By: Abisola Dosunmu
This book is a murder mystery from the viewpoint of a girl who believes her cousin died not from an overdose, but that someone murdered her. Hannah is left stunned and reeling when Sophie, her best friend and cousin, dies of an opioid overdose. This book is narrated by Hannah, during the time when it moves the timeline from her junior to senior year. She resolves to find out who sold Sophie the drugs, and the result is a haunting storyline that delves into the complexities of substance abuse.
My personal review of this book without revealing too much was that the main character is a force of nature. She has the drive and the character to try and solve a mystery that everyone says isn’t there, while grieving her best friend. She and all the other side characters developed well over the course of the story. It’s a very realistic story that tells hard truths about substance abuse.
The subject matter, without revealing too much about the book, deals with topics of addiction and grief. A message that emerges throughout the book is how a person can be multi-faceted and more complex than you think. What I loved about the book was the realness of it. The characters had personalities and emotions and were funny and sad and it was all very poignant throughout the book.
What I disliked about the book were that the timelines weren’t linear, that it was too confusing to sort through, and it distracted from the book. There was a lot of adult content like violence and drug abuse, so it’s not something I’d recommend little kids reading.
But altogether, the book was a fantastic read, and really showed how sometimes you have to step back and realize you’ve done everything you could. I’d give it a four out of five.
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