Book Stop Corner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A truth that's told with bad intent, beats all the lies you can invent.”




Kara Thomas, an American author, pens a dark psychological thriller in her new book, The Darkest Corners that unfolds the story of two teenagers who drift apart after the night when one of the teenager's cousin was found murdered one summer night. Now years later, both of their past comes knocking at their doors, and willing or unwillingly they must face the past and the lies before they begin their college life.





Synopsis:

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.


Tessa has moved out of her small town, Fayette, nine years back, due to a murder of her best friend, Callie's cousin, Lori, and also the incident put a permanent end to her friendship with Callie, as Tessa testimonies against Wyatt thus helping the cops to put him behind the bars. And as for Callie, she drowned herself in alcohol and loud parties to keep herself away from the brutal memories of the night of her cousin's murder. But now both things and perspective have changed of Tessa, and she must face all those unanswered questions that making her curious and restless even if it means to go back to Fayette and reunite with her childhood best friend, Callie and to face the skeletons from her closet. But can she find closure that she is looking for and put it all behind her for once and all?

I'm an absolute sucker for dark psycho thrillers especially the ones which comes haunting back long after its end, unfortunately sadly, this book is not that kind of a psycho thriller. Instead this book challenges the readers' thoughts to think about the two central characters and the dynamics of their constantly shifting friendship. Even though this book had its own advantages and perks, it still kept me rooted till the end although at times, I was losing my focus as well as interest from the book.

The author's writing style is fantastic and really emphatic as she has laced it with deep and evocative emotions. The narrative is poignant and thought-provoking, although it lacks from smooth movement. The pacing is, I repeat very slow, so grab the book, only if you want to keep up with such a slower pace but mind it, the climax justifies the slower pace and makes up for all those times that you invested into this book.

The author builds up the suspense cleverly, but mid way through the book, she shifts her focus from building up the tension, to building up the friendship between the two girls and then throwing sticks and rocks on their way. The author strikingly portrays the teenage friendships and relationships by vividly capturing a young adult's mind who is either belonging from a family of lower-class or trying hard to make a living in a positive way. The author focuses on the issues created by the influence of media and how they provoke the minds of the common viewers to think otherwise.

The characters are the best aspect of this book that makes it stand out in the crowd. The characters are, yes, very, very flawed and will have that psychological grip on the minds of the readers till the very end and will also make them curious and question every little event from the story line. Tessa, coming from a working class background, absolutely makes her someone who knows where and how to keep her feet on the ground, as she knows about daily struggle. Tessa in not only brave, but also clever and honest about her moves, even she might be lying quite a few times in the book. Tessa's journey is provocative and even the readers, alone, need to figure out the way to the end, through the tangle and web of lies. The rest of the supporting characters are equally realistic and interesting as the author smartly carves them out with flaws.

In a nutshell, this is a captivating young adult thriller that will definitely hook the readers right from the beginning and will not let them go till the very end.

Verdict: Yes it is highly recommended for all YA as well as for crime thriller fans!

Courtesy: Thanks to the author's publishers for giving me an opportunity to read and review this book.
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Author Info:
Kara is the author of THE DARKEST CORNERS, coming April 2016 from Random House/Delacorte. She is also the author of the Prep School Confidential series from St. Martin's Griffin under the pen name Kara Taylor. Kara has written for Warner Brothers Television and currently writes full-time on Long Island, where she lives with her husband and rescue cat.
Visit her here


Book Purchase Links:

• Amazon US
• Amazon India