoe Spanos dangles story questions and clues that will compel readers to keep turning pages until the satisfying end!

The characters were well developed with full arcs, the plot was twisty, the format was engaging with podcasts, police interviews, and narratives, and Frick did an amazing overall job of storytelling.

The only issues with the story that bothered me in the slightest were: 1) The extremely large cast of characters made me struggle to keep them all straight. 2) The changing points-of-view in the midst of a non-linear timeline made me re-read sections to grasp who was telling the story and when, especially in the beginning of the book. Once I got into the rhythm, it became easier to follow. (These are not reasons to discount the book, merely reasons, for me that I had to work a little harder to immerse myself completely within the world of the story.)

Nearing the end of the story, I read faster and faster, determined to solve the mystery before it was revealed. While I did guess a couple of elements, I was pleasantly surprised at the final reveals and resolutions. Loose ends were tied up nicely, leaving me quite content. Nicely done, Kit Frick!

I look forward to picking up another one of her books.

Some of my favorite lines from the book:

"She looks like she's been living ten seconds away from tears for months."

"The banister, once a grand thing, is dusty and coated with bird shit."

"She hurries quietly around the side of the estate, into the backyard where the weeds reach up to snag her tights like bony fingers in the moonlight."

As always, a copy of this book was provided by the author or publisher in exchange for my honest review. This does not effect my opinion in any way.

(This was originally scheduled as part of TFFBC's blog tour.) Most of my thoughts over I Killed Zoe Spanos boil down to one word: DAMN. Or... dang. Maybe, wow? I'm honestly screaming about it right now. My dogs look a little concerned about my well being and at this point, I'm certain I've now woke up nearly every neighbor in the area dead or alive.

Which isn't a bad thing because everyone needs to read this book immediately, zombie or not, and I'm willing to take one for the team and let everyone know. Join me. It'll be like a gang of werewolves howling at the moon but a little less hairy and the howling is less aggressive. (But still fearful, don't get me wrong. You should absolutely be scared into reading this book.)

Listen, I don't have to change my hobby to 'yelling about I Killed Zoe Spanos into my pillow'--I want to.

On the topic of wants/needs: I definitely need to get my hands on Kit Frick's other books because, wow, this one blow me away. I Killed Zoe Spanos is one of the most dazzling thrillers I've had the pleasure of reading this year and I could not get enough of it. A good thriller makes the wheels of your mind frantically turn and try to piece together the bigger picture--I Killed Zoe Spanos accomplished this immediately and never truly slowed down.

Finishing this book was the only letdown Frick provides readers. Although I wanted to know the resolution to the central mysteries, I Killed Spanos was something I didn't want to end. I highly recommend picking this novel up as quickly as possible!

Well-written novel with intrigue and mystery. Well developed characters that keep you guessing about what is happening between then and now. The story kept me hooked with twists and turns.

This YA mystery had a great beginning, but fizzled out at the end!

Anna Cicconi is new to Herron Mills when she arrives for her new job as a nanny. She's not in a great headspace because what happened the previous winter, her memory fuzzy and incomplete. Yet strangers are shocked when they meet her, because she looks uncannily like Zoe Spanos, a girl who disappeared on New Years Eve.

I really liked the off-kilter sense of this novel, weaving though Anna's story and the podcast about Zoe Spanos' life and disappearance. I expected greatness as this mystery came to a conclusion, but I was disappointed by what actually happened.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Overview: Zoe Spanos disappeared from her tiny Hampton's town over winter break. The town can't imagine what happened to her. Zoe was beloved, always a good kid going to an Ivy League, from a perfect family, and was even in a long term, committed relationship. The police decide she must have just run away. When Anna comes to town, everyone looks at her a second too long because she looks just like Zoe. Over the course of the summer spent babysitting for one of the elite, Hampton's families, Anna gets increasingly involved in Zoe's cold case through a podcast produced by a local high schooler. The more she learns about Zoe and the longer she lives in town, the more strange memories come to the surface until she's left scared that she killed Zoe Spanos. The truth is so much more complex than anyone could have expected. Overall: 4

