Review: The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas

Book Blurb:

The Darkest Corners is a psychological thriller about the lies little girls tell, and the deadly truths those lies become.

There are ghosts around every corner in Fayette, Pennsylvania. Tessa left when she was nine and has been trying ever since not to think about it after what happened there that last summer. Memories of things so dark will burn themselves into your mind if you let them.

Callie never left. She moved to another house, so she doesn’t have to walk those same halls, but then Callie always was the stronger one. She can handle staring into the faces of her demons—and if she parties hard enough, maybe one day they’ll disappear for good.

Tessa and Callie have never talked about what they saw that night. After the trial, Callie drifted and Tessa moved, and childhood friends just have a way of losing touch.

But ever since she left, Tessa has had questions. Things have never quite added up. And now she has to go back to Fayette—to Wyatt Stokes, sitting on death row; to Lori Cawley, Callie’s dead cousin; and to the one other person who may be hiding the truth.

Only the closer Tessa gets to the truth, the closer she gets to a killer—and this time, it won’t be so easy to run away.

My Review:

4 Out Of 5 Stars

Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Teen--

Tessa was informed that her father was dying. The father she has not seen since she was a little girl when he was locked up in prison for murder. Tessa flies back to the small town she was born in to say goodbye, but when she gets there, there are more secrets than she can handle. Someone else is locked up in prison, which Tessa played a role in. But now doubts and worries plague Tessa, making her second guess her actions. She chooses to stay in town until she can find more truths than questions.

I really enjoyed this book. I was fairly ambivalent towards it when I first picked it up to read, but by the end I had been completely sucked in to the plot and the people. I could not wait to have a free minute so that I could pick up the book to read. I was expecting a mystery, and I did get one, but it was not the one I planned for. The start of the book presents the reader with a mystery that Tessa wants to solve, but after the twists and turns that are thrown out, the ending solved a very different mystery that I never saw coming. To say the least, I was pleasantly surprised. This review will be fairly brief because I don’t want to give anything away.

This was a very character driven story. I was reading other’s reviews and some people complained at how slow they found the book to be, but I never had that problem. There was not a ton of action (at least for the first third or so) but I did not find the book slow. Instead, the author gives all the characters, not just Tessa but everyone we meet, so much depth and personality. I feel like I knew everyone and could understand their motivations and quirks. I love well developed characters and these were gift wrapped to me ever so nicely.

The story revealed tiny pieces to a big puzzle, slowly handed out as the reader progresses. I enjoyed every minute of this story even though it dealt with some hard, depressing topics with some broken down people. There were so many times I was convinced I knew what was going on and who the killer was, but I was wrong, or it didn’t actually matter at that point. Mad props to the author for creating such an unpredictable story. I can’t wait to see what else this author has for me to read.

I received this title from the publisher in return for my honest review.