This is Our Story

This is one of the best YA thrillers I’ve read, hands down. Generally YA thrillers tend to be a bit cheesy, characters are not realistic, plots are a bit far-fetched. This one was to-the-point, relied on proof and deduction rather than chance encounters (the main character works in the DA's office) and the characters were well-crafted. Kate, the main character, is down-to-earth and driven but she still is believable as a high school student since she doesn't always make the smartest choices. The boys are quite difficult to distinguish from one another, which is the whole point: they have to act the same so that none of them can be singled out as the killer, and I think that was done quite well. I did not guess who the killer was. Overall, I liked the characters and their development and think the plot was well-done, gripping and enticing.

O propozitie... TREBUIE SA CITITI CARTEA ASTA!!!!

4.5 It was like reading a Criminal Minds episode. I love the suspense and the thrill, plus the hint of romance. What a great read that was.

O propozitie... TREBUIE SA CITITI CARTEA ASTA!!!!

Just became one of my favorites EVER. My heart was pounding out of my chest the whole time. I hope one day I can have a story as beautiful and exciting as this!

Five rich boys went hunting at River Point while drunk and high. Only four of them went home. Everyone wants to know who killed the fifth one, but the survivors aren't talking and there's no evidence pointing to one or the other. Kate works for the attorney assigned the River Point case and she has a personal interest in figuring out who is responsible for Grant's death, an interest that can't be made public if she wants to keep her job. But as she digs deeper into the incident, it becomes clear that nothing is as it appears and the chance that this was a murder, rather than an accident, becomes more and more likely. And Kate's digging hasn't gone unnoticed. She needs to figure out who the killer is, and quickly, or more lives may be on the line. I loved the pacing in this book. There were no boring lulls and the revelations were appropriately spaced out through the book. The thing I probably appreciated the most were the short (1-3 page) anonymous interludes from the killer. We knew that he was the one who shot Grant, but we didn't know which of the boys it was. These interludes made clear the killer's thought process after he did the deed and as he continued to hide his guilt from the others. They really heightened the suspense and upped the stakes of the story, creating additional worry for Kate's safety. I also loved the text message epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter. Again, these gave us additional information about the motivations and thoughts of the characters that enhanced the reading experience. My biggest disappoint with the book was probably the romance. Not gonna lie, I was pretty happy with the assumption at the beginning of the book that no romance was gonna happen on the page because Kate's romantic partner was dead before the book began. (view spoiler)[But then there was the revelation that she was texting Shep instead (hide spoiler)] and we still have to deal with romantic drama and I just didn't need that and it definitely took away from my overall enjoyment of the book. The ending was very neat and tidy. Kate was able to find the crucial bit of missing evidence that clearly implicated one person and she was able to arrange a super drama-filled reveal in the middle of an official hearing that justified her interference and judgment throughout the investigation. I have a feeling that if I read more mysteries (I tend to avidly avoid them) I might have been less satisfied with the ending, but it worked well for me so I have no complaints. All in all, this was a quick, engrossing story that's definitely worth a read.

I found this to such a engaging mystery. I overall really liked the various structures in this novel and it was super fun read and engaging read. I really did liked the book and found the mystery to be super compelling. I wish I felt more connected to the "suspects" in this end because the end did not make the much of impact on me because I did not feel anything for those characters. I really did like the romance that developed and the setting of this novel. It does make me more motivated to pick up by this author in the future.

Rating: 4 Stars I really like this book! I like the concept of 5 supposedly "close" friends go hunting one morning and one never makes it out of the woods. Its brillent actually because all throughout the book I was like "oh, this one did it, no wait this one did it..." and so on. It was a very well executed whodunit murder mystery. The plot was not at all predictable, in fact I felt that there were a lot of unexpected twists, and especially the ending (although I wish it would have been more dramatic, it kinda fell flat for me) I rate this book 4 stars because, 1 it was slow to start, I didn't find that the beginning was very engaging or hooking; and 2 the ending as I mentioned earlier. All in all a good solid mystery novel!