Characters: 4 Our main character in this twisty web of people is Anna. She's at the center of it all whether she's playing the roll of nervous babysitter or someone who just confessed to manslaughter yet is still unsure of her memories. Anna's past has a lot of holes in it from her many nights getting blackout drunk at parties with her friends in Brooklyn. Going to the Hamptons is a way to turn over a new leaf. It's fun to navigate through this small beach town through her eyes as she makes new friends and connections. I loved getting to see her interact with Paisley, the girl she's babysitting. It's clear that there are plenty of gaps from the start, and she's clearly forgetful, but she has these weird echoes of having been all these places before- of having known Zoe. Without the help she needs to piece it together, her panic grows slowly louder as she forms a story in her head that points to her having killed a girl she never met.
There are so many minor character in this book that work to make the story as twisty as it is, so it's impossible to go over all of them. The major players are Caden, Zoe's boyfriend of over four years who was out of town when she disappeared, Martina, the high school podcast producer who is best friends with Zoe's little sister, Aster, Zoe's sister who never gives quite the right impression, and Max Adler, who gives off bad vibes for no apparent reason. The parents and their lives as well as Anna's friends from Brooklyn contribute to expanding the worlds and all interlock in fascinating ways in the end. Over the course of the book, we solve a couple mysteries, locking these characters into place, figure out Anna's ties to Herron Mills, and even discover the identity of her missing father.

Plot: 5 This book is a major roller coaster on a variety of levels. Frick is a master at setting up perfect thought paths that get disrupted and don't pan out. She sets up layers of confusion while also putting in careful clues that stand out when you reflect on the book as a whole. It's very carefully plotted and gives reveals that only click into place seconds before the characters announce them. Everything comes to a logical conclusion, even when you're wondering if the book will just take off with a turn towards the paranormal. The book doesn't shy away from firmly establishing characters and place through scenes that usually belong in contemporary novels as we become firmly rooted in Anna's summer of babysitting as one of three storylines. I'm assuming this was a way to build trust between her and the reader before the mystery slides into full swing. While most of the past summer story feels like a breezy contemporary, the flash forwards to juvie, confessions, and the podcast keep the threatening, questioning, mysterious feelings in the air.

Writing: 4 The writing style took me a second to get into. The structure she uses is quite complex and can sometimes be confusing. There are the now chapters written in third person that bounce through the aftermath of Anna's confession and reveal twists and turns to complement what we learn in the Then sections. The main storyline is the Then where we meet Anna, in the first person, and go on her summer in the Hamptons. Then there's the podcast transcripts (that are very well done) that give us, and Anna, all the details on Zoe's disappearance that you've been wondering about. At the end, there's also a first person chapter from the killer, though it's slightly confusing because, in the past, first person was only used for Anna.
Overall, I'd say these three threads were handled very well. All the plot notes hit in the proper places to make all the parts sing in unison. The third person pieces definitely improved as the story went on, but they start out a little clunky. In an attempt to make it seem deeply atmospheric (and pull from the Rebecca inspiration), the writing gets away from Frick a little and almost made me quit with the first chapter. The first person narrative flows much more naturally from the beginning, and the podcast transcripts are built well. The writing eventually becomes something you don't notice anymore, which shows how good the story is, but expect a slow burn on everything getting started and to the action. It's nearly 400 pages, and you can feel that in the book.

I love this book so much, y'all. An all new favorite!!

Our protagonist, Anna Cicconi, has accepted a position as a summer nanny for a family in the small Hamptons village of, Herron Mills. She has recently graduated high school and is trying to turn over a new leaf before starting college in the Fall. This includes distancing herself from city life, particularly her best friend, Kaylee, who is a party girl through and through.

Anna has been running wild lately and doesn't like how she feels about herself after. The blackout nights are the worst. She just needs to stay away from alcohol for the summer, put her head down, and concentrate on saving money for school. Once she is settled in, she can hardly believe her luck. The little girl she is caring for, Paisley, is really sweet and easy, plus the house she is staying in is completely swank.

Anna does have one problem though, the nights. She has every evening off and needs to stay occupied because it is never good for her to sit to long with her thoughts. She starts to go on a lot of nighttime walks, exploring the property grounds and surrounding neighborhood. It's on one of these excursions when she happens to meet the cute and mysterious boy next door, Caden, for the first time. He is home from Yale for the summer, staying in his family mansion, Windmere.

Caden is surprised to meet Anna as well, as she looks shockingly like his fiance, Zoe Spanos, who has been missing since New Years Eve. It's not the first time Anna has experienced this. Around town people are definitely shocked upon seeing the similarity between her and the missing girl. Paired with the fact that Anna begins to have memories of Herron Mills, even though she has never been there before, it's not surprising when she starts to believe she may have a connection to Zoe.

