A review by rachelwierick
We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Overall this book was great. My heart was racing when I was reading the climax of the story, which is all I hope for with a thriller. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Suicide, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Child abuse and Cultural appropriation

There were two lines I had a hard time with:

Emily compares being murdered by her best friend to "taboos" such as pedophilia and incest. Sorry, no, you don't get to invoke those things for your made-up murder mystery.

Emily also says the blankets decorating the hotel in Phoenix look like they're stolen from a yoga studio. I can only assume she means the "Navajo blankets" that everyone uses for yoga, and this book does ignore that Phoenix and Arizona often uses Native American symbolism as decoration. To say they look stolen from a yoga studio is ignorant and stupid.