The Quick Cut: A teen girl finds herself forced to hurt her friends by an anonymous person who has kidnapped her sister.
A Real Review: Thank you to Wednesday Books for providing the ARC for an honest review. It can be difficult to find your way in life and to find friends, but that's only more complex as a teenager. You want to fit in, but also be accepted for who you are. So when forced to choose between friends and family, who will you pick? For Crystal, that is a very real question when someone kidnaps her sister. Crystal is a part of a six person team for a video game. They have a chance to win a tournament and make life changing money when she is sent a startling, anonymous message: do as I say or your sister is dead. At first, the demands are small and seemingly harmless, but it becomes clear soon enough that they are made to harm her teammates. Who is behind the kidnapping? How can she keep everyone safe and get her sister back? This book starts out fast and really keeps going. I love a thriller with some true stakes, but this one takes it to another level by messing with your mind. Just when you think you know what's happening, the picture becomes clear and it's something else. It's exciting to have a story that makes you wonder what could be the true finish. Crystal is a teenager with a family she cares about and a group of friends who understand her. She has a tribe and people who understand her on a deep level. She also has a dark secret eating her alive. Seeing her try to deal with the consequences without hurting anyone in her life gets intriguing at times, even if I can't say I would make the same choices as her. My only issue with this book is the ending. It gets overly complicated when it would have made a better impact being simpler. Beyond that, it was a book with an exciting story and a consistent pacing - which is an underrated talent in my mind. A thrilling story with a complicated ending. My rating: 4 out of 5