Name: A Line in the Dark
ISBN: 9780735227422

Malinda Lo

Dark, disturbing, and full of twists, this cleverly crafted mystery--a story of love, loyalty, and murder--is sure to delight readers craving a queer teenage girl antihero just as morally complicated as her male counterparts.

A Line in the Dark

Thriller doesn’t kick in until about 1/2 way through. Honestly unexpected!! 

Layla Yaneth

We love the representation!! 

Thriller doesn’t kick in until about 1/2 way through. Honestly unexpected!! 

jess

I was really excited for this book, and for the most part A Line in the Dark was really good - it was very atmospheric, with moderately unlikable but fascinating characters. The thriller part kicks in about 1/3 into the book, giving a fair amount of time to get used to the world. 

I really connected to Jess as a character, even if she wasn't stereotypically likable. She can be jealous, angry, and has a cruel streak and no self-control, but she never annoyed or frustrated me. I really loved reading from her point of view and was kind of disappointed when it changed from first- to third-person in the second half of the novel, because her voice was so present and realistic. This story is about cutthroat teenage girls, and it shows in Jess and all the other characters. While all of them are unlikable and cruel, they're all distinct from each other, and none of them are so frustrating that they get in the way of the story. The relationship between Jess, Angie, and Margot was so tense throughout, and I really loved it - you don't usually see a love triangle from this side, and the different perspective on it was incredibly interesting. 

For most of the book, the thriller aspect of the story was great. New England and boarding schools are two of my favourite settings for thrillers like A Line in the Dark, and it worked really well with this. Malinda Lo made this novel so atmospheric and dark, which I really loved. And it was great up until the last few chapters of the book: spoilers ahoy. (view spoiler)[Margo confessed, and I was thinking, This is it? And while it's not, there was no time to really process the twist and it was difficult to piece everyone and their motives together. The book fell apart in the last few chapters and I was confused. For a thriller, and a whodunit at that, the ending was rather weak and felt really distant from the rest of the book, and I felt a bit cheated. (hide spoiler)]

While this book ended up not being the intense thriller I was expecting, it was still very enjoyable. In particular, the exploration of teenage girls and their cruelties was done really well. If you like books with these unconventional portrayals of teenage girls, you might like A Line in the Dark. 

This review and more can be found on my blog.