Um wow. Ngl i didnt like Ellie or Stella that much... but Tamara was nice ig. And Naomi. Ugh these girls' winning attitude tho

It was okay. It was very repetitive though. I know the main plot is centred about running and it was the same description every timeeee. I have so many questions though! ;
- What is going to happen with Naomi and Stella?
- I neeeeed revenge of Noah. I HATED HIM
- WHO is the actually killer? was it the brothers
- what did their mum mean when she was always worried about Stella
i genuinely thought that Mila was actually alive and would just walk in any second, she was barely in the book for me to actually care about her. In the synopsis, they talked about how closes Stella got with Mila, but I didn't really see it in the book, they still seemed just like teammate. There were no complex sentences of words that challenge me and help me learn, it was simple to read which isn't the best thing.
I was also confused by the ending, it was just dissappointing.

This would have been a solid 4 stars if it weren’t for the awful ending. How many twists do you need in the span of a few pages?

The book is surprisingly well-written and honestly offers a compelling mystery. The Steckler sisters made for some great characters, flawed and complex enough to hold my interest. I truly fell in love with Stella, who’s complicated and tough, yet still so raw and wonderful.

I think this is why I would have preferred if Ellie‘s confession had marked the ending point of Mila‘s case.

Raven being the killer did nothing for the plot. The reader only meets her a few times, she hardly gets any screen time. And yes, her being such an unassuming character could have worked great for the big reveal at the end. But since I wasn’t remotely attached to her (I learned almost nothing about her after all!), the whole thing just made me go: Huh?

What I loved about the first book I read by Goodman was how it actually focussed on the characters, their personal issues and lives, their struggles and drama. Yes, it had thriller elements, but it didn't feel like the thriller and the murder were the true focus of the story. And I'm a character focussed reader. I care less about the plot, as long as I feel like I get to know the characters and see them grow. I therefore hoped to find the same thing in this book!

Just like in "they wish they were us" Goodman takes her time to build up the lives of our main characters. We get a sense of their daily routines, of everything that had happened in their past, of the kind of life they had and have. We mostly get a sense of their emotional struggles and in a brilliant way it means that quite soon I started caring about both these girls. Even when they are nothing like me and made choices I never would have made myself.

And that's what powers the rest of the story. Because I cared about these girls, because I rooted for them and wanted them to find their happiness I was sucked into the mystery, the drama, the questions, the shade and all the misunderstandings. The more evidence there was, the more our girls seemed to get in trouble, the closer I moved to the edge of my seat. I Just really hoped all the misunderstandings would be cleared up for them.

Although the plot takes a little while to really start going that way, it's quite exciting to see everything unfold, but also to get an idea of the pressure on high school students in America to get those scholarships, to push themselves, to be the best, to not get into trouble. I understand why all those characters make their choices, what they're fighting for and what's at stake and I think in a very touching way the author shows us how this kind of competition can go horribly wrong.