Sara Walters

I understand why many might give this a low review, but I'm not in that group. Having been a mental health professional for 27 years, I've encountered real life situations as creepy and hard to handle as what happens here. Take the power of fatal attractions, add in big gobs of guilt, then some push power generated by secrets and the terror of being exposed...Mix well. While some teens might speak out and ask for adult help, that's not in the cards for Tillie or Madison and not going that route is fatal, but you'll need to read the book in order to learn for whom it is.… (meer)

Thank you, Netgalley, for the opportunity to read an arc version of this book!

The premise of this book drew me in--a mysterious illness that causes an entire town to be consumed by murderous thoughts each November? Intriguing. The book itself is a bit more than that. Somehow, it also feels darker than I anticipated and desired, but that’s a personal preference.

What I did like: there are a sprinkling of newspaper clippings that highlight different deaths--including a teacher killing two toddlers and our main character, Wyatt’s own mother’s murder. Provides some context building while still keeping the story going. I also found the relationship between Wyatt and her dad intriguing, and his character was very supportive.

What I wasn’t a fan of: the characters and some of the writing/use of figurative language. This is all personal preference. This book will be a quick read for many students and they might love it. Personally, I found Wyatt unlikeable and unrelatable. Again, preference-wise, I did not love the overdramatic figurative language used to describe how Wyatt was navigating the trauma of her mom’s death, nor how Wyatt interacted with Quinn or Cash. Cash was especially unlikeable and confusing--his motives and the choices he makes are all over the place, and I wish there was more character development and backstory for him.

Although I did not love this book personally, it was okay enough that I would put it in a school library if offered the opportunity. Still, I would not put it in my classroom library, nor could I see myself recommending this to a student.
… (meer)

It was okay, addictive in the beginning but then it felt it was going nowhere. I was led to believe it would be more supernatural, something more unnerving. The person who did the bad things wasn't a surprise and basically could guess who it was from the beginning. There wasn't much that went on and it was more of a love story with a bit of horror/mystery here and there.

I can see why Wyatt was trying to make herself believe it was a sickness to hide the horrible things and after reading the author's biography and what she is involved in, it made the book make more sense and I believe the whole point was about destructive and abusive relationships, rather than "Is there something in the air?" type horror.

So I give it 3 stars because 1)It was mildly addicting and 2) A great understanding of abusive relationships are well written into the story.… (meer)