Book Review: The Amateurs by Sara Shepard

Title: The Amateurs

Author: Sara Shepard

Rating: 4/5 paper cranes

Release date: October 6th 2016

Publisher: Hotkey books

Goodreads Synopsis:

When Aerin Kelly was eleven, she idolised her seventeen-year-old sister, Helena, and they did everything together. They made Claymation movies and posted them to YouTube. They made fun of Windmere-Carruthers, the private school they attended, they invented new flavours for their parents' organic ice cream shop, and they dressed up their golden retriever, Buster. But when Helena went into senior year things started to change. Rather than being Aerin's inseparable sister, she started to push her away. Then, on a snowy winter's day, Helena vanished.

Four years later, Helena's body is found. Wracked with grief and refusing to give up on her sister, Aerin spends months trying to figure out what exactly happened to Helena and who killed her. But the police have no leads. A young, familiar officer named Thomas wants to help and suggests she checks out a website called Case Not Closed. Hesitantly, she posts, and when teenagers Seneca and Maddox show up on her doorstep offering to help investigate she accepts in desperation. Both have suffered their own losses and also posted to the site with no luck, so they are hoping this case might be the one they crack. But as their investigation begins, it seems that maybe it's no accident that they are all together, and that maybe the crimes have something - or someone - in common.

Review:

I'm not actually very picky when it comes to mystery, so I dived into this book without expecting to be completely blown away. I definitely needed this. I was drowning myself in all the angsty contemporary books and this was the perfect remedy. It was hilarious! There were so many laugh out loud moments. I love the concept of amateur crime enthusiasts doing what they love despite not being very good at it (but they are good though.. does it make sense? xD )

 I was in the mood for a fast paced I-can't-stop -turning-these-pages kind of book, and well, this book was it! It had the right amount of twists and turn, every chapter kept me at the edge of my seat. I can't deny the plot holes and flaws that came with it, though. But I learned to overlook all of that as I read the book because my sole focus was on one thing: who did it? and why? Sure some things did not make sense and the plot stretched a little, but it was super addicting and suspenseful :o I finished this late at night and I couldn't bring myself to turn the lights off (just goes to show how inexperienced I am when it comes to mystery novels ^^' )

Overall I really enjoyed this book! It's not for everyone though, especially not for people who are captious. It was not a mind-blowing, perfectly crafted mystery novel by any means, but it is great! It was more fun than clever, and wittier than it was serious. If you're a contemporary girl like I am and wants to explore the mystery genre, this is it! It's a very light read, and you're sure to fly through it in a couple of sittings!

Thank you so much to Allen and Unwin for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review! <3