by Violet R Hyde

YA Mystery/Thriller, Independently Published in 2024, 260 Pages

What I Didn’t Like:

This one is billed as a YA book but it has a “for 18+” content warning on the back. Leave the content warning, remove the age restriction. High schoolers under 18 could and would enjoy this one too.
Some grammatical or typographical errors. There are also a few possible errors in continuity. There were moments where the errors caused some confusion or forced me to go back and reread to figure out the context. Obviously, this is problematic as it pulls you out of the story.
I could’ve done without the religious discussions. They feel out of place and preachy in a book about villainous characters that comes with content warnings. As the book goes on it starts to feel like the author wanted people who read this kind of book to be introduced to Christianity, which feels like a cringe way to come at readers.

The characters themselves are all interesting. They all read older than their ages, but they are various levels of “villains” while still being believable.
The characters are all introduced slowly and thoroughly, making it easy to keep them all straight throughout the story. Even when one pops up in another’s POV, you immediately know who they are and how they fit.
Beautiful illustrations and various other images add to the story.

Christian readers who want a story about “redeemed” villains may appreciate this story the most.