Study Guide

I’m confused - is this the first book in a series?

The blurb sounded promising, and I’m sad that I didn’t like the story as much as I thought I would. While I found the slow reveal of bits and pieces of Grace’s history intriguing (and terrifying), some things in the story didn’t add up for me. One of those (and this one’s a doozy) was Grace’s mom. I do not understand why she acted how she did, both in the past and in the present. Some events happened for no apparent (to me) reason while some questions never got resolved.

More often than not, at one point in the story, the title makes sense and things fall into place, but this didn’t happen for me (YMMV). Is this supposed to be the first book in a series and the open question will be answered later?

A little extra? Maybe?

I have read and enjoyed both Pyper’s and Roxie’s books, and I was very much looking forward to Kai’s story. It was as entertaining and chock-full of quirky characters (as well as some old friends from the previous stories) as I’ve come to expect from Cori Cooper, and I found it super easy to root for Kai - for the most part. But sometimes I couldn’t help but wonder how and why he put up with Shelby’s harebrained shenanigans. (Anyone else thought Shelby was a bit - if not totes… - extra? No? Just me?) But overall, it was a fun read and I’m looking forward to the next book, be it in this series or another. :)

The story was good, but there are a lot of unanswered questions! The fact that a lot of things are left to the imagination or personal conclusions is a combination of great and unsettling. I like being able to keep a book that I have read going in my brain - to reach my own conclusions and decisions - but a lot of it seems unfinished and like there's more to that to be filled in. But I really did like the story!

A great story (if a slow read), but the passing between the last propter chapter and the epilogue was a bit jarring, too sudden, too much info skipped then retold. I guess the author was in a hurry to finish it near the end.

I loved how the struggles of the “other” side were described!

Three stars if I'm honest about how much I liked the story (quite good except for the final act), but I'm giving it four stars because it's so beautifully written.