Interspersed amongst the current narrative chapters, we also have entire podcast episodes by Martina Green, investigating Zoe's disappearance. Even though the police believe she ran away, Martina, best friend of Zoe's younger sister, Aster, doesn't buy it. She begins her own investigation and documents it through her podcast.

It's so good. I love, love, love the podcast element as a way to tell the story. The back and forth, the way details of Zoe's life and disappearance are exposed, was absolutely intoxicating. Once I got into this story, I could not put it down. Racing towards the conclusion, I had no idea how it was going to end. Were Zoe and Anna connected? Was something supernatural happening? Is Zoe alive? Are Zoe and Anna the same person!?

I was confused, I was intrigued, I was loving every minute of it! This is one Summer Thriller everyone will want to read. I may read it again, actually, once the audiobook is released. I would love how to see how they handle the podcast in the audio.

So, in short, if you love intense, twisty-turny Thrillers, with a possibly unreliable narrator, a podcast, amateur sleuthing and multiple red herrings, you definitely need to pick this book up!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Margaret K. McElderry Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. There's nothing like finding a new favorite!

I could not get enough of this book! If you enjoy mysteries/who-dun-its, this one will keep you on your toes. Anna Cicconi just graduated high school and desperately wants to turn over a new leaf. Her life in Brooklyn consists of her mom, who works too much to care what Anna is up to, and her friends Kaylee and Starr, who spend all of their time partying and hooking up with guys. Anna is over the party scene and is eager to spend her summer in the Hamptons nannying for the Bellamy family. She quickly realizes that there are a lot of secrets in this affluent town. She sparks an uncanny resemblance to a missing girl, Zoe Spanos, which leads Anna to delve into Zoe’s disappearance. The further Anna digs, the more memories flood back to her and she realizes that she is in the Hamptons for a reason. She has flashes of Zoe’s death in her brain but can’t figure out how to put the pieces together. With the help of a local girl, Martina, Anna works to find out who killed Zoe.

This is a YA novel, but I think it appeals to adults as well. Anna’s character is mature for her age, despite the irresponsible lifestyle she is trying to escape. Kit Frick’s writing style is beautiful—full of details but not overly flowery. She knows how to set the scene and immerse the reader in Anna’s world. From the first chapter I was hooked. I’m normally able to figure out the ending of these types of stories fairly early, but I never had a clue who killed Zoe. There are the right amount of twists and turns and faulty clues to keep the reader guessing without revealing the truth too soon or seeming unrealistic. Plus Anna is an unreliable narrator, so her constant struggle to figure out what is real and what is fake makes it harder to guess who was involved in Zoe’s death. The chapters are primarily told from Anna’s perspective during the summer she came to the Hamptons, but they sometimes move to the present after Zoe’s death has been confirmed. Some chapters are also told from Martina’s perceptive which enhances Anna’s struggles nicely. Overall this is a great read. It’s quick, entertaining, well-written, and binge worthy. Thank you to Net Galley, the author, and Simon & Schuster Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

<i> I recieved an eARC this book from The Fantastic Flying Book Club for a blog tour. All the following opinions are my own! </i>

I Killed Zoe Spanos is a young adult contemporary/ mystery/thriller novel that really caught me by surprise!! I'm not someone who is easily impressed by thrillers because I'm not much of a plot-oriented reader, and them thrillers are always all about the plot. But this one really kept my attention for sure!

I Killed Zoe Spanos follows the life of our main character Anna Cicconi, who, on the first page confesses to the murder of Zoe Spanos, a girl who went missing in the suburban utopia of Herron Mills where Anna is spending her summer babysitting for the Bellamys. The problem, of course, is that she most definitely didn't commit this murder. And Martina Green, an aspiring journalist and a close acquaintance of the Spanos family, is hell-bent on finding out the truth!

I don't want to say anything else because I don't want to give anything away, but suffice to say that every little thing in the story was just the right amount of fucked up that I couldn't put the book down! The real "plot" of the novel doesn't start until we're a good 60% into it, and the main focus is on creating this discomforting atmosphere and a sense of unease and insecurity in the facts of the world that you're traversing in. And the book accomplished that fairly well for me. Yes, I was really impatient and that's part of the reason why I haven't given it the perfect rating, but the impatience wasn't bad enough for me to just DNF the book!

