There is an author that writes the most unhinged thrillers out there and I had the opportunity through Netgalley to read her new book. I can tell you in all honesty, I was so thrilled when I found out and you know me, I go in blind. I don’t do descriptions because sometimes they take a piece of the ‘fun’.

This book was a rollercoaster and as a parent I had a lot of feelings while reading this book. At the end of the book there is a couple of pages with questions and I want to answer some of those, they’ll be at the end of the review.


Bentley gets a call from his sister Ava and she’s frantic ‘There is so much blood! Bentley you need to come, hurry!’ and with that Bentley is out the door, running until he sees Ava’s car and the person she’s hit. While Ava is still freaking out Bentley checks for a pulse and realizes that although the victim looks really bad, he’s still alive. A plan is forming in his mind, Ava is a straight A student and hasn’t had any run ins with the law and on top of that has been accepted into Amherst, she has so much to lose whereas he hasn’t got anything to lose right now. He tells Ava to run home and to not let anybody see her while he stays behind and calls for help.

Jaxen Briggs has overcome Leukemia and has risen in fame in their small town being a star athlete at high school; until he got hit by a car and broke his leg. Whilst it could have been way worse his mother is milking it for publicity, posting every update on socials with pictures or videos attached. Bentley told the police what happened and after he was released, he told his parents what happened; He had to swerve because of a deer that got up on the road and that’s when he hit Jaxen. Danae, Bentley’s mom wonders what a kid is doing out in the dark walking a stretch of highway like that but that doesn’t seem to matter.

Ava has been eaten up by her guilt and has been pondering on telling her parents the truth but Bentley wouldn’t have it. When Jaxen was released from the hospital, Ava spent a lot of her free time at his place under the guise of making homework but in reality, they were watching stupid reality television. Weeks go by and in those weeks, Bentley has gone sober and is working out, trying his best to be a better version of himself and to let it stick. To show the police he is a changed man and that all of the things he did before were out of his system.

But then the hammer drops, after countless appointments with his lawyer; Bentley hears that the police want to try him as an adult which means actual prison time. This scares him so much that he tries to talk Ava into confessing. Will she confess though? What will happen to Bentley? And Jaxen?

It was mindboggling! I will answer some of the questions that were at the back of this book but I advise you not to read them until you’ve read this book. So, if you didn’t, I would say stop reading……


NOW! Oh, and it was a ⭐⭐⭐⭐,5 star read! Okay, now stop reading.

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . The person who never reads lives only one.

Is it right as a parent to have a favorite child? Why might one child be easier to care for than another?
It isn’t right but it does happen. When you have two children and one has autism or a medical condition or is as explosive as Bentley can be in this book, you have to be more hands on and that can be draining whereas your other kid is as easy going as they come. The danger in this can be that the easy-going child can feel left out or less loved because of the time you need to invest in the other.

Consider Kash and Danae’s relationship throughout the novel. Do you believe it’s a healthy relationship? What might indicate it is or isn’t? What do you think are elements of a healthy partnership?
Hell no to it being a healthy relationship. They don’t see eye to eye when it comes to their children. Danae is almost anti Bentley and if she could stick more feathers into Ava’s bum she would. They don’t talk to each other, other than being angry all the time or feeling misunderstood. There is no real connection left, no sit downs – date nights or intimate stuff. I think a healthy partnership if you have children should be that you are all on the same line when it comes to raising your kids, you still talk to each other and spend time with each other. Intimacy is part of a healthy relationship.

Do you believe you can parent every child in the same way, or does your approach to parenting need to change depending on the child? Why might one parenting style work with one child when it wouldn’t work with another?
No, not really. The baseline of parenting should be the same but some kids need something extra like more discipline or they need you on another emotional level it also depends on the age of course. My daughter is almost 12 so, she’s a teenager and needs a bit more guidance. She’s the easygoing one, discipline is almost unnecessary whereas my 10-year-old son is autistic and has ADHD along with an eating disorder. He needs a more hands on approach and routine but also needs a strictness the other doesn’t need.

Compare Bentley and Ava throughout the novel. How do they each react to the accident, then to Jaxon’s death? What do their reactions show about their personalities and how they live their lives?
It seems like they once were best friends – each other’s ride or die but that changed after the accident, at least for one of them in the beginning. Bentley wanting to protect his sister and Ava eventually thinking that maybe she’s innocent after all. Bentley is caring but once driven over the edge he can become like a caged animal whereas Ava is quiet but secretly she’s a psychopath and that becomes clear when you read the chapters from her POV.

In what way does Bentley feel betrayed by his family? How does he try to find support outside his family?
Danae has always been team Ava and could never believe her daughter would be irresponsible enough to drive while intoxicated. She has put Ava on a high pedestal and instead of being her mother she is more like a best friend whereas Danae almost can’t stand Bentley which is why Bentley always goes to his father first but when even Kash turns his back on him and Ava stabs him in the back he can’t feel anything other than betrayed and left out of the family. The only person he can talk to is his lawyer, until even he falls away.

What do you think of Danae’s decision at the end to protect Ava over Bentley? What would you have done in her situation? How much is she to blame (if at all) for what happens to Kash?
I couldn’t believe it at first, I mean, when it finally clicked in Danae’s brain, I thought she would tell Kash and after talking to Ava I kind of thought she would tell her she knew the truth but even that didn’t happen. What do you think would happen if you drive your kid to madness and make him feel like he’s this caged animal doomed in his existence within this family? In my eyes she is 100% to blame for what happened and is a total coward to not come forward.