Damaged. Deceptive. Dangerous. Darling. Are they labels or a warning? The answer could cost Sera everything.
Murder, justice, and revenge were so not a part of the plan when Sera set out on her senior camping trip. After all, hiking through the woods is supposed to be safe and uneventful.
Then one morning the group wakes up groggy, confused, and with words scrawled on their wrists: Damaged. Deceptive. Dangerous. Darling. Their supplies? Destroyed. Half their group? Gone. Their chaperone? Unconscious. Worst of all, they find four dolls acting out a murder—dolls dressed just like them.
Suddenly it’s clear; they’re being hunted. And with the only positive word on her wrist, Sera falls under suspicion… (Goodreads)
Note: I was given an ARC copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. This in no way influences my opinion. Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with this ARC!
To say I was buzzing to read this book is an understatement. I read the premise and I knew I just had to read the book. I enjoyed the book… to a point, but it wasn’t absolutely everything I hoped it would be. Let me elaborate…
The Good:
- I was stumped. Literally throughout the entire book, I had no idea who to trust, what was going on – I was just stuck. The mystery element of this book just had me – it is basically everything I would hope a mystery would be! Even at the end of the book, I still managed to guess wrong!! So, kudos for the mystery.
- The setting was unique. I mean, I know the forest is almost like a typical setting for a mystery of this kind, but the way it was written was unique. I felt like I could have been there with them if I wanted to be.
- I wasn’t expecting the storyline to go in the way that it went. I had a completely different theory to what was going to happen… and I was completely wrong! Like, 100% wrong.
- I felt connected to some of the characters (not all – but I will come to that in a minute). I felt like I could relate with Sera and Emily. I especially liked the way that Emily came out of herself once everything started going, rather than staying the way that she was right at the beginning of the book. She showed a side to herself which I didn’t think she had. I also enjoyed watching Sera grow as a character. She sort of grated on my nerves at the beginning of the book, because we didn’t really understand her as a character. As I got to know her more throughout the book and she began to change throughout based on what was happening, I began to respect her more.
The Bad:
- The book felt a tad slow?I felt like the characters spent a lot of time arguing and not really doing much to get out of the situation they were suddenly stuck in. It was almost like it took them a while to understand just what was going on and for them to finally try and do something about it.
- I felt like the voices of Lucas and Jude blended too much – to the point where I was confused sometimes as to who was speaking and I had to go back to read the name again. They just seemed a little too similar for my tastes…
- I feel like the book may have moved a bit faster if the author had done this book from multiple POV’s. I really wanted to get into the heads of the other characters, to find out what they were really thinking, but obviously I couldn’t. I also feel like the story would have maybe flowed a little bit mroe if it had been written in this way.
- I feel like the ending happened a little too quickly. It was all explained so fast and I was left with some unanswered questions. I hate feeling like there should be more to a book because I feel like I haven’t gotten the full story!
- There was one part of the book that really sort of confused me. I mean, if I was stuck in the forest with some crazy stalker after me – well, lets just say I would not be focusing on my love life any time soon!
I enjoyed this book, but I felt that there were a few points that maybe could have been improved on for my particular tastes! It is still a book that I would recommend, though, and I look forward to buying myself a physical copy in October! I gave this book 4/5 stars.
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