annagayle's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
designy808's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
the book was surprisingly gory for a YA book, but i enjoyed emma and travis' story. the premise overall was very unrealistic and to my surprise, it worked. i would recommend this book for true crime lovers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty
sanjana214's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mtravis6's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
cami_th's review
4.0
If you like mind hunter and silence of the lambs then I have a great book for you. It’s not too gory and if you’re looking for something really eerie then look elsewhere, but over all I really enjoyed it. I liked how it was about their job and there wasn’t any unnecessary romance in the book. It had a good flow that kept you engaged the entire time, and the twist comes at the perfect time. The ending is not rushed and this book felt like binging an entire true crime TV show in a day in the best way possible.
dadu's review
2.0
This book is a YA rip-off of Silence of the Lambs, it's even set in the early '80s. I'm taking the "rip-off" back, actually. This was bad, bland, and boring. So hear me out.
Emma Lewis is a student at Ohio State when she gets recruited by the FBI to help them interview teenage serial killers. Why her? She has a past with a serial killer, which won't spoil the somewhat interesting part of the story. She is the obvious choice to interview people like the one that hurt and scarred her for life? There's also a sweet package of training and joining the FBI in the future that's attached, but after a half-page contemplation, our heroine jumps into her VW Rabbit (to remind you again that it's the 80's) and heads to Quantico. There she meets her partner who also has been affected by a serial killer, so they become a duo of interviewers. So far, somewhat good, right? I'm not going to go into the spoilers, but here are my... qualms.
- You have to suspend a lot of disbelief to believe that the FBI is reaching out to teens to interview these teenage serial killers, because the adult agents, well - they just can't relate. What?! I guess parents just don't understand.
- The gall and dare I say, privilege that our main characters prance about with are extremely annoying. Everyone's primarily monochrome in this book, so the privilege is actually their experience with a serial killer. Never thought I would say that people would use that to throw it in other people's faces and act like, dare I say - children about it, but it's happening.
- It's an episode of Criminal Minds but poorly directed and with little direction or feeling. Character depth is nonexistent. My gauge in how much I care about books is if I care if they live, die, or if I'm rooting for the dang mass murderer. I was rooting for the mass murderer, at least he had a back story, or at least what qualifies as one in this book.
Recommendation time:
- You're a non-character driven reader and rather have a fast-paced plot
- You can really suspend disbelief - teenage serial killers, come on!
- You've never seen an episode of Criminal Minds, or don't care since you want this to be more of a "beach read".
Emma Lewis is a student at Ohio State when she gets recruited by the FBI to help them interview teenage serial killers. Why her? She has a past with a serial killer, which won't spoil the somewhat interesting part of the story. She is the obvious choice to interview people like the one that hurt and scarred her for life? There's also a sweet package of training and joining the FBI in the future that's attached, but after a half-page contemplation, our heroine jumps into her VW Rabbit (to remind you again that it's the 80's) and heads to Quantico. There she meets her partner who also has been affected by a serial killer, so they become a duo of interviewers. So far, somewhat good, right? I'm not going to go into the spoilers, but here are my... qualms.
- You have to suspend a lot of disbelief to believe that the FBI is reaching out to teens to interview these teenage serial killers, because the adult agents, well - they just can't relate. What?! I guess parents just don't understand.
- The gall and dare I say, privilege that our main characters prance about with are extremely annoying. Everyone's primarily monochrome in this book, so the privilege is actually their experience with a serial killer. Never thought I would say that people would use that to throw it in other people's faces and act like, dare I say - children about it, but it's happening.
- It's an episode of Criminal Minds but poorly directed and with little direction or feeling. Character depth is nonexistent. My gauge in how much I care about books is if I care if they live, die, or if I'm rooting for the dang mass murderer. I was rooting for the mass murderer, at least he had a back story, or at least what qualifies as one in this book.
Recommendation time:
- You're a non-character driven reader and rather have a fast-paced plot
- You can really suspend disbelief - teenage serial killers, come on!
- You've never seen an episode of Criminal Minds, or don't care since you want this to be more of a "beach read".