Ami's Hoard

3.5 stars

I love my mystery books -- my first love with reading is with this genre, where I consumed Enid Bylton's "Famous Five" and Agatha Christie's novels. So when this one came to me highly recommended, during my personal YA/NA challenge month, I thought, a murder mystery in school? Awesome.

In the beginning, I was worried that Anne would be another stereotypical 'rich girl', especially since she seemed to whine about the fact that she would be leaving New York to Boston. Luckily, my worry was proven wrong because immediately after Anne discovered her roommate being killed, she became determined to find out the truth; to uncover the secrets that everyone seemed to be hiding to keep the school's prestigious and safe image. She became more than just a rich girl. She was a girl who demanded justice.

The pacing of this book was really good -- and I enjoyed it.

Having said that ... I did have issues. I think I'm used to reading adult mystery with detectives -- and usually, they are more focused and structured when they are looking for the perps. In here, Anne pretty much thought everyone with tiny suspicious acts to be guilty of Isabella's murder. Just one nod of 'bad' activity and she immediately thought, "He/She could be the killer!!". I got a bit of whiplash, so to speak, when she went from one suspect to another to another and then back to the first suspect and the second suspect, and so on. It was slightly all over the place for me, even if I thought it all came together in the end.

I also wish there was a deeper insight / analysis into Isabella's life because the twist of her not being as a good girl as she seemed to be was really interesting.

I was not sure about the love triangle that seems to be a cliché when it comes to YA (okay, so I might be stereotyping, sorry!) but I wasn't that annoyed. Yet.

All in all, it was still an enjoyable book. I'd love to read the sequel especially since Anne seems to be dealing with a cold case! I'm definitely keeping an eye on this trilogy.

Personal Young Adult/New Adult Challenge February 2014: story #5