The writing is fairly standard for a contemporary thriller and did its job. It wasn't unreadable, didn't feel stilted and carried the story well, and that's pretty much all I care about. Again, it did a pretty good job of conveying that discomfort throughout the book so props for that!

Part of the reason why I enjoyed this thriller so much is that it totally depends on the characters for most of the thriller part. The main character and the first person narrator of a large chunk of the book, Anna, is very very unreliable as one, but she's also someone you will end up rooting for one way or another. She's super idiotic and makes very bad decisions and is very very flawed as a human being, but she's young and she's trying her best to get out of a difficult situation, and honestly, who can't relate to someone like that!? Camden Talbot is also super adorable as a character. You will want to murder him along the book a lot, but I think it's easy to sympathise with him even if you can't forgive him, imp. And then there's Martina. She is a super interesting character, but we don't get to know her much and I wish it wasn't so. Her chapters are fewer than Anna's, and they focus mostly on solving the case and while that works for the book splendidly, it does paint Martina a bit two-dimensionally. The Bellamys and Paisley and the rest of the cast are all pretty chill characters as well. None stand out like a sore thumb, and some deliver very convenient exposition here and there, but all blend in well with the fabric of this story!

Circling back to Martina's portions of the book--THEY'RE IN A PODCAST FORMAT!!! Which is so amazing!! I love books that mix it up with the format and this one was no exception!! I suspect the audiobook production of this baby will be really fun because of the mixed format and I am super excited for it!!

The plot twist…. Umm…. Okay listen. It's NOT unpredictable. At all. And there's another twist thrown in there for the thrill of the readers. Which is more obvious. But the thing is, you're so wrapped up in Anna and her story that the plot twist doesn't hit you like it would in another thriller? Like yes it was fun, but it didn't blow me away and I didn't love it 100% but I'll be on-board, I guess. Ya feel?

Lastly, this book is special because it shows you how easily the world is ready to move on from girls who are lost and missing. Granted, Zoe Spanos is a white woman from a family that is super rich and with a society around her that actually was capable of giving a fuck - and even her story is easily erased. Imagine all the brown girls who might go missing, all the indigenous ones, the Latinx ones, the children of colour and black children whose families can't always afford to keep looking, whose families don't always give a damn. What of them, then? Which Martina Green in a corner of their world will tell their story?

Something to think about, no?

There's also a women-and-how-the-world-gaslights-them angle but it's a lot to unpack and too depressing to think about, so we're not gonna touch that. xD

Overall, I had a lot of fun reading this book and I would totally recommend it as a fun, summer thriller for y'all!!

This was a dark twisty ya mystery and I really enjoyed it. I liked Anna as a main character This is told in alternating view points between the future and a podcast that serves to give us information about Zoe's disappearance. The multiple view points work really well in this book and give us just enough info to keep us hooked in the story. The writing style was great. I thought the characters all had some great layers to them. I really enjoyed unraveling the mystery. The only reason I knocked off a star was that the ending was a little too far fetched. It wasn't bad I just didn't love the ending. Overall though I definitely recommend.

First, thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the eARC I received in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Second: I did not finish this book. This is the second book I requested from Kit Frick after reading the description and thinking it sounded fun and fast. This is the second time I’ve been disappointed.

The plot crawls and the writing isn’t interesting. Yes, I can see where she is trying to hint at the plot that is to come, but it doesn’t work to suck me in. It’s too vague.

This one, in particular, disappointed me because it opened with what should’ve been super interesting: a police interrogation of a young girl suspected of murder. But even that felt ambling!
I would suggest skipping this one.

“ZOE SPANOS IS MISSING. AND WE’RE MISSING ZOE”


I had heard a couple authors talking about I Killed Zoe Spanos last year which made me put it on my anticipated release list. I was so thrilled I got to read an early copy of this book.

Thrillers are not a genre I reach for a lot. Mysteries a bit more but Thrillers not really. I was excited to dig into this one. I do find them a bit harder to review without giving anything away though. I Killed Zoe Spanos was the type of thriller mystery where you go around suspecting every character you meet and doubting everything you learn. As we try and discover what really happened to Zoe Spanos my hypothesis went left and right and then up and down. Sometimes this genre can be a bit predictable and I will say that I did realize on a couple of things but a lot of it took me by surprise.

Anna, our main character, is what you would call an unreliable character which can be hard to connect with. As the story evolves we are made to doubt a lot of what she says and does. Nonetheless, I did enjoy Anna. You want to root for her even though you have a nagging feeling at the back of your head telling you maybe she’s deceiving us all.

