The One That Got Away With Murder / Trish Lundy / Book Review

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY WITH MURDER

The Crestmont brothers have something of a reputation, but new girl in town Lauren doesn't know that. Robbie Crestmont was only supposed to be a fling, a distraction, a way to escape the drudgery of this new small town life--and escape what she and her mom left behind them when they fled the coast.

But you can't escape the kind of reputation the Crestmont brothers have for long--a killer reputation. All of Happy Valley knows what really happened to their two dearly-departed ex-girlfriends, after all. But wealth and influence have a way of making these things disappear.

But Lauren herself isn't as innocent as Happy Valley might assume. She meant to come here for a fresh start, and getting involved with a killer boyfriend really hasn't done her any favors. Especially not when she stumbles on some concrete evidence of Robbie's crime, the kind of evidence that even money can't gloss over--the kind that could really get her into trouble if she doesn't play her cards right.

THOUGHTS

Hey, it's a mediocre story that isn't particularly well executed. But if high school murder-thrillers are your thing, you'll probably like it anyway. There's a certain balancing act, I think, to get a story like this to really shine, and this one just wasn't quite balanced. But it wasn't a horrible attempt. Just kind of middle-of-the-road.

PROS

New Relationship	This book includes some pretty socially and psychically painful conversation with mom's new boyfriend, and that... just feels right. Mom did move them across the country to be near to this guy, and at a time when her daughter is vulnerable. That, plus the general awkwardness of new-parental-lover interactions, really adds an element of realistic cringe to this book at times that I can appreciate. Mom's new boyfriend flirting with her mom at one of their first family dinners is... so psychically wounding, isn't it?
Selfish Mom	As the above pro might indicate, Lauren's mom isn't the best at being a mom. And that's often the case in YA books, but what I appreciate here is just how real this feels. Because Lauren's mom isn't hyperbolically bad. She is just kind of self-involved, and she's the predominant factor in how and why she makes decisions (even decisions that have a major effect on the minor daughter she's dragging along). So when Lauren feels so alone with what she's going through, well, I'm not upset that she didn't confide in her mother because her mother, quite frankly, wouldn't have listened very well anyway. Lauren really is going through this alone, and not just because it is easier for the author to ignore parental influence. In this case, it makes sense.
Sporty Girl Rep	I always appreciate when hobbies and activities are included in books that aren't explicitly about those hobbies or activities. It's nice to have an athlete as a main character in a book that isn't, you know, a sports book. Any average American teen can tell you just how much of their time is spent involved in activities--sports, clubs, other hobbies--and yet these activities get so little screentime in teen media. So I appreciate that this book spends time at practice, in the locker room, at the games even though the sport isn't the actual focus of this book in any way. Because while Lauren's thinking about murder, she's also playing soccer.

CONS

This book... really pushes what's okay in YA. And opening with a sex scene just felt like too much. We've got condoms, we've got talk about a "release," and we don't even really know the characters yet? This might be expected (but no more welcome, at least for me) in adult spaces, but in a YA book, it was kind of shocking to have sex right away. Also, in what high school world are kids encountering cocaine enough to casually comment, "I've been at enough parties to know what it is." What high school parties are swimming in cocaine? I've got a lot of questions about this. This book feels like it might have been written for an older demographic to begin with and aged down, but I don't think it was done well if that's the case. Teens experiment, sure, but do they really say, "Plenty of people do coke"?	Too Much
I'm sorry, but in what world do you find out your hook-up is probably a murderer and then not break up with him? Especially when you were already set on breaking up with him before you found out he was a (probably) murderer? There is absolutely no reason not to break up with him here. Lauren gives some "reasons," certainly, but even in context, these reasons feel pretty flimsy.	How Stupid?
I can get behind the idea that Lauren's peers would bully her about, you know, dating a murderer. Her teammates lost a friend, and they're pretty sure they know who did it. Why would they want his new girlfriend hanging around them? But as much as I can see getting shunned by her peers, the adults jumping in on it didn't make sense. Some of it is to give us red herrings throughout the book, but really, why is every adult man Lauren comes across in this book so skeevy? Makes no sense to me.	Shaming

Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5/10

Fans of Wendy Heard's adult thriller You Can Trust Me will like the glitzy wealth of this new murderous teen book. Those who enjoyed Holly Jackson's A Good Girl's Guide to Murder will like to dip into a brand new cover-up.

Details Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. Date: April 16, 2024 Series: N/A Add to Goodreads Buy it HERE

Note: I was provided with an ARC by the publisher through Edelweiss+ and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here are my own.