The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
onecheesetoasty's review
3.0
This book was a fun, single day read-- but nothing more.
The story line was overdeveloped and the writing was a bit heavy-handed. Some of the small details I found hard to believe; like a high school senior who suddenly finds his romantic side while his sister is missing/presumed dead; like how the entire plot hinges on the fact that the protagonist hears every single witness statement; like how the "surprise angel" of the story kills herself knowing full well she was not under suspicion and that her rapist would be caught; like how the rapist is a relative who is clearly in poor physical condition.
Don't get me wrong, some of the details got me by surprise and I WANTED to know how it ended. This would be a solid B+ summer blockbuster, and they do have a time and place.
The story line was overdeveloped and the writing was a bit heavy-handed. Some of the small details I found hard to believe; like a high school senior who suddenly finds his romantic side while his sister is missing/presumed dead; like how the entire plot hinges on the fact that the protagonist hears every single witness statement; like how the "surprise angel" of the story kills herself knowing full well she was not under suspicion and that her rapist would be caught; like how the rapist is a relative who is clearly in poor physical condition.
Don't get me wrong, some of the details got me by surprise and I WANTED to know how it ended. This would be a solid B+ summer blockbuster, and they do have a time and place.
librariann's review
3.0
Ages 12+
No severe language or explicit sexuality, but deals with pregnancy, incest, and suicide. Similar to but with less mystery than some of Plum-Ucci's previous books. Details the events of one night on a small barrier island, when Kurt Carmody's sister goes missing and old secrets are revealed.
No severe language or explicit sexuality, but deals with pregnancy, incest, and suicide. Similar to but with less mystery than some of Plum-Ucci's previous books. Details the events of one night on a small barrier island, when Kurt Carmody's sister goes missing and old secrets are revealed.
dgodek's review against another edition
3.0
Love Plum-Ucci for her local (to me) settings and her use of suspense and plot twists.
ellisakay's review against another edition
5.0
It's one of those books where you think you know how it's going to end and as you read, you change what you think. Then, once you reach the end, it turns out none (or very few) of you're theories were correct.
nerfherder86's review against another edition
3.0
Very suspenseful mystery, that takes place all in one night! Kurt tells the story of what happened on the town pier during a summer night party, as he waits in the police station to learn if his missing sister has been found, dead or alive. She was at the party on the offlimits pier when a gun was passed around among the teens, and someone fired it, and his sister fell (or dove?) into the ocean. Kurt learns a lot of town secrets that night as he listens in to the interrogations of his friends and enemies from high school. Lots of twists and turns in the plot as more info is revealed as you go along in the story.
ifthebook's review against another edition
5.0
In a short book, Carol Plum-Ucci manages to pack quite a punch. She has a strong set of individualized characters, who - through a series of police interviews - paint a picture of a small beach-front town and its secrets in stunning detail. The thing that always gets me about this book is how tightly constructed the narrative is. Everything goes together, starting from the first scene. There's nothing superfluous at all, and the reader is carried along from start to finish logically, but shockingly.
sentunderscore's review against another edition
4.0
Leave it to one of my favorite authors to remind me of the joy of reading. :D
howifeelaboutbooks's review against another edition
1.0
The description on the back cover and rave review excerpts made me think this book would be suspenseful, but it was pretty boring. Kurt Carmody is at a party when his younger sister, Casey, is shot by a gun most party-goers thought was a toy. She fell from the pier - or did she dive, being such an athletic prankster? Everyone heard and saw different things, and there are crazy rumors going around about the gun owner, Stacy. The story was too jumbled and didn’t have a clear focus. None of the characters were developed enough to feel anything for. This book should have been drastically shortened and used as a jumping off point (no pun intended) in a longer, different novel.
bookworm247's review
5.0
I found this book while scrolling through Pinterest, so it was a "shot in the dark". Much like this book unfolded to be. I thought the mystery itself was very intriguing and I very much enjoyed Carols writing style. In the dedication page it reads:
TO:
All of my English students.
ALL of you.
You're all NUTZ.
I love you.
You're gonna make it.
I thought this dedication page was inspiring to many young authors and creators, as an encouragement to do more and be more.
Carol also gives helpful advice in the end of the book to help you whenever you get writers block, which I sometimes have, but differently in my art projects.
Carol, overall is very insightful.
TO:
All of my English students.
ALL of you.
You're all NUTZ.
I love you.
You're gonna make it.
I thought this dedication page was inspiring to many young authors and creators, as an encouragement to do more and be more.
Carol also gives helpful advice in the end of the book to help you whenever you get writers block, which I sometimes have, but differently in my art projects.
Carol, overall is very insightful.
alealvarez's review
4.0
This was a really god book (like her other books)! I really like the set up and how the reader doesn't really know what happened until the end. It also had a very unexpected ending. When I clicked onto the page for this book I found out that it was on the list for "suicide books" and I was sad because I didn't suspect a suicide and so I thought the sister mentioned in the title committed suicide. While I was reading I couldn't picture the sister committing suicide and in the end I found out it wasn't her after all.