Author: Jessi Kirby
Published: May 14th, 2013
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 278
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Summary:
Seventeen-year-old Parker Frost has never taken the road less traveled. Valedictorian and quintessential good girl, she’s about to graduate high school without ever having kissed her crush or broken the rules. So when fate drops a clue in her lap—one that might be the key to unraveling a town mystery—she decides to take a chance.
Julianna Farnetti and Shane Cruz are remembered as the golden couple of Summit Lakes High—perfect in every way, meant to be together forever. But Julianna’s journal tells a different story—one of doubts about Shane and a forbidden romance with an older, artistic guy. These are the secrets that were swept away with her the night that Shane’s jeep plunged into an icy river, leaving behind a grieving town and no bodies to bury.
Reading Julianna’s journal gives Parker the courage to start to really live—and it also gives her reasons to question what really happened the night of the accident. Armed with clues from the past, Parker enlists the help of her best friend, Kat, and Trevor, her longtime crush, to track down some leads. The mystery ends up taking Parker places that she never could have imagined. And she soon finds that taking the road less traveled makes all the difference.
Review:
When I first heard about this book, I was immediately intrigued. The premise had me really looking forward to the novel. So much so in fact, that I bought it the day it came out. Unfortunately, it ended up being a case where my expectations exceeded the actual story.
The characters weren't the easiest to connect with. They were all a bit two-dimensional. However, there was some enjoyable character growth. The strides the main character, Parker, made nearly made up for her lack of dimension. Also, the romance between Parker and Trevor was hard to care about. If I had to pick a favorite character, it would probably be Parker's best friend, Kat. I must admit, though, she had her annoying moments.
The main thing that drew me to this book was the mystery it featured. After reading the summary, I really wanted to figure out what happened to Julianna and Shane. It ended up being predictable, though. From the beginning, the majority of the mystery was easy to figure out. The rest of it was a let down. After certain things were revealed, I ended up thinking to myself, "Really, that's it?" For a book about a mystery, there was very little enigma in it.
Jessi Kirby has been on my radar for a while now. Unfortunately, after reading this book, I'm not sure if I'll read another one by her. I wasn't really a fan of her writing style. Overall, I would rate this novel three stars out of five.
I've read a few JK novels now, including In Honor which is probably my favourite novel by her. I actually quite enjoyed this one although it's definitely a quick read and I thought the quotes/poems at the start of each chapter were pretty neat. Like you said though, there wasn't a whole lot to the romance and the mystery was a bit... hmm. I hope you like your next read more!
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