Author: Daphne Benedis-Grab
Pages: 256
Publisher: Merit Press (December, 18th 2012)
Source: ARC received for review
Reading Level: Young Adult
Rating:4 Paws-
Pawtastic!
Summary:
Ariel's birthday weekend looks to be the event of the season, with a private concert by rock star Hudson Winters on the grounds of her family's east coast estate, and all of Ariel's elite prep school friends in attendance. The only person who's dreading the party is Sera, Ariel's former best friend, whose father is forcing her to go. Sera has been the school pariah since she betrayed Ariel, and she now avoids Ariel and their former friends. Thrown together, Ariel and Sera can agree on one thing: this could be one very long night.
They have no idea just how right they are.
Only moments after the concert begins and the lights go down, thugs open fire on parents and schoolmates alike, in a plot against Ariel's father that quickly spins out of control. As the entire party is taken hostage, the girls are forced apart. Ariel escapes into the hidden tunnels in the family mansion, where she and Sera played as children. Only Sera, who forges an unlikely alliance with Hudson Winters, knows where her friend could be. As the industrial terrorist plot unravels and the death toll climbs, Ariel and Sera must recall the sisterhood that once sustained them as they try to save themselves and each other on the longest night of their lives.
Review:
What a page turner!
I knew from the synopsis that this was going to be one of those intense roller coaster thriller kind of books and it was. Ariel and Sera have an unfortunate friendship gone bad and when it comes down to the life and death kind of situations, it's the true friends that will stay with you. Not only is Ariel's father dead, but she has her own life to worry about. Even though Ariel put the entire school against Sera, she has to go through her choices of giving Ariel up or not telling the thugs that crashed her party where she is.
I loved the up and downs that this book has. Benedis-Grab is a new author to me but I am glad that I was abel to get her book for review. It's a great friendship, drama filled kind of book that keeps the pages flipping to get to the end. The fact that the chapters switch off as Ariel and Sera as the narrator is a fun aspect that definitely made the story better than if it was just in one persons voice. At first, they were so different that it was hard to believe that they were friends but towards the end, as layers are peeled off from both girls, you can see the true them and what they saw in each other.
The whole story was just over a time spend of hours and it all seems to go by just as fast! There is a lot of thriller aspects as captives start to be killed and you feel for all of the characters. I don't want to give too much away so I'm going to stop now but just know that I recommend this to anyone. It's a great friendship drama kind of book but there's a lot more going on. Both girls learn new things about themselves that's inspiring in a certain kind of way. I'm excited to see more of Benedis-Grab soon!