Booklist Reviews
It's a murder mystery, Breakfast Club–style: five students from different social spheres walk into detention. Only four walk out. Simon, the outcast at the helm of the high school's brutal (and always true) gossip app has been murdered, and he had dirt on all four students in detention with him. Brainy good-girl Bronwyn knows she didn't kill Simon, and she doesn't think drug-dealing Nate, everyone's favorite suspect, did either. Simon knew something that could ruin homecoming princess Addy's perfect relationship, but Addy's always been so timid. And baseball superstar Cooper has a secret, but it's not what Simon said, and everyone knows Simon was never wrong. Trailed by suspicion, the four team up to clear their names—and find the real killer—even as proving their innocence becomes increasingly more difficult. Told in alternating perspectives among the four, this is a fast-paced thriller with twists that might surprise even the most hardened mystery reader. An engaging, enticing look at the pressures of high school and the things that cause a person to lose control. Copyright 2017 Booklist Reviews.
School Library Journal Reviews
Gr 8 Up—A smart, twisted, and unpredictable YA mystery that will have readers guessing until the very end. This debut novel follows four high school students thrown together in detention with the creator of their school's gossip app. All of them come out alive. The creator doesn't. And now they are all suspects in his murder. Each student takes a turn at narrating, and tension builds as secrets are revealed in a way that mirrors the gossip app. Who is telling the truth? Who is lying? McManus uses alternating viewpoints to tell the story. Each chapter is short and quick, which makes the plot move at a fast pace and will engage readers. At the beginning, keeping characters straight might be a tough task for some, but it is easy to understand the motives of each character, and they soon become easier to distinguish. This factor makes it hard to know who is guilty and who is innocent.
Voice of Youth Advocates Reviews
The brain, the jock, the beauty queen, the delinquent, and the outsider—each is doing his or her time in afterschool detention. It sounds like a setup for a remake of The Breakfast Club—until only four of them leave the classroom alive. At first everyone thinks Simon, the outcast, accidentally ingested the peanuts that led to his fatal allergic reaction. It quickly becomes apparent that Simon's anaphylaxis was no accident, however, but a carefully thought-out plan. As the editor of a popular high school gossip app, Simon had more than his share of enemies, including each of the four other detention attendees. Police discover that Simon was about to divulge character-damaging information about each of them. Could one of them have murdered Simon to protect his or her reputation? McManus's intense mystery unfolds through the eyes of each of the four suspects. At the beginning, the characters are little more than stereotypes, and it is only the intriguing plot that keeps the story moving. As the story progresses, however, each character becomes more complex and nuanced, adding richness and depth to the suspense. McManus captures the power of social media among high school students and the tangled web of ever-changing relationships that is the fabric of adolescent life. Give to readers looking for mysteries set securely in the teen world.—Heather Christensen. 4Q 5P J S Copyright 2017 Voya Reviews.