Author: insanity0825

Genre: Mystery/thriller

What I liked about this book:

The idea here was really neat. It's been done before, several times in fact, but the whole 'friends must confess or will die' trope is always an interesting one to explore.

The very last chapter from an emotional standpoint was written very well. Andrew's emotions throughout, as well as his fragile state psychologically, really shone here, probably for the first time in the book. It was probably the only chapter of this whole piece I truly enjoyed reading.

What I did NOT like about this book:

99% of the time, I hate multiple first person point of views. The reason for this is that if you're going to use this structure, it needs to be VERY clear who is talking, and each of these characters need to have a separate and distinct voice.

This book did not accomplish that goal, and as a result I am STILL confused as to what everyone's relationship is and who's who. There's nothing really to set them apart other than their individual secrets, and at this point I can't even tell with that. It made all the characters' interactions fall flat, and as a result I had an emotional attachment to no one.

The author really needs to figure out better secrets. Raven's abortion is a non-starter. So is Andrew's admission to a psych ward, and David's abuse (even if he was ashamed of it). None of these are things someone should feel shame over. If it had been the kid of SOMEONE ELSE in this party, maybe the abortion would have worked, but it wasn't, and as a result I was just kind of like 'wtf' while reading it.

The author also REALLY REALLY REALLY needs to do research on psychosis and its treatments. Psychosis does not make you act like Andrew does. It does not turn people dangerous 99.9% of the time. In fact, it makes people more likely TO experience violence.

Along with this, antipsychotics for the most part are not physically addictive. Klonopin is a benzodiazepene. Its accepted uses are anxiety and insomnia. It is not an antipsychotic, and does not do anything for psychosis or hallucinations. It would not cause Andrew to fall in love with Kellie, nor would it cause him to black out and forget having killed someone unless he took it, then drank large amounts of alcohol, then tried to drive a car.

I can tell you from experience--due to an allergy to benzos I must take seroquel, an antipsychotic, for the dentist--that most of them are going to make you a danger to all the food in your fridge, and absolutely nothing else because you are going to be WAY too fucking tired to plot a murder after taking them.

There were more plot holes in this than I can shake a stick at, these were just the two biggest ones. And if we could stop stigmatizing mentally ill people that would also be great.

Overall:

This was tolerable, but I didn't really enjoy it, nor would I read it again.

Rating:

4/10. Not structured well.