As many of you know, mystery thrillers are some of my all time favourite types of books, and when we have a narrator with memory loss, it becomes even more intriguing. As soon as I started this book I needed to know what happened. The premise of waking up in the woods sounds terrifying but it also kept me hooked to the story and made me sympathize with Claire immensely. A few times I found that the decisions that some of the characters were making were a bit unbelievable. But otherwise I enjoyed learning about the characters and their respective histories and backgrounds. Each were clear in my mind and they all played a part in the overall story. They all had character growth and I found that my initial impressions of each of them changed dramatically as the story progressed which was very exciting! My favourite character would have to be Claire herself, as I enjoyed her determination and dedication. I thought the mystery was very well written with clues evenly spread out, giving you just enough information to let you speculate. The partial dual timeline was very informative and added an extra element to the plot. We also had quite a few twists in the end that I never saw coming!

Overall I had fun uncovering this mystery!

Dark, twisty and full of surprises are just the beginning! I’ve loved Thomas’s previous novels but, this one is truly something special. There are more twists and turns than the mighty Mississippi, I never saw them coming! This book reads like a Dateline special and has to be the break out book of summer. Buckle up, get cozy, you will not want to put this book down till the final pages!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this as a fun "summer read." Claire wakes up hurt, alone, and bloody on a hiking trail. She was supposed to be with friends. Where are Kat and Jesse? Why can't she remember anything from the day before? The plot thickens as Claire tries to recover her memories and search for answers. This dark and twisty tale will delight readers who like a "true crime" kind of tale!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I am a little bummed because I really enjoyed probably the first 75-80% of this one. However, the ending went all the way off the rails and was just too rushed and required too much suspension of disbelief. Add that to a cast of completely unlikable characters and something that started out fairly original and enjoyable turned into kind of a mess.

After a teen couple goes missing, presumed dead, the friend who had accompanied them on the fatal camping trip tries to push past her amnesia to find the truth.

I'd recommend this one to readers who like a plot driven by twists and suspense and care less about character development. Most of the interesting character building starts about 50% of the way through, when Claire finally makes the jump from amnesic victim to amateur investigator. Since I prefer character-driven narratives, it wasn't until that 50% mark that I really connected with the story, and even then, some of the twists weren't founded enough for me. But there were lots of twists, and because the novel started with full-throttle suspense, thriller readers who don't need that character connection will be sucked in immediately.

What happened to Kat and Jesse up on the mountain? Claire wants to know; she was there after all but she has no memory of any events surrounding Kat and Jesse’s disappearance.

A secret trip to Kat’s grandmother’s lake house starts the ball rolling in this twisted YA thriller. Kat, beautiful, wealthy, and popular has secrets that she hasn’t even told her best friend, Claire. Claire, who secretly loves Kat’s boyfriend, Jesse, but hides it under the guise of friendship. Jesse, moody musician from the wrong side of the tracks, in love with Kat but could he have once had feelings for Claire prior to Kats arrival?

Kara Thomas has a way with twisty well-plotted thrillers. I’ve devoured all her books and because of this, That Weekend was one of my most anticipated reads this summer. I. Was. NOT. Disappointed.! There’s a strong whodunnit theme present but along with this is a changing perception of just how well do we know one another? What actions have far-reaching consequences and what secrets will destroy even the best of relationships? I loved the changing perspectives throughout the book but especially with Claire who trusted and loved without question. Amid a media circus covering the disappearance of Kat and Jesse, she has to decide who to trust and this is where she learns that wolves often appear in sheep’s clothing and many have secrets they’d like to keep hidden … at any cost.

That Weekend is a compelling story that kept me reading/listening to every thrilling word. Highly recommend this one to any fan of the authors or the genre!

My thanks to @PRHAudio for the ALC and Random House Children’s/Delacorte Press for the DRC.

Kept me on the edge of my seat! Kara Thomas crafts the best twisty turny stories. My theory of what happened, kept changing, and that was a good thing! Such a great read.

Full disclosure: YA mysteries miss more often than they hit for me. I still read them because I have a large faction of students that love them, but they seem to follow a formula of 1. crime, 2. a string of bad decisions, 3. someone did it. It’s not my favorite.

Sometimes, books surprise me. This was not one of those books. The first 70% of the book is narrated by the character of Claire, only for another POV to be introduced at that point. It’s clumsy and it doesn’t work. Speaking of clumsy, this book’s handling of tough issues wasn’t very good... it felt like they were there for shock value. Also, I see what the author was trying to do there with the icky ex-boyfriend’s last name. Yeah, puns like that don’t work in realistic fiction. It sounds unrealistic.

This was not my favorite.

After breaking up with her boyfriend right before prom, Claire is invited to spend the weekend away at a family lake house with her best friends Kat and Jesse. They plan this little trip and no one knows about it but them. What could possibly go wrong?

Claire wakes up with a headache, absolutely no memory of the last 36 hours, in the middle of mountain wilderness with a stranger standing over her. She has no idea how she got there, how she was injured or where her friends are. Despite the amnesia and doctors telling her she may never regain her memory, Claire is determined to figure out what happened to her and her friends “that weekend”.

Kara Thomas has a writing style I really enjoy. I read The Cheerleaders last year and enjoyed the way it dealt with some serious topics in a realistic way. This book has more of the same.

Most of this book is from Claire’s POV up until the end. It’s a nice slow burn mystery that ends in a tailspin of events. It wraps up nicely after the twists and turns spaced throughout. Definitely an enjoyable read.