The story moves a lot in time. The action mainly takes place during the Summer but we do jump a little ahead to the Fall for a couple of chapters. But everything is cohesive to the story and just serve the purpose to confuse you even more on who is lying. Besides these jumps, there is another through which we learn information and that is through the transcripts of a podcast called Missing Zoe that is done by Martina Zoe Spanos’s sister best friend. I particularly enjoyed these as I do listen to a lot of true-crime podcasts. I thought they brought an original aspect to the story and it was a cool way to introduce characters. I will probably be rereading this book since I’ve heard that the audiobook will have a full cast and I am very curious to see how it turns out.

I think that you can really see that Kit Frick masters this genre. Her writing seemed right in its element. She had me second-guessing everything. When I thought I knew what happened she threw me a curveball and I had to start my process all over again. It was my first book by her and definitely not my last.

I really enjoyed I Killed Zoe Spanos. It was a really cool thriller mystery that reminded me a little of Pretty Little Liars or Riverdale.

It's one of the best books I've read this year. It was shocking. I wish I could say more, but I would share some spoilers here, so.... Read, for you know about what I wrote this.
And if you liked Sadie, by Courtney Summers, you'll liked this one as well.

3 stars (release date June 30, 2020)

You can read all of my reviews at https://www.NerdGirlLovesBooks.com.

This is a pretty good YA Mystery/Thriller about a teenager working as a nanny in the Hamptons who confesses to the murder of a young woman that she may never have met.

High School graduate Anna escapes her troubled life in Brooklyn to work as a nanny for the summer in the small Long Island town of Herron Mills. She's hoping for a fresh start from her hard-partying days as a high school senior. But her hopes of having a quiet summer are dashed when she discovers that she bears a striking resemblance to Zoe Spanos, a local girl that has been missing since New Years Eve. People that knew Zoe have strong feelings about her disappearance, and as Anna learns more about Zoe, she gets the eerie feeling that she and Zoe are somehow connected - and that she knows what happened to her.

At the end of the summer Zoe's body is discovered and Anna is charged with manslaughter. But things don't add up and Martina Green, the teen host of a podcast about Zoe's disappearance, keeps digging into the case to find the truth.

This is a quick and easy read, with a few surprising twists in the story. The book drags in the middle and the multiple times that Anna has memory issues or deja vu could have been handled differently and starts to get old, but I guess the author needed to bulk up the "mystery" part of the story. Most of those moments didn't really make a lot of sense, particularly the multiple times that Anna seems to "zone out" and not remember she had plans or was supposed to do something. There are a few unnecessary supporting characters that add clunky red herrings to the story and don't make a lot of sense. They appear to be added simply to fit the "mystery book" formula.

While there is nothing earth shattering new in this book, it's an ok read.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

While my favorite genre to read would probably be YA fantasy, occasionally I find it difficult to resist the urge of reading a YA thriller. I’ll read just about any book published by Courtney Summers or Karen McManus, and it seems I’ll have to add Kit Frick to that list too.

The book opens with a recent high school graduate from Brooklyn, Anna Cicconi, having confessed to the accidental murder of Zoe Spanos, a college sophomore from the Hamptons. It is told through a series of flashbacks to the summer Anna spent in the Hamptons as a nanny, Anna’s time in a juvenile detention center, and a podcast hosted by another local girl named Martina.

Frick provides enough red herrings to mislead, ample foreshadowing to make you feel stupid for not guessing correctly, and a great plot twist at the end. The plot structure and suspense in this book was excellent. While well-written, some of the narrative detail read extraneous, which made the pacing a bit slower than it needed to be in the beginning sections. I’m hesitant to give this book to my younger high school readers because of its treatment of teen drinking. While drinking among teens is a clear reality, there were some troubling events that didn't seem to have a harsh enough consequence for the situation. While it doesn't in any way glorify teen alcoholism, I don't think Frick did enough to address the issue here in a way that is clear for her teen audience. That being said, it is definitely something I can see placing on a summer reading list or putting into my classroom library — kids would eat this book up!

Unfortunately this book fell flat for me. I am not sure if I was expecting more due to all the hype or if I’m just not a huge YA thriller fan but I had a very hard time connecting to the characters. I didn’t feel engaged and felt as though the story dragged along and was a bit confusing at first.