There's Someone Inside Your House
There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins (287 pages)
Overview: High schoolers are getting murdered. That's the reality in Osborne, Nebraska one fall before Halloween. Each body is stabbed and mutilated. The star of the drama department falls first. The students that follow are the brightest and the ringleaders from their social clicks. The patterns appear and disappear, and the tiny police force can't make heads or tales of it, which is where recent arrival Makani and, her maybe boyfriend and brother of a police officer, Ollie come in. They're both dedicated to predicting the killer's next move before they, or anyone else, end up the next victims. Overall: 4
Characters: 4 Overall, there was a good bunch of characters. The story is an omniscient third person, but it mostly centers on Makani. She's recently moved in with her grandmother after a mysterious incident in her native Hawaii required her to move to Nebraska to start over. Ollie is her female counter part, but, instead of being shrouded by anonymity, he's the center of the town rumor mill. Ollie was probably my favorite character as he subverted his stereotype well and was relatable and more three dimensional than the others. The same goes for Makani's grandmother.
Makani's friends are also fun additions. They're nice and supportive and add an interesting dynamic in Makani's life. Though, for anyone that's read the book, did I just totally miss Alex's conclusion or was she just totally forgotten about.
Plot: 4 I found the book hard to put down. It was paced well and kept me interested. Half way through, the killer is revealed and you wonder what the rest of the book has in store, but then it ramps right up again. The planned reveals that were really built up to, I thought were underwhelming, but the book shined in the quieter moments and less hyped decisions. Ollie and Makani's relationship is really well built, and the way she weaves each murder into the story is intelligent.
Writing: 4 I liked Perkin's style over all. She excelled in the scenes when the camera shifts to right before a murder. The way she positions the reader both in the victims head and in the room with them creates a connection that gets your heart pounding. Though in the thick of the action of chasing down the murderer, the book can get a little jumbled, the quiet moments and solitary ones make for a satisfying read. Beyond producing a fun novel, I have to give Perkins props for handling a major genre shift so well.
Links of Interest:
Into YA with Blue Willow Bookshop: Interview Here
Imagine Us Happy: Review Here
Broken Things: Review Here
A Very Large Expanse of Sea: Review Here
The ending was the best part. Such a good mystery book about psychotic murderer. The development of the characters throughout the book makes this piece of literature that much better
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