It's bad enough that Willa's dad died, and it's bad enough that following that she started having headaches and delusions and hallucinations. And it was bad enough when her mom married Jonathan, a famous Hollywood director who lives in a deceased starlet's old mansion. But when these visions and headaches and hallucinations don't go away in LA, but rather worse... Well, that was bad enough. Add in a serial killer recreating famous death scenes from famous movies, posing his victims and leaving them to be found. And of course, one of the two people she befriends knows everything there is to know about the Hollywood Killer. And suddenly she realizes: her supernatural experiences are just a bit too similar to some of the notes in his research.
Part thriller and part YA novel, this book was ridiculously entertaining and extremely well crafted. Willa's character development was believable and well-timed, and I found her relationships really relatable. Alender has a knack of describing supernatural events without making them seem impossible, a feat helped by Willa's recognition that what she's experiencing is entirely unique to her. Her struggle with figuring out whether or not she should tell her mom reveals more about their mother-daughter dynamic than a lot of the book. Her suspicion of Jonathan and his relationship with her mom sets up a lot of tension in the house, which only helps to move the plot along.
Even though I didn't particularly like her, which I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to, Marnie was a dynamic character. Flawed, yes, and hard to relate to, but she wasn't unrecognizable. I really liked her as a character, even though sometimes I felt myself rolling her eyes at her (which was quite clearly Alender's goal, so suffice to say Mission Accomplished.) But she played an important part in the story and in Willa's evolution, and in the end she's a character I'll remember.
A lot of Willa's character is defined by her interactions with Reed and with Wyatt. As Reed, Jonathan's assistant, remarked, Willa thinks more than she speaks. Her reluctance to express negative emotions, especially anger, and the way she and Wyatt become friends.
The last part of the book is extremely suspenseful, and I loved it. That being said, before page 100 I had pegged the killer and I was right-- I have a note in my phone to prove it. Which is kind of sucky, but I loved reading it anyways, and was totally enthralled despite seeing exactly where it was going. And that being said, I've seen far too many crime dramas to be considered a novice at guessing plot lines. This book was still extremely entertaining, and made for a perfect beach read :)
Rating: 4.5/5
Would I Recommend It: Yes :)
To: Anyone into the supernatural who enjoys YA fiction.
If You Liked...
The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
My Playlist for the Book:
"Blinded" by the Bots
"Happy Together" by Filter
"Any Other Heart" by Go Radio
(for an extended playlist, click the link!)
Links:
Buy this book on Amazon here, Barnes and Noble here, Powell's here, or be a boss and Buy Independent!!!
Find it on Goodreads here and Shelfari here.
Find the author's website here, and a trailer for this book that I thought was pretty entertaining here.
FUN FACT: last night I had a dream about being in a book store, and I found a book titled "Famous Last Words" that was just a complete book of a bunch of people's famous last words.
This is one hundred percent a perfect beach read, not girly or light but so entertaining!!!!
Peace out girl scouts!
R
xoxo
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