Celeste is the talk of the town when she moves to Montana from Montreal, but the only friend she makes is Vivvy, the heir to the town’s name and a social pariah. Inspired by a passion-fueled school incident, they begin writing a love-story fan fic between the popular guy and the school stoner, one that gradually reveals Celeste’s past. While their bond makes Celeste feel safe and alive again, Vivvy keeps prodding Celeste to turn fantasy into reality. When they finally try, one drunken night on a dark mountainside, Celeste is the one who ends up kissing golden boy Joss. And Joss ends up dead.
Celeste doesn’t remember the end of that night and can’t be sure she didn’t deliver the killing blow. Could she still be that scared of getting close to a boy? Secrets are hard to keep in a small town, and even Vivvy seems to suspect her. Exploring the winding passages of the cave where Joss died, Celeste learns he had his own dark secrets, as does Vivvy. The town isn’t as innocent as it appears.
Celeste doesn’t remember the end of that night and can’t be sure she didn’t deliver the killing blow. Could she still be that scared of getting close to a boy? Secrets are hard to keep in a small town, and even Vivvy seems to suspect her. Exploring the winding passages of the cave where Joss died, Celeste learns he had his own dark secrets, as does Vivvy. The town isn’t as innocent as it appears.
Goodreads Summary
This book seemed more October-ish than an April read to me, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm not used to reading "fan fiction," much less fan fiction written about people around me. In this novel, Celeste and Vivvy write fan fiction about their classmates that quickly blurs the lines between reality and fantasy. The world-building in this book is superb. The author uses a "now/then" format with time stamps to ensure the reader can follow along with the plot and build anticipation up before that fateful day when their classmate dies. I found myself actually nervous for the eventual recounting of that day as the time stamps drew nearer.
I love books that focus on female friendship. Admittedly, this friendship is a little different, but Celest and Vivvy have a strong and intriguing friendship that grows deeper as the book progresses. It's nice to take a break from books that focus on teen romance. I was very surprised by the ending. Some of the ending is probably more predictable than I was able to guess at; however, the bulk of the rationale and detail behind what really happened is like a slow unspooling of a really long mystery. I felt like the author had put a good deal of thought into the plot and ending and resolved a lot of loose threads for me at the end - so much so that I forgot about some of the loose threads that didn't feel entirely resolved or resolved all too quickly.
4 Stars
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