A girl, a confession, but is it all true or not? What do those memories mean? A fantastic book with twists and turns!

I just had to have this book. I love thrillers. I love twists and turns and this book has many of them. Also funnily, I love books with podcasts… but I still cannot listen to any. My ADHD just gets bored very soon.

The book begins with a confession. A girl named Anna is confessing to the murder of Zoe Spanos, a girl who disappeared months ago and was now found. I knew that things weren’t right when the interview happened for many reasons. How the police did their things, how she was there for hours, and how she kept changing things. Something was up and this definitely set the tone for me, I needed to know why Anna thought she was a murderer.

Throughout the book we will go to the summer that Anna works in the Hamptons baby-sitting an 8-year girl and back again to the now where Martina Green is trying to figure out what is going on by interviews and other ways. It was a fun way to write a book and it definitely kept the tension right. Never spoiling anything. Keeping us in suspense with each new puzzle piece.

Anna was such an interesting character, I liked her instantly. I loved that she was working hard and along the way also earned money for her college-fund. I was happy that she was trying hard to not drink and lead a bit healthier life. Given what we learn about her before this summer it seems it was definitely needed to kick away the bad habits. Blacking out, coming home in cop cars. I was happy that the author shows that it wasn’t always easy and that she was tempted, but that she tried hard. I felt for her, seeing her recognise things, getting confused. It was well written on how Anna went from a happy girl who tried to turn her life around to a worried girl. Wondering if she did something bad.

I wasn’t a fan of the Spanos family. I get that you want someone in jail for what happened to your daughter, but don’t you want that to be the right person? Why would you want someone innocent in jail? That just seems wrong. I didn’t like how they got mad at Martina for trying to solve the case. Trying to figure out the puzzle pieces.

As the story continued I had me ideas on how and why Anna thought she recognised things. Why Zoe had messaged her in December, before Zoe disappeared. Why she got all those strange looks in a town she, according to everyone, never visited. I won’t spoil the whats and hows, but I can imagine that she ended up confessing. Her summer was so confusing, her mind trying to make sense of all the scenery, the strange looks, everything else. I can understand her guilt. I am glad that later we indeed get confirmation on things. I loved how this was all tied up.

We also find out what did happen on the New Years Eve… in two ways. That is all I will say.

I am also glad there wasn’t really romance in this book. There were a couple of dates, but nothing really happened. I am glad the story just focussed on the mystery, the strangeness, and everything else.

HOLY CRAP at the ending. I never expected that person. They weren’t on my list at all. I got many suspects and with each turn I had to cross them off my list. Eventually the ones I had left over seemed strong suspects.. but apparently I was wrong all the way. Then there is that final chapter and that just flipped things around even further and I love love love that the author added this chapter and ended the book with it. That was certainly a shocker to end with.

All in all, this was a fantastic fabulous and exciting book and I would highly recommend it to all.