Published: January 8, 2019
Genre: Mystery, Young Adult
Hardcover Pages: 336
Synopsis: Echo Ridge is small-town America. Ellery's never been there, but she's heard all about it. Her aunt went missing there at age seventeen. And only five years ago, a homecoming queen put the town on the map when she was killed. Now Ellery has to move there to live with a grandmother she barely knows.
The town is picture-perfect, but it's hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone's declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Then, almost as if to prove it, another girl goes missing.
Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she's in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous--and most people aren't good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it's safest to keep your secrets to yourself.
Thoughts: It's been a little while since I read a book in such a short amount of time - only five days, ha! Granted, I have read a book in just a handful of hours before (that would be The Fault in Our Stars in case you're wondering), but it's been quite a long time. Also, I mean, I did start reading it on a three hour plane ride and proceeded to finish half the book in that time, so otherwise it probably would have taken longer.
But I digress, you don't care about my reading habits! I guess that was just all a long way of saying that I did really enjoy this book! McManus does a great job of setting up the worlds of both leads Ellery and Malcolm, and how they end up coming together through the many mysteries that plague the small town they are both living in.
The story moved at a great pace, building up the mystery and giving clues at what felt like all the right moments. Things did come to a head perhaps a little bit abruptly, but then again, you don't really want the story to draw things out when it gets to that ending point either. So yes, I did appreciate that the ending was quick and satisfying.
What was also nice was that it wasn't just about the main mystery, there were also some side mysteries going on too that had more to do with the main characters, giving the final resolution more meaning as it focused more on those things than just the resolution of the main mystery. I just noticed that the synopsis doesn't even mention Malcolm, even though he and Ellery both share first-person narrative duties here. I guess synopsis-wise, it was just easier to talk about her alone. But I enjoyed both of their chapters, which isn't always the case when authors switch between characters.
If you enjoy mysteries, I'd definitely give this a go! It's a quick read and satisfying!
Rating: 4.5/5
But I digress, you don't care about my reading habits! I guess that was just all a long way of saying that I did really enjoy this book! McManus does a great job of setting up the worlds of both leads Ellery and Malcolm, and how they end up coming together through the many mysteries that plague the small town they are both living in.
The story moved at a great pace, building up the mystery and giving clues at what felt like all the right moments. Things did come to a head perhaps a little bit abruptly, but then again, you don't really want the story to draw things out when it gets to that ending point either. So yes, I did appreciate that the ending was quick and satisfying.
What was also nice was that it wasn't just about the main mystery, there were also some side mysteries going on too that had more to do with the main characters, giving the final resolution more meaning as it focused more on those things than just the resolution of the main mystery. I just noticed that the synopsis doesn't even mention Malcolm, even though he and Ellery both share first-person narrative duties here. I guess synopsis-wise, it was just easier to talk about her alone. But I enjoyed both of their chapters, which isn't always the case when authors switch between characters.
If you enjoy mysteries, I'd definitely give this a go! It's a quick read and satisfying!
Rating: 4.5/5
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