Expected publication: October 4th 2016 by Sourcebooks Fire
Source: I received a free copy of this book from Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Goodreads description: 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…
This was a fantastic YA mystery thriller. From the moment I started reading it was one of those books that I just couldn’t put down because I had to know what happened next. The writing and the description was great and actually made me feel like I was lost out in the woods as well! The mystery and suspense of it was very well written and this book definitely had the creepy factor needed for a mystery thriller.
It was extremely fast paced, which is exactly what I like to read! I was on edge the entire time I was reading it and the author did such a convincing job of leading us in the wrong direction that I didn’t even suspect who was behind it all until it was revealed. It continually had me second guessing myself over who could and couldn’t be trusted.
The characters were also pretty likeable (most of them). I was a bit unsure at the start because everyone was a suspect but I ended up really liking them. I do wish we had seen more of Madison and Hayley though, but they were separated from the group at the beginning.
I also liked the romance as well. There was already a bit of history between the two characters, so I didn’t really consider that to be instalove. I could understand why some people would feel like the romance does take over the story in places, but I liked the characters and I liked them together, so I was okay with that. Although, I did think it was kind of a weird situation to be rekindling that romance, lost in the woods with a crazed psychopath on the loose probably isn’t the best time to be concerned with your love life.
One issue that I did have was that I found the whole situation with Sera’s mother to be confusing and I still don’t really know what happened. I feel like this part could have been left out as it wasn’t necessary to the story and the romance still would have worked without it.
I did feel that it started to drag a little towards the very end, because they were so close to making it out of there and it was just one thing after another that kept hindering that and I just wanted to see them to get out alive already!
I also think that the reason or explanation for why those particular teens were targeted could have been developed more. The reveal happens but there’s too much going on at that moment and then the story kind of just moves on from there.
I did like how things ended though. It was a little open ended, but I was still left feeling satisfied with how everything left off in the end. Overall I gave it a 4 out of 5 rating and I would recommend this book if you’re looking for a great and entertaining mystery thriller.
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