Review: The Darkest Corners - Kara Thomas

The Darkest Corners
Kara Thomas
Series: N/A
Genre: Young Adult, Thriller, Contemporary
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads 

Thanks to Delacorte Press and First in Line for the ARC I received at YALLFest!
Full disclosure: I'm reviewing this book four months after reading it because I'm the worst.

The Darkest Corners follows Tessa as she returns to Fayette, Pennsylvania, the place she used to live before Bad Things happened. Tessa and her former friend Callie witnessed a murder, and neither of them were the same after. Callie's family was torn apart, her cousin being the murder victim, and Tessa's mother and sister ended up abandoning her, which meant her being sent to live with her grandmother in Florida. But when Tessa returns to Fayette and reunites with Callie, they start to think about the murder again, wondering if things didn't happen quite how they had thought before.

There are so many layers to the mystery of The Darkest Corners. At first it seems like there's only one real mystery, but then there are multiple mysteries, all entangled together. There were so many things happening throughout the book, and it was all so fascinating. Peeling back each layer and learning more about what was truly happening kept me flipping the pages straight through to the end.

While the book was super thrilling and shocking, there were some moments that I was just like, "Really?" Some of the plot points were a little farfetched, but it sort of adds to the style of the book. Kind of like a soap opera or tele-novella - it was like the worst possible thing would always happen next. And I couldn't look away.

I wouldn't say I fell in love with any of the characters, but being a mystery/thriller, I feel like that's kind of a good thing. The back cover of my ARC says, "By the last page, there will be no one left to trust," and I think that's a really accurate portrayal of how I felt about the characters. With all the twists in this book, I wasn't sure if I could trust any of the characters.

While thriller isn't a genre I usually grab for, I'm really happy I had the opportunity to read The Darkest Corners. It was absolutely thrilling, and the ending was so crazy and then I totally freaked out at the end of the epilogue. So creepy. This definitely isn't a predictable mystery, and I highly recommend this!

What's one of your favorite thrillers/mysteries?
Let us know in the comments!