Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
I liked the fact that Suze was in the "laundry room" this whole time. I liked Suze as a character, but I wish she was explored more; I found her very interesting. Another twist that I liked is in the epilogue. Can't believe I liked something from the epilogue! I enjoyed the use of the repetition to explain how everyone was involved in Kelly's murder. It worked okay. I really liked the fact that they were all guilty, in some way. Other than those two twists, I didn't quite enjoy the rest. Especially the asylum thing, since it wasn't a huge deal in the end. I understand that this book was set in an Irish school setting. I understand this book had a million different characters and I also understand the authors intentions of this book. But did it work? No.
This is only the beginning of a thrilling adventure that includes venturing into ancient times such as the 1990s (where “the Rachel haircut is a time marker”) and grappling with the seemingly immutable rules of an unfair world. Joan desperately wants to save her murdered family, even as she is told it’s impossible: “Every monster goes up against the timeline...Everyone tries to change something at some point.” It was so addicting to read and the chapters flew by. I found myself tearing through it and near finishing it in a day. I was left reeling at the end’' – NetGalley – Nicola, Reviewer There are obvious resonances with the real world here – economic inequality, energy supplies, electoral campaigning – but this doesn’t take away from the delightfulness of the 1920s-inspired setting (it’s the US, so think Gatsby rather than Michael Collins). I love that this book made me question each of the characters and that it didn't give you all the answers, which just added to how chilling it was. I still don't know exactly what happened and who to blame. Or if there should be someone to blame!Also I told myself I’d be productive today as it’s the first day off for Easter (WE GET TWO WEEKS 🥳) but literally all I’ve done is shower (which is basic hygiene, come on Alice) and start Caraval which is class so far. Not that you asked (Whoever “you” are). The murder happened really late in the book and leading up to it, it didn't have that much suspense.
This book sounded right up my street from the description. I also thought the title was killer. Unfortunately, it was incredibly boring and I really struggled to finish it. I thought he was going to have a bigger part in this. Based on the flashforward and the "dirty work", I thought that Johnny would have some involvement in Kelly's death. It seemed like he was kinda thrown to one side and forgotten about. I would definitely have made Johnny do something bigger. Maybe he could have tried to kill the others because Kelly's death ruined his reputation? I don't know. Anything else would have worked. I know my grammar isn't the best, but this was just awful! I couldn't read it for ages because of it. The writing was so incredibly childish and the use of "said" was repeated every 2 seconds. I counted about 1320 "said"s in the book. I wish I were joking. The use of "said" is fine, but not when it's used more than 1000 times!! You don't have to say "said" every time a character has spoken, you know? If it's a dialogue, you don't have to write anything at all. We get who's talking!! Loved the grammar in that one (sarcastic). The prologue is just one big giant mess that I decided to ignore. It was so childish and it wasn't needed at all because...guess what?! We don't read about them walking down once Kelly dies! The prologue could have worked better. The shape it created was a mess, as well.The plot moves swiftly and neatly, as one would expect from this author (Mason is another pen name for crime writer Alex Barclay). But the characterisation feels thin, and this significantly lessens the impact of the dramatic events on the reader. The action - and I use this term loosely - centres on a group of teens who are sent to a summer school in an old asylum to cram for their upcoming Irish exam. For the majority of the book they go to lessons and wander round this building, hinting at tension between characters but giving us little. The setting was interesting, I guess; Irish language summer school. But the plot was nothing more than characters pottering about having mindless conversations while you were waiting for one of them to hurry up and die already - which didn't actually happen for the longest time! Protagonist Ingrid straddles the space between these two camps, as a scholarship student secretly dating the son of a wealthy, influential senator. Joining his presidential campaign as her senior year internship, Ingrid draws the attention of the senator’s glamorous and principled political opponent, and begins to question the purpose of the power she so desperately craves. I didn't understand one bit. I liked the involvement everyone had in Kelly's murder, but what the hell was that last line? I am so confused that I'm not sure what to say.
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