The Rosewood Hunt
– Mackenzie Reed –
HarperTeen
Published 31 October 2023
♥♥♥♥
The Rosewood Hunt is a debut novel with plenty of drama, a touch of suspense, romance, mystery and billions of dollars – that have gone missing, obviously.
Category: YA Mystery/Thriller (Page 1 of 6)
Gideon Green in Black and White
– Katie Henry –
Katherine Tegen Books
Published 17 May 2022
♥♥♥♥♥
When you laugh at the dedication and then snort laugh and fist pump at the end of the first chapter you know you are going to love the book and laugh a lot. Which is exactly how it went down reading Gideon Green in Black and White. Looking at the author, who is the author of some of my all time favourite and go-to humour novels, it’s no surprise that this book is funny. Like really, unexpectedly, dry-humour funny. But what was surprising was the mystery (very cool), sleuthing, totally platonic male-female best friend relationship (finally, yes!!) and cute but not attention demanding, just perfect romance.
This Golden State
– Marit Weisenberg –
Flatiron Books
Published 1 March 2022
♥♥♥♥/♥
This Golden State is a delicious book that features mystery in a very realistic fiction style, sweet summer romance with a more serious side of family secrets.
The synopsis is vague. Poppy’s whole life is a little vague. She knows only what her parents have told her and lives by the rules they have set. Never use your name, don’t get close to anyone. Poppy, her sister and their parents have spent their life living off the grid and moving from town to town. Never staying long, always being ready to leave at a moment’s notice, taking nothing with them. For Poppy, it means never having friends, never getting far with her school work, never growing roots. But they must live that way if they are to stay together. Poppy doesn’t know what they are running and hiding from or who, just that her parents are scared and that it would be bad if they were ever caught. Really bad. So she follows the rules. But this latest move is different. Her mother is acting strange. There are mysteries surrounding the house they are staying in and her father seems even more on edge. But he does allow Poppy one luxury she’s never had before – access to a summer school. Finally, Poppy gets to see how well she can really do at something, to test herself and fall in love with the wonders of the world of mathematics. Then there is the mysterious boy who sits next to her in class who everyone seems to know but no one talks to. And then Poppy breaks the rules. It will have far reaching consequences and reveals truths she didn’t even know to look for.
Daughter
– Kate McLaughlin –
Wednesday Books
Published 8 March 2022
♥♥♥
What would you do if you found out your father was the worst kind of serial killer? How would you act when you have to come face-to-face with him for the first time. This is a gritty and dark novel, but didn’t quite sit right with me.
Scarlet’s life is forever changed when two FBI agents arrive at her door. It turns out, the father she never knew is actually on death row for a string of murders and other crimes. Now, dying, her father has one last request. If he can speak with Scarlet, he’ll reveal the locations of the bodies of the other women he killed. Thrown into a world of serial killers, media storms and cold cases, Scarlet must reconcile who is she now that she knows everything she once knew about her life, including her own name, is a lie.
We Were Kings
– Court Stevens –
Thomas Nelson
Published 1 February 2022
♥♥♥♥♥
I do love a good murder mystery and We Were Kings is a jolly fantastic murder mystery. Despite the elements of modern life (masks, hand sanitiser and YouTube) it has a very classic feel. Maybe it’s just because the mystery is in the past, or maybe it’s the setting and overall feel. Classic mystery at its best.
Nyla has lived her whole life knowing her mother loves the woman sitting in jail more than she loves her. When Frankie’s death is pushed forward thanks to a new death penalty ruling, Nyla’s mother falls apart. When a journalist drops a clue that Nyla’s mother might not be who she has always said she is, Nyla decides to investigate and finds herself in the midst of a murder investigation. If she is going to save Frankie and find the real killer, she’ll need to be quick. But no one wants her poking around, especially not the real killer.
These Deadly Games
– Diana Urban –
Wednesday Books
Published 1 February 2022
♥♥♥♥
I’m not entirely sure if I am super impressed with this book, super annoyed or impressed that it both intrigued me and annoyed and horrified me at the same time. Can one be so conflicted about a book? I’m going to lay out the good and the annoying.
These Deadly Games is a thriller that leads its main character Chrystal on a wild game that very quickly turns deadly. No end of twists, puzzles, dares and tasks that might seem innocent but quickly turn deadly. This mystery thriller is high stakes and there are some very serious consequences.
For Chrystal, her focus is completely set on winning a spot in her friends’ esports team. The prize money would ensure her family could stay in their home. But when she receives a text with an image of her younger sister tied up with a message – complete the dares or she dies. Chrystal must decide – her sister or her family’s future? Can she do it all and make sure her friends never learn the truth?
Duplex
– Orson Scott Card –
Blackstone Publishing
Published 7 September 2021
♥♥♥♥/♥
Duplex is the companion novel to Lost and Found. It continues in the same vein – a mix of realistic fiction with a mystery twist. Again, the characters have micropowers – like superpowers but too small, insignificant or useless to be deemed super. They are pretty unique and cool, though.
Duplex is a book that takes a while to read. I enjoyed sinking into its slow pace. That’s not to say nothing happens in the story – it does, everything from guys attacking with guns to fake FBI attempted kidnappings. There’s just a lot of space for inner dialogue and time between events. Time for introspection and relationship building. There’s also just time for great writing and descriptions, a feature of Card’s work.
