Little Monsters

I didn’t think I’d actually like this book, I listened to the audiobook kind of as a filler while I was doing other things, but I had to stop listening and start reading it.

It almost lost me at first, but then I got to the pov of the missing girl and I felt the plot twisting.

You could mistake it for a plain book at the start, but the story is actually really chilling the more you read. By the end I was actually really surprised and disturbed. I thought about it for days.

Creepy af but couldn’t put down!

This was so anticlimactic. I don’t understand the hype over it. It took my longer than usual to finish because I was bored, and I felt the book was being dragged on with no advances in the “thriller” aspect. It was really disappointing because I had high hopes :/

SO I JUST FINISHED READING 'THE CHEERLEADERS' AND NATURALLY, I WENT TO THE AUTHORS PAGE AND I SAW THAT I'VE READ ONE OF HER OTHER BOOKS WHICH WAS THIS. I APPARENTLY LIKED IT SO MUCH, GAVE IT 4.5 STARS, AND NOW I CAN'T EVEN REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED???? I'VE BEEN RACKING MY BRAIN FOR THE PAST 15 MINUTES; I'VE BEEN GOOGLING SHIT, HOPING THAT I'D STUMBLE UPON A REVIEW WITH A SPOILER TO JOGGLE MY MEMORY. I MEAN, I CAN'T POSSIBLY HAVE LIKED A BOOK THIS MUCH ONLY TO NOT REMEMBER WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!! SO, IF YOU'RE READING THIS AND YOU'VE READ THIS BOOK, KINDLY LET ME KNOW THE ENDING OR THE REVEAL OR SOMETHING. PLEASE, THIS GIRL'S BEGGING. (and what do you know, I started reading The Cheerleaders on April 12 and finished it on April 13 and I read this book, Little Monsters, on April 12 2018 and finished on April 13 2018. Isn't that cute. LOL OKAY PLS LET ME KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!!) ---- 4.5 Okay, I like it. Definitely twisted. I also like that it wasn't all that predictable. ----- currently-reading: I'm about 85% sure that Jade did all this.

Super fast paced read! Definitely did not come even close to guessing the ending

Hmmmmmm. That did not end where I thought it was going. Infuriating at times but very compelling for the most part. It definitely picked up the pace around the 20-30% mark. Hit the spot since I’ve been in a thriller/ horror kick at the moment.

In all honesty, I thought this book sucked. The mystery was dull at best and I figured it out halfway through. I just didn't like this book and I'm gonna stop myself before I go off on a rant.

Little Monsters had me hooked up to the very last page of the book. I've read a lot of thrillers, but found the plot incredibly thrilling. Although it did feel a little too long in places, I found the last few chapters of the book compelling to finish. I was pleasantly surprised by the ending and left reeling at the conclusion the story reached. This would be a brilliant introductory book to mystery thrillers.

I think I've read way too many thrillers. I was looking forward to this, but I think the characters (and especially the perpetrator/s) needed more depth for the twists to make sense.

After a volatile encounter with her mother, Kacey's social worker decides the best thing for the teenager is to move to the small town of Broken Falls to live with her father--who she's never met. When she arrives, she's surprised to also meet her new stepmother, her stepbrother, and her half-sister. She quickly befriends Bailey and Jade, two girls who seem to share her carefree attitude. But when Bailey goes missing, all the clues lead to Kacey as the culprit. Will the new girl with a history of violence be able to prove her innocence? More importantly, will Bailey ever be found? Little Monsters reads like a generic teen thriller with a plot that was vaguely reminiscent of popular teen dramas (Pretty Little Liars anyone?). Unfortunately, the most interesting part of this novel was within the last twenty or so pages--and even then, it was almost a copy of something I've seen in a True Crime Daily episode. The rest of the novel was Kacey complaining about her "punk girl persona" that everyone judged her for (we get it, she's not like other girls) and every other line was how she "pulled her knees to her chest". She wasn't entirely unlikable, but she didn't have any depth to her that would make me care about her being the center of the investigation. She would mention that she'd black out during fights, but it was never mentioned again--so what was the point of having her black out if it did nothing to advance the plot? The biggest issue was Bailey's convenient diary entries that narrated her perspective. What are the chances that the missing girl's diary could clue us into what actually happened that night at the barn, or the night she disappeared, or how she really felt about Kacey and Jade? It was a lazy plot device that was meant to incite shock, but it was more annoying than anything and, of course, it helped solve the case. The novel attempted to end with a cliffhanger, but it didn't entirely make sense, seeing as the end of the novel was rushed--we spent so much time with Kacey halfheartedly trying to solve the mystery, then we get slammed with the reveal, the trial, the epilogue. Overall, Little Monsters suffered from poor pacing, flat characters, and a reliance on tropes and twists that made it predictable and bland.

This book had me guessing until the very end! Amazing book. November 2020. I'm so glad I did a reread! I definitely forgot a lot. Will be reviewing soon (didn't review the first time around).

I'm honestly blown away at how much I liked this novel. The fact that it's YA is almost irrelevant - it reads very much like other non-age specific thriller / mysteries I've read. The only reason I didn't rate at 5 was the ending was wrapped up a little too neatly for me. I felt there were opportunities to say some interesting things about relationships, self-worth, trust, family, media, rumour, but they were foregone in favour of plot lines. I would definitely recommend it to others looking for a solid thriller/mystery though, and I'll personally pick up another book by this author in the future on the strength of this book.

