ARC, 336 pagesRelease Date: July 25, 2017Published by: Delacorte Press
Read from: July 25-August 2, 2017Stand-aloneSource: TLA 2017For fans of: Contemporary, Thrillers, Realistic Fiction, Bombshell Ending, YA
For fans of Pretty Little Liars, Little Monsters is a new psychological thriller, from the author of The Darkest Corners, about appearances versus reality and the power of manipulation amongst teenage girls.
Kacey is the new girl in Broken Falls. When she moved in with her father, she stepped into a brand-new life. A life with a stepbrother, a stepmother, and strangest of all, an adoring younger half sister.
Kacey’s new life is eerily charming compared with the wild highs and lows of the old one she lived with her volatile mother. And everyone is so nice in Broken Falls—she’s even been welcomed into a tight new circle of friends. Bailey and Jade invite her to do everything with them.
Which is why it’s so odd when they start acting distant. And when they don’t invite her to the biggest party of the year, it doesn’t exactly feel like an accident.
But Kacey will never be able to ask, because Bailey never makes it home from that party. Suddenly, Broken Falls doesn’t seem so welcoming after all—especially once everyone starts looking to the new girl for answers.
Kacey is about to learn some very important lessons: Sometimes appearances can be deceiving. Sometimes when you’re the new girl, you shouldn’t trust anyone.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I was late to the party on Thomas' last book, and after that ending I vowed that I never would be again. I was a bit worried about sophomore syndrome, but I shouldn't have been. Her sophomore book was just as good as her first, better in my opinion.
Kacey comes to a new place, to live with her new family. The town where she moves is small, so everyone seems nice. She's immediately taken in by a small group of friends. Then everything halts when Bailey goes missing. Kacy sees that everything she thought she knew.... She really had no idea about."I was born with the devil in me."pg. 66
I think what I loved the most about this, was the fact that not only was it super good as a thriller and kept me guessing, but with the ghost story added in, it was definitely a good way to keep me spooked. I found myself being afraid of the ghost AND whoever the culprit turned out to be. Thomas also released a good short story on Underlined that I was able to read because I'm a member. Ever that short snippet scared the crap out of me, so I knew this was going to be good."People disappear all the time. [...] Most of the time they're dead. Sad but true."pg. 67
I also loved the fact that I couldn't guess who the culprit was! If you know me and my love of thrillers, you also know I have a really bad habit of trying to guess who did it, and I usually get it right. This time, I WAS right, but not 100% and that made all the difference. Whoever can fool me is quickly added to my list of favorite authors because it's a rare occasion where I'm wrong. (Not tooting my own horn or anything, just trying to show what I mean when I say it's hard to trick me.)"You want to know what I think, Kacey? I think you're not telling me why you really went to Sparrow Hill yesterday morning."pg. 139
My only issue with this one was the end. It seemed rushed. Like it happened so fast and I wasn't ready for it to end. She named who the culprit was and then instantly, it was like "Ok, that's it. Here's the epilogue." I guess I would have liked it more had there been some kind of big fight or something. It just seemed after that awesome story the ending wasn't really there."There's no easy way to tell a kid that sometimes the outside is safer than the inside."pg. 157
This book was everything that I hoped it would be and then some. I have officially joined Kara Thomas' fan club and will most definitely read anything she writes. With Little Monsters, Thomas has taught me to look more and trust less."She's looking at us as if she sees something she can't unsee."pg. 211
Overall, I give this
