Today, I’m introducing you to a very special guest reviewer: my mom! She and I tried out some new books this summer and after reading this mystery thriller, she agreed to review it for the blog.
The blurb: Payton Brave’s twin sister, Dylan, has been missing for more than a year. So has Payton’s memory.
Amid the turmoil of her sister’s disappearance, Payton feels lost as the one left behind. Her mental state wrought and reckless, she tumbles from the graces of popularity to the outskirts of high school society, where she attracts a rag-tag group of friends—and a troubling romance with her sister’s boyfriend, Cole.
Though Payton remembers nothing of the day Dylan disappeared, she must pry into her own mind when another missing girl’s body is recovered from a nearby lake, the victim’s features eerily similar to Dylan’s. The further Payton presses into the recesses of her memory, the more danger surrounds her. The darkness around her sister’s disappearance grows and the truth becomes more and more unbearable.
What she finds might just cost Payton her life.
Content Warnings:
abduction
murders
drugs and alcohol
teenage pregnancy
infant death
psychological-thriller vibe
violence
Losing Brave kept me reading because I wanted desperately to figure out what happened. Told from the perspective of each twin (one from the past and one from the present) after one of the twins goes missing. Throughout the book I kept guessing at the ending but couldn’t imagine how it could be possible so I thought I was going crazy.
Though well written my sole focus was figuring out what happened so I kept jumping ahead, which made the book even more confusing. As a reader I kept asking questions like, “How could that happen,” about the same time the author asks and addresses that same question so I knew I wasn’t going crazy.
The details of the twin that was abducted was a bit more detailed that I prefer but was likely about right for the audience. Sensitive readers might want to wait until they are older before reading this, especially if they have trust issues.
Note from Vella: I haven’t read this book personally, but I trust my guest reviewers to include all necessary content warnings.