Laura Roecker

Kate's life turned completely upside down when her best friend Grace died in a terrible fire. She never believed it was an accident. She always knew there was something more. Her parents sent her to a therapist because she had changed so much, her attitude and her look, but she didn't ask for everyone to stop talking to her including her former friend, Maddie, who was also friends with Grace. She didn't ask to change. She didn't ask for her best friend to die. Grace was the center of their group so when she died Kate could no longer think of anything else. She's been consumed by her death. It was a turning point in her life and she's not going to stop until she finds out the truth and is able to seek her own form of justice. So when she gets an e-mail, an e-mail she's been hoping for, from her dead best friend she knows it's time to find out what really happened a year ago and how to save her best friend once and for all.

This was a perfect book after reading Two Truths and a Lie. They both have great mysteries and keep you wondering what is going to happen next. A lot of what Kate goes through reminds me of Veronica Mars. It may have been because over the winter break I watched two days nonstop of the first season of Veronica Mars nonetheless there are similarities. She's abandoned by her friends and treated like an outsider. Kate doesn't do anything or say anything to deserve this. The way it's described everyone looked at her like it was her fault or she was the enemy. She literally did nothing. You could tell there was something going on because of the way she was treated. She changed her image and has this tough, sarcastic attitude but not in an annoying way. Her friend works in the school office for Pete's sake! He helps her get files which is exactly what Veronica Mars friend did for her. These comparison's make me love the book even more because I really like Veronica Mars. There are also secret societies, conspiracies, and the way Grace was a central force in her and her former friend, Maddie's, life. She was this loud, carefree, hang out with the bad boy type. There were all young and naive. None of them were prepared for what High School was going to bring them.

Kate's drive and determination to find where Grace is and what has kept her in hiding leads her to discover some very shady things going on in that school. Her school is filled with a bunch of rich kids who think they are better than you. She gets cast aside a lot. She goes to Cameron, the bad boy ex-boyfriend of Grace, because Grace told her to. Cameron has always been possessive and Grace likes to flirt so nothing good could have come out of that relationship. Nevertheless she needs him and that leads her to Liam, another loner. He's the love interest in this story. It took me a while to warm up to him. I liked Liam a little bit more towards the end but he needs to start standing out more so I can completely believe Kate and his connection. A lot of guys suddenly grew interested in her when she began snooping around and I had to think "what is this a love pentagon!?" Which sounds ridiculous but it felt true at the time. Of course most of them had ulterior motives but still. It was pretty amusing at least to see her reaction to these boys. Kate's best friend is one of the people I consider to be in her pentagon. He's always there for her and asking her questions. Seth is this very goofy and hilarious next door neighbor who's so in love with Kate but he's just too silly to take seriously. He provides the comedy relief in this otherwise nail biting story.

I know that this trilogy is going to make me very anxious. I needed to know what happened next so it's good that I was able to read the other book right after reading this one. I love that she changed her hair from pink to blue too. She obviously realized blue is better. Kate is such a likable character that you want to see her find happiness again. You want her to set things right but it's never that easy. She faces so much in this book and confronts realities that she doesn't want to face. Although I compared her a lot to Veronica Mars she has her own personality and story that has its own individual feel. Her life's completely messed up and her parents refuse to listen to her because they want their Kate back claiming that when Grace died they had lost their daughter too. That's such a messed up thing to say. I hate it when parents in books are as frustrating as hers. She really faces so much and having read the second book already I can tell you that it doesn't get better but she does become stronger and asks more questions. She fights for the truth and I am in love with this trilogy! It's only going to get better.… (altro)