Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Expected publication: August 1 2016
Pages: 336
*Received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
Introduction
At Umfraville boarding school, there is a game that everybody want to be a part of, even if they're just in the sidelines, watching it all unfold. Killer gets played once a year, for the players of this prestigious game, the goal is to not get "killed." Meaning, do not fall victim to the pranks set out to end your life in the game. Killer has been played for years at Umfraville, and as long as the game remains relatively harmless, it goes on uninterrupted. When the "kills" go from pranks with fake blood, to actual deaths, suddenly the prestigious game of Killer is anything but harmless.
Cover
I am in love with this cover. It gives off such eerie and sinister vibes and I honestly never want to stop looking at it.
Story progress
The events of this book took a long time to get going, so because of the very slow story progress, I struggled to maintain my interest in the novel for a long time. I had to keep forcing myself to read a few pages at a time, but do not fear! The novel takes off eventually and it's worth the wait.
Cate
I liked Cate. I admire her ability to deal with unpleasant situations mostly in a responsible way. I also thoroughly enjoyed that she thought about what she was doing before she did it, more often than not.
Marcia
I have gripes with Marcia. To get straight to the point, I think she's a crappy friend to Cate, and not in a way that has anything to do with romantic interests. She is pretty much never there for Cate, always disappearing and not paying attention to the things that Cate has to say. I, personally, would have given up on maintaining friendships with her.
Daniel
I believe that Daniel accomplished what he was written in to do, to make me angry and frustrated at the things he does (but in a good frustrating way!) I honestly think that Cate was much too kind to him, after the things that he has done.
Vaughn
I didn't find Vaughn that interesting. I thought he was kind of two dimensional. However, I do wish that the author had delved into his backstory a little more, as we end up with two different versions of why he ended up at Umfraville.
Romance
Romance takes a backseat in this book, which I didn't mind at all. I think if the romance had taken up more of a role in the book. that it would have distracted from the main point if the story; that people are dying. Plus because the romance wasn't a huge element of the bool, it made the romantic moments all the more sweet.
Mystery
There's two things you are trying to figure out throughout reading. The first is: Who is the game's killer? The next is: Who is actually causing people to die? Is it the same person?
I'll admit, it took me a bit to answer these questions, correctly, anyway. This mystery had me, just because there were so many outcomes and so many reasons to
believe them. Even when the big climatic reveal comes along, I was so surprised. I honestly had no idea it was going to play out the way that it did, and for the reasons it did. I'm usually pretty good at figuring out mysteries before the reveal, and I absolutely loved that I wasn't spot on about this one. It kept me guessing, just like a mystery should.
Conclusion
Overall, I had a few gripes, but nothing deal-breaking. The mystery was great and kept me guessing, which was refreshing. I'm open to reading this book again when I get the chance, as well as more from Kristy McKay. I would recommend this book to any teen boy or girl, looking for a good mystery to keep them interested.
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