What the Other Three Don't Know

What the Other Three Don’t Know by Spencer Hyde is a poignant story of friendship, forgiveness, adventure, and self- acceptance. Four very different teens survive a wilderness rafting trip, learning the truth about each other and more importantly the truth about themselves. I loved the author’s use of the river, light and darkness, and fishing analogies. He is a gifted author who understands teens.

"A loner, a jock, an outsider, an Instagram influencer." The premise reminded me of a modern day Breakfast Club or the new Jumanji movie, and I was totally here for that.

For different reasons, Indie, Skye (with an e), Shelby and Wyatt all find themselves on the same class trip with a rather suspicious guide.

I really had to work hard to ignore the unrealistic nature of the extreme river rafting that these four high schoolers were expected to participate in.

I found the first third of the book a little difficult to get into due to the pace of the story. There seemed to be a lot of Indie's internal dialogue which slowed the book down, while some friendships felt like they were evolving too quickly - especially for a self-proclaimed loner, such as Indie.

There were also a LOT of river analogies. Sometimes less is more.

While the pacing made the story feel a little clumsy, I enjoyed the overall story and the idea of four different teenagers working together, building friendships and sharing their secrets.

I really enjoyed this book. It is a story of 4 teens on a rafting adventure. All 4 teenagers have secrets the other 3 don't know. As their adventure takes a turn for the worse, the characters learn a lot about themselves and each other.