Karen M. McManus

Summary
One Monday afternoon five students are sent to detention for having a cell phone: Bronwyn, Addy, Nate, Cooper and Simon, but the issue is, only four come out! Simon has an allergic reaction and never makes it out of detention, but what happened? According to the investigators the death was not an accident, but who did it?

Review
This book has been on my “TBR” for a long time and I am so glad I finally picked it up! It was everything I wanted and more. I am a thriller lover, but usually read adult thrillers, not young adult thrillers. I loved how it was a very easy read, but also had all of the content and suspense of a thriller I am used to. I also kept double guessing myself for what was going to happen in the end, and my prediction was not true!

It brings to light the importance of mental health. Without giving away spoilers, one of the characters has some serious mental health challenges. Their mental health challenges and internal obstacles didn’t happen overnight, but were built by pressure overtime that became too much. It shows the importance of looking out for others' needs and paying attention to the people around you. Make sure if you see something, you say something.… (mais)

Book on CD performed by Kim Mai Guest, Shannon McManus, MacLeod Andrews, and Robbie Daymond
3.5***

Five high school students are found with cell phones in class, which is a violation of class rules. All claim the phones are not their own, but their teacher still requires them all to go to detention. While together in the room, but without the teacher present, one of the students dies. As it turns out there are significant questions about how this happened and the police are involved. Who did it?

This was a twisty mystery and the students surprised me with their insight and tenacity in trying to clear their names. Of course, there is the usual teenage drama as well: getting into college, sports, relationships, parents, bullying, social media, etc. There are also issues of dysfunctional families, and racism. Surprisingly I didn’t think all this teen drama distracted from the central plot. I certainly was kept guessing and didn’t figure out the culprit until the author chose to reveal the truth.

The audiobook is wonderfully performed by a quartet of talented voice artists. I’m not sure which artist performed which chapters, other than that the women voiced the teen girls and the men voiced the teen boys.… (mais)