“They didn’t talk much, but their silence was companionable.”
This book actually had some potential. In the first few chapters. I didn’t have the highest expectations, but I was hoping that this would be a solid murder mystery, along with learning more information about the characters and the motives along the way. The first mistake I made was assuming that since the library included “mystery” on the label, it must be a mystery driven story. Turns out I was wrong, and 90% of this book was romance. I would have been fine with it normally, as sometimes I enjoy small romances, but this was just badly done altogether.
First of all, the plot was just bad. There’s literally nothing else to say. The author completely dumped murders in and by the end of the book, about 6 people were killed or almost killed. The murders had no meaning and when the motive of the murderer was revealed, there was no depth in it. Also, who the murderer is halfway through the book. By that point, I was considering DNFing it. The main reason I was still reading it from the first chapter was to figure out who the murderer was. The author tried to throw blame at a variety of characters to deflect the reader from knowing who murdered everyone, but there was no solid reasoning towards it. Also, when Makani’s deep past was revealed, I actually didn’t care. I have no idea why it was even in there. Its probably connected to the murderer’s motives but it was so random and out of place.
In addition to the plot, this book ruined both Ollie and Makani to me in a long list of ways. I didn’t understand the romance also and it seemed so forced. One day, Makani randomly talks to Ollie, but then they suddenly fall in love for no reason at all. They don’t develop any relationship that slowly turns into love. In fact, they barely talk to each other at all prior to them deciding they should fall in love. The characters themselves are just so dull. Makani is your average girl who is desperate for love, and I don’t even know what to say about Ollie. It’s like he’s just there. He doesn’t play any important role in the story (neither does Makani). I’m not sure if they author tried to make the reader pity him by making him an orphan, and giving him long work sessions, but I could care less about him. However, when you compare him with Makani, it’s like he’s suddenly an amazing character again.
With Makani, I can’t even count the number of times she annoyed me. She doesn’t care about anyone but herself (and Ollie), and constantly ignores her friends who are a bit cautious of Ollie. I think it would be a bit reasonable to be cautious of someone if they find your phone number out of nowhere and start contacting you. It’s reasonable to say that maybe if you don’t give someone your phone number, but they randomly find it for an unknown reason, it’s a bit suspicious. At one point I considered her being the killer, because from when she was watching the news about people being killed, it’s like she didn’t care at all. She kept on pointing out that “oh the facts were wrong” instead of focusing on what really happened, that three of her classmates got killed. I’m surprised she isn’t a psychopath either. Actually, the book was so bad that I didn’t pay attention at all, and maybe I missed a few facts, but I wasn’t going to suffer by reading every detail with close attention.
Overall, this book gets 1 star because I don’t give out 0 stars, and .25 stars for trying and for it’s potential. I don’t know where the praise on the back of the book comes from, but it just wasn’t for me. In the end, if you want to waste a few hours of your life, reading about a narcissistic girl and her love interest, with no plot, I think this is the book for you.