BOOK REVIEW: 2018 TOP YA MYSTERIES

I’ve always enjoyed mystery novels and all the suspense and crime-solving that came with it. I especially love mysteries that keep you guessing until the very last page and the challenge of being able to solve the mystery before the protagonist does. In recent years, Young Adult mysteries have gained popularity and I’ve quickly jumped on that bandwagon and can’t seem to get enough. Their appeal lies in the fact that contrary to adult mysteries, who usually have detectives or the police force or someone official at work to solve a crime, YA mysteries have an average teen or young adult trying to get to the bottom of the mystery. Also, the mysteries aren’t limited to a murder, but can range from a regular crime to psychological thriller to supernatural forces. 

And 2018 was a great year for YA mysteries! Here’s a look at my top four 5-star rated YA mysteries, in no particular order:

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

This book is the first of a series, a trilogy if I’m not mistaken, and the mystery in this one is quite heartbreaking, involving a 3 year old child, which tugs at my heartstrings. This is a very intricately written book, with so many complex things happening and being built simultaneously. Moving between past and present, you are left in awe at how Johnson maneuvered all the events and put them together in a way that isn't too complicated for the readers to grasp, but still leaves you scratching your head. 

The book starts with a prologue, where a student at Ellingham Academy is murdered. That scene is written so well that it made me think of The Lovely Bones and that suffocating scene where Susie gets brutally murdered. We also find out that the school's founder's wife and 3 year old daughter are also missing. 

In present day, Stevie Bell enrolls into Ellingham Academy with one goal in mind - to solve the murder mystery that took place back in 1936. Now, I have to admit, I was rolling my eyes at this. A teenager is going to solve a mystery that went unsolved for almost a century. Really? Except, once I got into it and got to know the characters and got to know Stevie better, I didn't even care anymore. I suspended reality and decided to go with the flow.

The book continues to alternate between past and present as the events of the past are slowly revealed, and how Stevie tries to put it all together in present time, while strange things start to occur mirroring events of the past. In the midst of all that, we get to know Stevie's flat mates, friends, family, her likes and dislikes, her insecurities, her love interest (of course) and all the usual high school drama.

This whole book played out like a big set up for what's going to happen in book 2 - which is scheduled for release in 10 days! It introduces you to the crime that occurred in the past, then sets you up with a new murder done in similar fashion as the one from the past with a poem by "Truly Devious" him/herself, then leaves you with, not one, but two killer cliffhangers so you basically have to bang your head against the wall in frustration as you wait a whole year for the second installment. 

The Case for Jamie by Brittany Cavallaro

This book is the third in a series, with the fourth installment scheduled for release this March. 

I mean...wow. I've never loved a series this much, from start to finish. Brittany Cavallaro is a master at spinning a story, building on characters as old as time, in a way that is neither too cheesy or overdone. She could have easily fallen down the same path that many others had when trying to weave a "Sherlockian" story, but she was able to take control and really make it her own. 

Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson are the creations of Cavallaro, and the fact that they are descendants of the Sherlock Holmes and the John Watson does not even matter at this point, because I'm in it for Charlotte and Jamie. I'm in it for their story, their adventure, their journey and the mystery. 

At first, I was a little iffy, thinking this was going to be one long book about both Jamie and Charlotte moping, but it quickly turned around when strange things started to happen to Jamie. Small, uninteresting incidents that could have easily been put away as pranks, except for his overwhelming paranoia that was developed through his friendship with Charlotte and also because of the events from the last book. Paranoia that helped him through this case, as he realized someone was out to hurt him and all those he loves, to get back at Charlotte. 

I really enjoyed seeing Jamie at the forefront of the events, taking control and getting to the bottom of things without Charlotte overshadowing him. He has definitely grown and changed in the year that has passed. He is more mature but closed off, more focused, more paranoid and more in control. I loved the scene where Charlotte walks in on him thinking he needed saving, only to realize, he had things under control and what he really needed was a partner. That one scene put everything into perspective. Balanced the scales and displayed how much both Jamie and Charlotte have changed in the year they spent apart. 

I loved the reunion. I loved the talk they finally had. I loved how Cavallaro made us itch and wait for that moment they would reunite and when they did, she did not disappoint. They needed that time apart, and although it took forever to break that barrier, it was necessary. We, as readers, needed to distance ourselves from their relationship as well, we needed to get to know them separately, and it was very useful to do so. The chapters alternated between Charlotte and Jamie, and it was really good seeing them in a different light. 

Here's what I really appreciated about this book though - the fact that Cavallaro stayed true to the Holmes and Watson dynamic, even while trying to insert some romance. 

People Like Us by Dana Mele

This was amazing. Unputdownable, stay up all night, reading under the covers with a small night light on, kind of amazing. Dana Mele knows how to create tension and suspense and pulls you right in.

Mele impressed me, not just by the brilliance of the plot and execution of the storyline, but also by her skillful writing. The dialogue was on point with some amazing one-liners such as:

“We should definitely be nicer to people. You should think about that.”

“Nice is subjective.” 

and beautiful thoughts put into words, like:

"Hands are the biggest obstacle. There’s nothing for them to do. It was the hardest part of picking up soccer. My reflex was to grab at the ball, protect my face, flail. Hands are too much a part of us. They give us away.”

