Review: The Masked Truth by Kelley Armstrong

[KAV]

I thought this book deserved a 3/5 rating. It was difficult for me to rate this novel because there were so many up and down moments that changed the rating of the book for me. It's about a teen therapy group going on a weekend retreat that turns deadly when the kidnappers get a little blood thirsty. It started out strong, with the plot moving quickly, but it almost moved too quickly, like it was rushing to get to the kidnapping scene. Then the kidnapping stage was thrilling and suspenseful but pretty depressing and kind of unrealistic. What parent would drop their troubled teenager off in an abandoned warehouse district? Let alone a building without any windows.

The second half of the book was twisty and slowly unraveled the plot and motives of the kidnappers. I had some inkling of who the actual kidnappers were, but it was a good guessing game making the book a good mystery. I didn’t really like the ending, but I’m not really sure how she could have ended it any other way. It was just a bad situation from the start. All in all, it was an okay book. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, but then again I can see how people would rate this book higher.

[betterreadthandead]

I really enjoyed this book, I thought it was well written and suspenseful. I didn't see the ending coming at all but it did seem a little unrealistic. I liked the characters, I felt they were relatable and very likable. I liked the relationships built during the hostage situation. Overall I enjoyed the book very much and finished it within a day, it was a great read. I also felt like the mental health issues discussed in the book were reasonable and the author did not portray the kids as "crazy" even though they suffered from mental health problems. The author did a great job writing about mental health issues in a respectful way and not pinning the crime on any of the kids just because they were labeled "crazy." I've seen that done in some books and it's frustrating and overused. The ending seemed a little unrealistic and anticlimactic but I still felt satisfied at the end, like everything had been resolved.