Beckett Bowery never thought she'd return to Wyatt Valley, a picturesque college town in the Virginia mountains steeped in tradition. Her roots there were strong: Beckett's parents taught at the college, and she never even imagined studying anywhere else—until a tragedy her senior year ended with two local men dead, and her roommate on the run, never to be seen again. For the last two decades, Beckett has done her best to keep her distance. Then her daughter Delilah secretly applies to Wyatt College and earns a full scholarship, and Beckett can only hope that her lingering fears are unfounded.
A well put-together puzzle ... Miranda’s taut storytelling underscores how the tiniest turn of fate can transform a youthful misstep into a life-warping calamity ... Miranda once again shows her talent for creating individuals whose flaws are nearly magnetic in their power to draw you in ... Beckett is likable and frustrating and you want to know more.
Treads overly familiar territory ... Miranda is an author who always writes to her strengths, but in this book, she is sticking too close to them ... Fails to grasp the electric undercurrent of intense female friendship Miranda usually has a knack for ... The reader never feels the magnetism of Adalyn or the emotional weight of Beckett’s relationship with her ... Miranda’s ability to establish the settings of her novels as characters is present here and remains effective ... The revelations in the last third of the book are rushed, hollow attempts at twists and lessen the impact of an ending that struck a genuinely poignant, tragic note. Miranda is a genuinely compelling thriller writer, but my hope is that she breaks her traditions and tries something new with the next book she writes.
