Review: Last Seen

Read if you like: dark, twisty thrillers, mysteries that keep you guessing, and a tight-knit gang of friends

Last Seen | Sara Shepard

Series: The Amateurs

Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller
Released: October 4th 2018
Pages: 293
Format: Ebook
Source: Publisher

At first, the mystery they're tasked with seems to have nothing to do with Aerin or her kidnapper. But as Seneca, Maddox and Madison hit the Jersey Shore to gather clues, they begin to uncover the true background of the killer and the horrors that shaped him into who he is. The scavenger hunt leads them to the family of a recently kidnapped boy and dark secrets they could never have seen coming. 

As Aerin struggles to play nice with the person who killed her sister in order to buy herself time, her friends work feverishly against the ticking clock that could mean her life, and every clue they uncover leads Seneca to suspect she's more connected to the killer's history than she ever realised ... 

Weirdly, this was my least favourite book of the series, even though we got loads of answers and the story arc wrapped up. I did enjoy it, and the mystery built nicely. I liked the insight into Brett, and how his past tied into the present case. I did like how it all wrapped up, and everyone got their happily ever after, whatever form that took, but the end ... something about it felt flat for me. Possibly because the book actually ended around 85%, so I thought something more was going to happen. And absolutely no hint in the blurb that this was the final book, which was irritating. But still, it was a really good book and I'd highly recommend this series to anyone who loves a twisty, compelling murder mystery.

4 stars

Review: Follow Me

Read if you like: thrillers that leave you guessing, mysteries that throw twist after twist, a seriously strong cast of characters.

Follow Me | Sara Shepard

Series: The Amateurs

Genre: YA Mystery, Thriller
Released: October 5th 2017
Pages: 288
Format: Ebook
Source: Publisher

Everyone knows Chelsea Dawson. Day and night, her tens of thousands of followers on Instagram watch her every move. So when she goes missing from the sunny beachside town of Lafayette, it makes headlines.

The police are searching everywhere for her kidnapper, but when eighteen-year-old Seneca Frazier sees Chelsea's picture, she knows instantly who took her. Chelsea looks exactly like her friend Aerin Kelly's murdered sister - and Seneca's own mother, who was killed five years ago.

Seneca's suspicions are confirmed when the killer contacts her, threatening to hurt Chelsea if Seneca goes to the police with what she knows. Seneca makes the only move she can, reaching out to Aerin and Maddox and Madison Wright, her friends from Case Not Closed, an amateur crime-solving community. Together they go to Lafayette to work the case, to save Chelsea, and to bring the killer to justice.

But the killer has a plan of his own. He wants Seneca and her friends in Lafayette, but he wants them to play by his rules. One wrong step could mean the end for Chelsea - or the Amateurs. 

Not quite as good as the Amateurs but just as exciting and deadly. The secrets keep piling in this book, and not even the Amateurs can predict the next move of the killer - someone they thought was their friend. I loved every element of this, from insights into Brett's twisted mind to all the clues and cleverness. There's just enough emotional bits to temper the mystery and crime solving too, which I loved. These characters are so interesting and varied, a really strong team. And that ending... I'm so excited for book three!

This series is awesome.

5 stars

ARC Review: The Amateurs

The Amateurs: The Amateurs | Sara Shepard

Published by: Hot Key Books, October 6th 2016

Genre: YA, Mystery, Thriller

Pages: 336

Format: Ebook

Source: Hot Key Books, via Netgalley

Everyone's dying to know the truth . . .

When Aerin Kelly was eleven, she idolised her seventeen-year-old sister, Helena, and they did everything together. They made Claymation movies and posted them to YouTube. They made fun of Windmere-Carruthers, the private school they attended, they invented new flavours for their parents' organic ice cream shop, and they dressed up their golden retriever, Buster. But when Helena went into senior year things started to change. Rather than being Aerin's inseparable sister, she started to push her away. Then, on a snowy winter's day, Helena vanished. 

Four years later, Helena's body is found. Wracked with grief and refusing to give up on her sister, Aerin spends months trying to figure out what exactly happened to Helena and who killed her. But the police have no leads. A young, familiar officer named Thomas wants to help and suggests she checks out a website called Case Not Closed. Hesitantly, she posts, and when teenagers Seneca and Maddox show up on her doorstep offering to help investigate she accepts in desperation. Both have suffered their own losses and also posted to the site with no luck, so they are hoping this case might be the one they crack. But as their investigation begins, it seems that maybe it's no accident that they are all together, and that maybe the crimes have something - or someone - in common.

Thank God the next book comes out next summer because I don't think I can wait a full year. Actually, I could easily read another five books in this series right now. The mystery is next level, tense, dangerous, and twisty as hell (I expected nothing less.) 

But the characters! Look, I loved everyone, even That Guy (who I felt BAD FOR when Aerin didn't reciprocate.) Seneca especially - she's awesome and smart and I connect with her a whole lot. Everyone in this book is flawed, and messed up, and they're all the more real for it. Plus, two of them are WOC. Even minor characters have their secrets and are completely dynamic, I'm dying to know what happens to the amateurs next. 

I'm just stunned by how good this book is, and where it went. Holy hell, Sara Shepard, you don't do things by halves.

Characters ★★★★★
Setting/World ★★★★☆

Writing ★★★★★