Kit Frick | I KILLED ZOE SPANOS

Plot (via Goodreads):

When Anna Cicconi arrives to the small Hamptons village of Herron Mills for a summer nanny gig, she has high hopes for a fresh start. What she finds instead is a community on edge after the disappearance of Zoe Spanos, a local girl who has been missing since New Year's Eve. Anna bears an eerie resemblance to Zoe, and her mere presence in town stirs up still-raw feelings about the unsolved case. As Anna delves deeper into the mystery, stepping further and further into Zoe's life, she becomes increasingly convinced that she and Zoe are connected--and that she knows what happened to her.

Two months later, Zoe's body is found in a nearby lake, and Anna is charged with manslaughter. But Anna's confession is riddled with holes, and Martina Green, teen host of the Missing Zoe podcast, isn't satisfied. Did Anna really kill Zoe? And if not, can Martina's podcast uncover the truth?

Review:

YA thrillers have literally been my saving grace lately. Whenever I am in a rut or I just want something that helps me escape or get my mind off from what is going on in this world today, I turn to these to immerse myself in and I Killed Zoe Spanos is no exception. This is a captivating and twisty read that reminded me of a combination of Nancy Drew along with a hint of Gillian Flynn. The plot to this one is parallel with the pacing and I will say I felt that it started off a little slower and a bit confusing at times, but the pieces came together quickly as I continued to read. There were a lot of characters in this one and in the beginning I had a little bit of suspicions with who would play a large part and who wouldn't, but Frick does a great job of building all of her characters with noticeable attributes that are flawless on the pages.

One thing I loved the most about this one was the setting. Frick captivated the Hampton's setting very well and made it so glamorous and beautiful during the day and calm and eerie at night. There's something so unsettling about a beautiful setting that harbors dark secrets and murder; I was just blown away at how I went from page 100 to page 300 without barely blinking an eye. I loved the plot to this one, I loved the characters, and the podcast aspect was done effectively and added a new layer to the plot that just made this story feel very real.

As the novel progressed, I found that I went from liking it to loving it because the way that Kit Frick tied everything in together and the conclusion and all of the answers to all of the questions I was searching for were handled wonderfully. I'm not sure if Kit Frick or anyone can top this YA thriller, but I am eager to read mroe from her!

Special thanks to Megan Beatie Communications and Margaret K. McElderry Books for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 4/5