Five boys go out shooting in the woods. One of them gets shot. The other four have sealed lips and guilty faces. The town is outraged. No one knows who's to blame for this murder, but they'll try their best to figure it out. This story is told primarily through Kate's point of view. I loved Kate immediately. She has a drive and determination that's truly admirable. She was interning at the District Attorney's office, where she was able to really push for the chance to figure out this crime. I loved how smart and determined she was, how she didn't let anything get past her without second-guessing it and studying it extensively. She's definitely my type of girl! The added element that I LOVED in this story was that we also got little glimpses into the boys. One of the boys was a narrator as well, and his characters were sprinkled around here and there. It added SO MUCH to this intense story, I truly loved reaching those creepy chapters. The way this story was told was pretty perfect, if you ask me. I had my guesses throughout, those I truly had ZERO idea of how this was all going to wrap up. This was such a well-told story, never slowing down or feeling boring. It was incredible from beginning to end. Oh! And we can't forget to mention the romance. YES! A mystery book with romance!! I know it's pretty tough to tie in romance in a story like this, but Ashley Elston was able to do it flawlessly. I'm all for romance in my books, and this one was the perfect addition to this otherwise extremely intense story. With stories like this, I purposely keep my thoughts on the vague side. I'd hate to give anything away that would take away from this book. It's truly a gem, and I hope more people pick it up. If you're a fan of mysteries and thrillers (without all the unnecessary gore and scariness) this is definitely a must-read! :)   (Thanks to Disney Hyperion for the review copy!) Find this review and others like it at Lost in Literature!

I'm mentioned before that I still don't know why I read YA mysteries. I think because it's a habit I can't quite kick, even though the last good YA mystery I read was back in November, when I got stupid lucky and read two within a very short period of time and neither made me want to throw the book off a cliff. Oddly, I spent most of this book feeling fairly neutral about it. And by "fairly neutral" I mean absolutely nothing. Seriously, this book did not get one emotion reaction out of me except maybe mild intrigue and detached curiosity. However, that actually worked in the book's favor for much of it, as my lack of emotion reaction stopped the main character from annoying me any more than slight irritation. Because if I was reading it with my normal attentiveness and emotional passion, I probably would have hated our lovely Kate. Instead, apart from a few snarky notes I wrote down, I didn't care much about her except as a narrative vehicle who occasionally got under my skin. Of course, perhaps my lack of emotional attachment came from the fact that this is pretty generic YA mystery shit. You know, corrupt town, rich boys getting away with everything, main heroine with your typical poor fatherless background- Elston didn't take any risks here. The only reason why I even picked this book up in the first place was because she worked in a prosecutor's office and I hoped it would have some crime elements along with the mystery. And it did, and that made me happy- I especially liked the detective interviews with the boys. I was amazed by just how much Elston seemed to enjoy the art of character assassination. No one is morally grey here, everyone is either pure evil or wonderful. Frankly, I especially found Grant to be a let down because she didn't really need to completely butcher his character for the sake of the story. And also, if he did turn out to be a complete asshole then why would I actually want the murder to be resolved, anyway? In order for a murder mystery novel to work, I actually have to give a damn in some capacity who the victim is. I think one of the biggest problems in this novel is how all the River Point Boys, even the victim, were shown to be complete and utter assholes. Except, of course, Love Interest. But for most of the book I couldn't help but think "Would it really matter if they all went free? Or if they all went to prison? I mean, sure, sucks, whatever, but no great loss to society either way, right? If they all went free, it wouldn't matter because Grant turned out to be a dickhead anyway and it's pretty safe to say that the killer isn't going to kill again, and if they all went to jail than it would also not really matter because they were also all kind of dickheads." Needless to say, those are not thoughts I should have running through my head when reading a whodunnit. I would also like to take this moment to say that I am so sick of the constant corruption that it seems like every YA rich person/official seems to be take part in. Why don't we ever find nice, normal, well-adjusted rich kids, or mayors, or sheriffs, or prosecutors, or whatever? Is that what teens want to read about, now? Honestly, by falling back on these cliches it becomes a convenient way to avoid depth, and the authors know that these cliches are safe anyway because, especially if they're white, most of the reviewers are going to eat it up anyway, talking about how "refreshing" it is to see this happen when in reality it happens in every goddamn book. *deep breath* Continue reading this review on my blog here: https://bookwormbasics.blogspot.com/2...

Dat ik dit boek binnen 24 uur heb uitgelezen geeft wel aan hoe verslavend en leuk dit boek was. Hoewel ik in eerste instantie een vermoeden had wie het had gedaan, wat juist was, werd ik daarna constant tussen de andere jongens heen en weer geslingerd. Elston heeft deze thriller goed uitgewerkt en weet je tot de laatste pagina mee te slepen in Kate's zoektocht naar de waarheid!