This boarding school teen thriller is filled with so many twists and turns that you never know what's going to happen next. The character dynamic is brilliant, with a variety of different characters that could easily confuse you, but Mele knows how to zone in on every one of them in a different way that allows them to stand out. She breathes life into each one of these characters, and their development is fantastic, even the minor ones get great moments in which you see their characters grow and develop. And there's no hero in this one. Some would even say, all the characters were awful, but they were just real. No one is perfect, everyone has their own hidden agenda, ulterior motives, are selfish with secrets that could make or break them. Mostly break. That's how real life is though, especially as a teenager, and even more especially when you're a rich, self-entitled teenager, and I appreciated the honesty. It kept things interesting and ultimately, you could see the light at the end of the tunnel, and appreciate their redeeming qualities - most of them, anyway.

What I loved most of all though, is that I could never guess who the killer was! Every time I thought it was someone, Mele would pull the rug out from under me. Eventually, towards the very end, I did kind of guess who it was, but I still found it surprising. 

Starting out, I did not think I was going to like Kay very much. She seemed very disconnected, super secretive, and a little too obsessed with Bri. But as the story unfolds, and you get bits and pieces of Kay's past, and the history between her and Bri and the other characters, you start to understand her a little (a lot) better, and you start to appreciate why she acts and reacts to different situations the way she does. She was a very interesting protagonist and I loved her narration and perspective of things. 

Think of this book like the YA thriller spin-off of Gossip Girl, Mean Girls and Pretty Little Liars. But also, much, much better.

Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl

Another YA mystery-thriller, with a touch of supernatural. Completely unexpected, supremely unpredictable and absolutely crazy! I never thought the story would take such an astonishing turn. Marisha Pessl takes you on one thrilling ride that knows no bounds. So many crazy twists and turns, every time you think you've figured it out...BAM! Sorry buddy, try again. 

This story follows protagonist, Beatrice Hartley, who is back in her Rhode Island hometown, attending Emerson college, living with her parents, helping them at their café and nursing her grief after the sudden death of her boyfriend and first love, a year ago at Darrow-Harker School. 

Beatrice had tried to forget that fateful day, when her boyfriend, Jim, mysteriously died. Everyone ruled it a suicide, but Bea knew that there was no way Jim would opt out and she was also certain that their friends knew more than they let on about that night. Since his death, Bea had completely detached herself from her friends, an elite group that had taken her in even though she came from more humble backgrounds and was not as privileged. 

That summer, Beatrice receives a random text from her best friend Whitley, who invites her over to her house (mansion) to hang out just like old times. Beatrice is very tempted to go, because Jim's death is still nagging at her and she needs to know what happened to him in order to put that chapter to rest.

Upon her arrival, the group - consisting of Kipling, Martha, Cannon and Whitley - is slightly surprised she showed up, but quickly accept her with arms wide open that felt a bit...forced. You could sense there is tension and that the dynamic has shifted in the group in the year that's passed, but everyone was trying to act normal. They go out to a concert, and spend the night drinking and dancing without a care in the world. On the drive back home, it was raining heavily, and Whitley, who was driving, loses control of the car and almost collides with a tow truck. After the scare, they get back home drenched in rain and feeling a bit subdued. As they are drying off, they get a knock on the door and an old man speaking in old English introduces himself and tells them...

"You're all nearly dead. Wedged between life and death. Time for you has become snagged on a splinter, forming a closed-circuited potentiality called a Neverworld Wake."

The rules of this world are explained to them. He informs them that the driver of the tow truck is dead, and that 4 of them will also have to die, and only one can survive. They have to vote who that person will be, and it has to be a unanimous vote. Until they decide, they will be living the same day over and over and over again, in a constant time loop straight out of Groundhog Day. There's only one way to break that loop, during the last 3 minutes of their day, they will be given the chance to make their vote. Until they can reach a consensus, the loop will repeat itself, with the day playing itself out endlessly from the moment they hit the truck. Every day, they will wake up at the exact moment they hit the truck. 

In that time, they are able to leave, go home, see their families, live their lives normally, until they go to bed, and then they wake up repeating the same cycle, with their loved ones completely oblivious to their plight and no memory of the day before. Every one in the group deals with this news in their own way, some becoming violent, others in denial, Martha trying to study the science behind the Wake phenomena, but Bea...Bea wanted to solve Jim's mysterious death. 

These loops were insane. I mean, absolutely insane. Think the violence of "A Clockwork Orange" kind of insanity. The group goes into a rampage, stealing, lying, thieving, seducing and turn into absolute monsters. When they all end up collapsing...and we are never sure how much time has passed or how many Wakes they've lived, Bea confronts them and tells them of her need to find out what happened to Jim. Enter Martha, who has figured out how they can move through time and space during the loop. They use that new knowledge to try and find out what really happened that night, and the deceptions and lies begin to reveal themselves, breaking the group apart, then bringing them back together, defeated and desperate.

This is where Pessl's true skill shows as she is able to really navigate the readers through all the confusing timelines, clues and complex bits and pieces in a way that was always easy to follow and understand. As we race towards the end, and the true events of that fateful night is revealed to us, we think we have it all figured out and reach acceptance, only for Pessl to pull blow us away with another explosive twist. 

Everything we thought we know, the stereotypes that we set ourselves and other people go out the window. That is one of the many things Pessl tries to convey with this story. I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes from the book that really sums up that thought:

"We swear we see each other, but all we are ever able to make out is a tiny porthole view of an ocean. We think we remember the past as it was, but our memories are as fantastic and flimsy as dreams. It's so easy to hate the pretty one, worship the genius, love the rock star, trust the good girl. That's never their only story. We are all anthologies. We are each thousands of pages long, filled with fairy tales and poetry, mysteries and tragedy, forgotten stories in the back no one will ever read."