Little Monsters By: Kara Thomas 4.5/5 stars. Kacey is the new girl in Broken Falls. When she moved in with her father, she stepped into a brand-new life. A life with a stepbrother, a stepmother, and strangest of all, an adoring younger half sister. Kacey’s new life is eerily charming compared with the wild highs and lows of the old one she lived with her volatile mother. And everyone is so nice in Broken Falls—she’s even been welcomed into a tight new circle of friends. Bailey and Jade invite her to do everything with them. Which is why it’s so odd when they start acting distant. And when they don’t invite her to the biggest party of the year, it doesn’t exactly feel like an accident. But Kacey will never be able to ask, because Bailey never makes it home from that party. Suddenly, Broken Falls doesn’t seem so welcoming after all—especially once everyone starts looking to the new girl for answers. Kacey is about to learn some very important lessons: Sometimes appearances can be deceiving. Sometimes when you’re the new girl, you shouldn’t trust anyone. My overview : Lets just applause Kara Thomas she is so good in her writing. And her ending. This book was one of the book that got me out of a reading slump. It keeps us on your toes. You have no clue at what really happens that night until you get at the end. It does go in the past often so you learn a lot about the main character Kacey, and her past. So then you get to relate to her in this story. Go read this books is really good. In my opinion and very creepy. Con: Sometimes when it goes in the past it gets slower to read . Pros: Relationship with Kacey's family. Love the writing and the story line. Quotes: When we're shut inside Bailey's car, Lauren stops screaming and starts to whimper. I take her ice-cold hand in mine. '' You didn't get hurt, did you? '' Bridget looks up at me. Says nothing , as if i don't exist. Her nose is red, as if she's been crying. She has always reminded me of an animated Disney princess—overexaggerated green eye, honey-blond hair, and freckle. Thank you for reading.

It took me a while to get into it, but when I did I was fully invested! I loved the story, the pacing was phenomenal only the characters were a bit meh for me. Also it did see the ending coming, but it was still a good ending.

***4 Stars*** I haven’t really read any YA thriller books, but the title and cover is what caught my eye for this book. Then I read the synopsis, and I was definitely intrigued. To me this book had almost a mean girls meets pretty little liars vibe to it. It definitely kept me on the edge and wanting to know what the outcome was going to be. I don’t want to say much because then it would be giving the story away. I will say that not only did I just read the book, I listened to the audible along with it, and it just made it very enjoyable. It made it all just seem like I was watching a tv show. Overall I really loved this book, and it was just what I needed to boost my want to read again. I definitely will be reading more from this author.

I like the pacing of this book. It’s a slow burn, but it’s planned out with little crumbs along the way, which leave you questioning what you think is happening. It’s wrapped up nicely so you’re not left wandering what happened. Enjoyable read.

Note: Actual rating is 3.5 stars I really enjoyed this book. I love thrillers. And while Thomas kept me guessing throughout the entire book and did SO WELL with the red herrings I felt a little flat by the end. There is a lot going on with these characters that you really only get glimpses of. The mix of contemporary YA and mystery I am finding leaves me slightly underwhelmed, because of the focus to build BOTH rather than having a full on mystery thriller. It makes the book enjoyable, sure, but it also leaves me wanting more from both angles. The characters in this book? Oh boy. They are some doozies. The main three were not likeable characters. I personally loved this in a thriller sense though. And holy crap some of the internal dialogue - SHIVERS. This is the creep factor that I want to see more of in YA mysteries. I really wish I had some of this dialogue (just a wee hint) from riiight at the beginning though. The ending, as everyone has said you won't see coming. You just won't. I was a little bummed because I felt there weren't enough clues for the ending. But maybe I'm just really upset that I never figured it out.

This is a damn good YA mystery novel. It's smart, it keeps you on your toes, it actually pulls the rug out from under you. It is everything books like A Good Idea wish to be. Don't be fooled by the summary- it was the reason I dodged this book since it came out. I was tempted on Thomas' debut, especially since it had such an enigmatic, cover, but got really burned out on YA thrillers around the same time it starting appearing on the shelves everywhere. I should have given it a chance. Little Monsters actually came so, so close to being the kind of book I hate. The revenge thriller, with the obvious good guy and obnoxiously obvious bad guy. I brought up A Good Idea earlier because I thought that that was where this book was going. Bailey's ex hook-up was the kind of douche ex with connections that's appeared as the culprit in dozens of other YA books, usually caught by the heroine and not the police, somehow, who are all either corrupt or stupid. Not in this book. I kept telling myself, he was too obvious, he wouldn't have actually done it, and he didn't do it. In fact, I ended up actually liking that part, because it showed that Thomas wasn't so attached to Kacey she was going to make her some genius protege detective, and also that the cops, trained crime fighters, were in fact smart enough to rule out almost immediately a false lead. It made this novel come across as more believable than your typical YA mystery novel. I think my favorite thing about this novel, though, was the fact that it reminded me of an episode of some ID channel show. I could see it on Murder Among Friends, especially. It had plenty of twists and turns, and at the same time was formulaic enough to make it easy to read and to make me want to read more. I wanted to find out what was going to happen next, but at the same time I was savvy enough in the genre to know that the real killer isn't going to be revealed until the end. And when the killers were revealed, I was surprised at one, and even though I pretty much figured out who the other one was, I was still pleasantly surprised she made that decision. I like authors who take risks, and this one pays off. As a YA mystery novel, this book is one of the best of the genre, no questions asked. Continue reading this review on my blog here: https://bookwormbasics.blogspot.com/2...

I have just finished this book and I don’t think I will ever be ok again. The ending was so intense that my stomach is literally in knots. I don’t think i will be able to sleep tonight. This book killed me. I want to forget everything I read and start all over again.