I Killed Zoe Spanos
Ratings26
Average rating3.7
Usually, YA Mystery/Thrillers are a total miss in terms of what I am looking for when I'm reading Mystery and Thriller but I Killed Zoe Spanos was such a welcomed surprise.
As silly as it may sound to others but the minute I saw that there was a map illustration included at the beginning of this book, I knew I was in for a fun time.
This book felt like A Good Girl's Guide To Murder at times with the jump between the story and interview transcript which made me super happy because it was something I loved about that series.
Mysterious and filled with plot twists, I didn't want to put the book down because I was itching to get to the bottom of the mystery of Zoe's death. I loved that it felt like I was attempting to solve her murder along with the characters.
What makes a great suspenseful mystery is unreliable narration and I Killed Zoe Spanos had that written perfectly. I was highly suspicious of every character that we came across and always believed that every character had something they weren't being completely truthful about.
This was a fantastic book!
One of the best YA thrillers I've read! The characters were really well-written and interesting, as well as feeling like genuine teenagers. The podcast element was integrated well, and I think this was a very cleverly plotted book. There were so many threads to follow that it was able to throw me off but they never got tangled. The only reason it got a four star was because many of the chapters of Anna while she lived in Heron Mills dragged for me in a way that felt boring rather than suspenseful and it definitely could've been cut down in length.
For fans of Sadie or Good Girl's Guide to Murder - another book featuring a great audio production cast, 2 time periods, and a podcast within the narrative. Frick describes this as “Rebecca in the Hamptons” and I'd say that's pretty accurate! The audio was super well done and it was a good escapist read with some layers, and not as gritty/emotionally wrenching as Sadie.
All the twisty turny unreliable narrator YA murder vibes you could hope for. Great audio. Recommended for fans of Sadie.
Thank you Netgalley and Simon and Shuster for providing an ARC of I killed Zoe Spanos by Kit Frick for an honest review.
I Killed Zoe Spanos by Kit Frick was a quick and enjoyable read. It may be because I am so entrenched in the genre, that this book didn't impress me as it did some other reviewers. It has been compared to Sadie, and while Sadie is a superior book, the Missing Zoe podcast excerpts transcribed in the book were my favorite part.
The story follows Anna as she takes a nannying job in the Hamptons, and tries to shed her former party girl life. Soon after she arrives in the Hamptons it is revealed that Anna strongly resembles Zoe, a girl that has been missing for several months. As Anna spends time in the Hamptons she finds herself oddly connected to Zoe. The story is told in THEN/NOW timelines, and slowly the mystery of what happened to Zoe is reveaed. The beginning of the book shows us Anna confessing to Zoe's death, but her confession is full of holes and her story is muddled. Honestly, I was mildly confused by the ending and am still not entirely sure what happened. Other than the HUH ending, that tried to tie up too many loose ends, the writing was compelling and the descriptions of the Hamptons were interesting and lush.
I Killed Zoe Spanos was such an exciting and thrilling read that I'm so sad it's over now! I loved the alternation between past and present and how it all came together! At first, everything was just as fuzzy as it was in Anna's mind and we embark on a journey with her to discover the truth! The only thing I didn't really understand was the initial obsession of Anna towards Caden, I mean I get that she's lonely and looking for friends and at the same time curious about the Zoe case but to me it sounded a bit forced.. but the ending was so perfect and there's nothing that remains unresolved. Thank you for the wonderful opportunity to read Zoe early and I can't wait to promote this book along with my fellow Novel Sleuths!