Claire and her best friends, Kat and Jesse, plan to blow off prom to hang out at Kat's family lake house, then camp out on Bobcat Mountain. After a tense conversation with Jesse. Claire heads to bed angry and confused. She wakes up alone, injured, and covered in blood on a hiking trail. She has no recollection of how she got there or where her friends went. Will she ever remember what happened that weekend?

I am a huge fan of Kara Thomas. Her books are always fast reads because they keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat. This story is no exception and I didn't see the ending coming. That being said, the conclusion did feel a bit abrupt to me. Or maybe I just wasn't satisfied by the outcome. Regardless, I know there are readers who will appreciate the mystery and plot twists. I'd recommend it to readers who don't mind a dark plot line and are fans of Karen McManus, Mindy McGinnis, or Thomas' previous works. There are sensitive topics to be cognizant of including abuse, drug use, and depression.

Just, wow. I’ve loved every book Kara Thomas has written, but I think this one took the cake. It is so full of twists and turns that you’d never see coming. It kept me on my toes through the entire thing, wondering what could possibly happen next. I will definitely be recommending this at work.

Dark and twisty. That Weekend was a thrill to read. I was definitely surprised by the way the story turned out.

Review of That Weekend by Kara Thomas

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I really enjoyed this YA thriller. I it was a really entertaining read overall with a good ending though it did seem to drag a bit in a few places.

Claire is best friends with Kat. Kay’s boyfriend Jesse and Claire have also been great friends for many years (there was a hint that there could have been more between the two). Claire catches her boyfriend cheating right before senior prom and decides to go away for the weekend with Kat and Jesse to a remote cabin instead. The day after serving Claire is discovered in the woods. She has suffered a head injury as has no memory what happened to her. And Kat and Jesse are missing. Claire moves on and six months later is at college but when she returns home for winter break she can’t help further investigating what could have happened to her friends. And what she finds will stun her.

Thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte press for the chance to read and review this book.

It was supposed to be the perfect prom weekend getaway. But it's clear something terrible happened when Claire wakes up alone and bloodied on a hiking trail with no memory of the past forty-eight hours. Now everyone wants answers--most of all, Claire. She remembers Friday night, but after that . . . nothing. And now Kat and Jesse--her best friends--are missing.

This story was full of twists and turns, and I honestly couldn't see how this was going to end. The characters were very interesting and well developed. There was a lot of suspense and unpredictability here, which was great. And that ending? That last page was quite the shocker.

I'm only knocking off one star because of something that's a spoiler, but it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story.

Claire wakes up alone on the side of the mountain and cannot recall the last 24 hours. On top of that her two best friends are missing. This book follows the before and after of this event in order to find out what truly happened in those missing 24 hours.

When Claire Keough wakes up alone on the side of a mountain, she knows her prom weekend has gone horribly awry. Throw in missing best friends, a sketchy cousin, and a crappy ex-boyfriend and you have the perfect mix. Thomas’ mystery will terrify you to the core as you go alongside Claire in trying to figure out what happened on the mountain and where her friends are. This book was absolutely amazing and equally terrifying at the same time. I recommend reading it in the dark for sure…

Kara Thomas is one of my favorite thriller writers and THAT WEEKEND doesn’t disappoint! I was hooked the minute I heard the premise, and I found myself completely relating to Claire, even as I wondered what she was *really* doing on that trip. Overall, THAT WEEKEND is gripping and unsettling and dark, and asks whether we truly know the hearts of the ones we love, and what lines we're willing to cross to survive. It's full of the twists and shocking revelations that Kara Thomas always delivers -- I couldn’t put it down!

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this book.

This is one of those novels where you sort of need to disband reality in order for it to be enjoyable. I think there are several things in this story that would not or could not possibly happen. However, if you are able to forgive a few of those things, this story is really enjoyable.

I read this book in about three sittings. I really enjoy stories where the narrator is unreliable for whatever reason (in this case it’s memory loss). This allows for an unwinding of the story while the character is experiencing it as well.

I have not read any other books by this author, however, I am eager to check out other books that they have written.

Kat, Jesse, and Claire have been best friends since freshman year, even though they come from very different backgrounds. Jesse lives with his aunt and uncle, and has worked for everything he owns. Claire lives comfortably, but always lives in Kat's shadow. And Kat, well, Kat gets what she wants. She's beautiful, smart, athletic, and rich. Claire has loved Jesse for years, but when he picks Kat, she's not surprised. Just jealous. She tries not to let that get between her and Kat, but sometimes it's hard. So when her boyfriend breaks up with her right before prom, Jesse and Kat still want her to come stay at Kat's grandmother's lakehouse, even though now it's just the three of them. After going on a hike and campout, Claire is found by a hiker, bloody and disoriented, an most importantly, alone. She can't remember anything about the last 48 hours because of a head injury. Kat and Jesse are missing, and Claire is the only one that knows what happened, if only she could remember.

I really, really love Kara Thomas. Little Monsters is one of my favorite books, and The Cheerleaders is excellent as well. I had super high hopes for this new book, and as much as I wanted to love it, it was just ok. I feel like it dragged too much before it got to the jawdrop moment KT is famous for. I'll admit, the real drop was HUGE, and I was NOT expecting it, but I think the story kind of circled too long in the "try to remember, look for evidence" part and the plot didn't move forward fast enough. However, I still appreciated the ending, and I will for sure recommend it, but it's not my favorite.

3.5 stars

I was a bit disappointed with the ending. I was really hooked for the first half of the book. 70% of the way through I figured it out, and then the entire rest of the book was practically explaining what happened, and what came after. Which, I am glad to know...but like, I knew exactly how it went down. But for one little surprising tidbit. But it wasn’t enough to seal a great ending. Over all, still an okay to good book.