Life changes for Ryan when he finds his dad has moved out and is dividing their family home into a duplex. Soon, Ryan is sleeping on the couch (he doesn’t have a bedroom anymore) and the rooms on the other side of the new walls and staircase house the Horvat family. Ryan meets Bizzy Horvat at school. She can meet his sarcastic wit and quick jibes like no one he’s ever met. When Ryan reacts so quickly and without thought to a bee in Bizzy’s hair (much like he reacted to a bee that stung his sister), he is approached by a guy who claims to discover people who have micropowers. Ryan’s quick reflexes are apparently a micropower and it turns out that Bizzy and her mother also have micropowers and there are a group of people who will stop at nothing to kill the Horvat family. So, Ryan’s quick responses might just come in handy.
The Hawthorne Legacy
– Jennifer Lynn Barnes –
The Inheritance Games #2
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published 7 September 2021
♥♥♥♥♥
The Hawthorne Legacy is the brilliant and thrilling sequel to The Inheritance Games by the incomparable Jennifer Lynn Barnes. It is perhaps no secret that I ADORE her writing, complex characters and skill for piecing together a compelling plot that twists, turns and endlessly surprises.
Once again, Jennifer Lynn Barnes has crafted a novel that is totally addictive and she makes me like – nay love – things I usually hate. Like love triangles. Of course, it is a love triangle involving two Hawthorne boys and a girl who doesn’t have time for either of them, so what’s not to love. But the romance is really just a small part of the book. We readers are taken on a thrilling ride as Avery recovers from the news she received in the last book. One puzzle might have been solved, but there are so many more still to unravel.
Ace of Spades – Faridah Abike-Iyimide – Feiwel Friends – Published 1 June 2021
♥♥♥♥/♥
Synopsis
When two Niveus Private Academy students, Devon Richards and Chiamaka Adebayo, are selected to be part of the elite school’s senior class prefects, it looks like their year is off to an amazing start. After all, not only does it look great on college applications, but it officially puts each of them in the running for valedictorian, too.
Shortly after the announcement is made, though, someone who goes by Aces begins using anonymous text messages to reveal secrets about the two of them that turn their lives upside down and threaten every aspect of their carefully planned futures.
As Aces shows no sign of stopping, what seemed like a sick prank quickly turns into a dangerous game, with all the cards stacked against them. Can Devon and Chiamaka stop Aces before things become incredibly deadly?
My thoughts
Ace of Spades is heartbreakingly devastatingly yet as I was reading I knew that this is the reality for so many people and young people. It is thrilling, twisty and kept me guess right up until the last page. My main concern was how on earth the author could give me a satisfactory ending that was still realistic and boy, did Faridah deliver. Absolutely superb.
I was on the edge of my seat while reading this and often had my head in my hands and heart in my mouth. All the emotions and all the feels. Honestly, it wasn’t an easy book to read but oh my gosh it is such a powerful and reflective book of our current political and social landscapes.
Ace of Spades is a thriller, a mystery and realistic novel all in one. It’s #Diverse #OwnVoices #ReadWoke and every other on trend hashtag you could want. It’s gut punching and shows just how much resilience and strength it requires for people to survive in a society that seeks to destroy them. Ace of Spades is a debut novel and my gosh it is impressive.
Firekeeper’s Daughter – Angeline Boulley – Henry, Holt and Co – Published 16 March 2021
♥♥♥♥♥
Synopsis
As a biracial, unenrolled tribal member and the product of a scandal, eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. Daunis dreams of studying medicine, but when her family is struck by tragedy, she puts her future on hold to care for her fragile mother.
The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team. Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, certain details don’t add up and she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into the heart of a criminal investigation.
Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, but secretly pursues her own investigation, tracking down the criminals with her knowledge of chemistry and traditional medicine. But the deceptions—and deaths—keep piling up and soon the threat strikes too close to home.
Now, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she’ll go to protect her community, even if it tears apart the only world she’s ever known.
My thoughts
Firekeeper’s Daughter is going to be one of THE books of 2021. If this isn’t on your radar yet, put it on there RIGHT NOW. #OwnVoices #DiverseBooks this book ticks all the boxes but it is so much more than just a book that is timely and Important (with a capital I). It is addictive and so powerful. I was hooked right from the start.
Daunis makes a great narrator. She is torn between two worlds – one her mother’s, old money and white, and her late father’s Firekeeper family from the Ojibwe reservation. When she meets the new player on her half-brother’s ice hockey team, Jamie, she is drawn to him but knows he has to remain off limits. She never wants to be ‘that’ girl. But when tragedy strikes, Daunis is shattered and her beliefs about her community rocked. Jamie is there for her and seems to understand exactly what is going on – more than can be explained. When Daunis is asked to go undercover to expose the horror that is destroying her community, she learns far more than she could have expected.
I love mystery novels. Love, love them and I also love contemporary novels that focus on family and relationships. This book is the perfect mix of both. This book reminds me of a book I read years ago and after reading it I searched desperately for something similar, something that mixed mystery and investigating with romance and and complex relationships. Years on, I have finally found the book I didn’t know I needed and it is even better than I could have imagined.
