The Amateurs (Amateurs, #1)

by Sara Shepard

Five years ago, high school senior Helena Kelly disappeared from her backyard in Dexby, Connecticut, never to be heard from again. Her family was left without any answers--without any idea who killed Helena, or why.

So when eighteen-year-old Seneca Frazier sees a desperate post on the Case Not Closed message board, she knows it's time to change that. Helena's high-profile disappearance is the one that originally got Seneca addicted to true crime. It's the reason she's a member of the site in the first place.

Determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, she agrees to spend spring break in Connecticut working on the case with Maddy Wright, her friend from Case Not Closed. However, the moment she steps off the train, things start to go wrong. Maddy's nothing like she expected, and Helena's sister, Aerin, doesn't seem to want any help after all. Plus, Seneca has a secret of her own, one that could derail the investigation if she's not careful.

Alongside Brett, another super-user from the site, they slowly begin to unravel the secrets Helena kept in the weeks before her disappearance. But the killer is watching... and determined to make sure the case stays cold.

• ISBN10: 1484742273
• ISBN13: 9781484742273
• Publish Date: 1 November 2016 (first published 6 October 2016)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Hyperion
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[readingwithwrin]

"Just one more day to hug her, tell her I love her, all that shit. I'd trade that for anything."

Shepard has done it again, I am invested in this group of friends getting to the real killer and all staying alive! That ending... OMG.. I need the second book now! I have to know what happens next!

We have Aerin, Seneca, Maddy, & Brett who are all amateur high-school/college teenagers trying to solve murders. Two of them want to solve the murder of a loved one, and the other two just want to help. I'm not going to go into each of the characters personalities or anything like that, because that is really apart of what made me enjoy the story so much.

This makes it a very complicated story to tell at times it would seem, but it's not. We switch perspective each chapter, which really helps us see how/what everyone's feeling and how they are helping the case. The group surprisingly work together fairly well after a few hiccups that happen, but ultimately they make a pretty good team, as long as no one is drunk.


Did things very conventionally fall together once again? Yes
Did the teenagers make dumb decisions that were extremely unsafe? Yes
Did they keep things from the police? Yes

Honestly at this point for me these are just things that are going to happen in a Shepard novel, its how she writes and it's what I've come to enjoy about her books. They make them a little too similar at times, but at the end she always throws something in that was very unexpected and has me drawn back in once again. I also love how easy I can read her books, yes they are very thrilling, but there also ones that don't scare me too much either. I can't wait for book two and to see what happens next.

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I read this when it first came out and was awed. It was fantastic. However, it's got a cliffhanger ending and I hate waiting for sequels. So I put it out of my mind for a while and eventually got hooked on other things. Now that the sequels have been published I got myself set up for a reread so I can finally know the ending.

Seneca is a complete mess. Well, they kind of all are. But I did like them all. Aerin was probably my favourite and I liked Thomas. The romance between Aerin and Thomas was nice - the romance between Seneca and Maddox was a disaster. It didn't add anything to the book. The mystery itself is riveting. I like how they track down the clues and find new evidence to help solve the case. I felt sorry for Aerin and Seneca - their pain was fairly obvious - even if their methods of dealing with it were pretty different.

The Amateurs does really highlight the dangers of the internet. The most obvious being Seneca thinking Maddy was a girl. (And how confusing is the whole Maddox/Madison thing - awkward) But also the difficulties for them in continuing their friendship in the real world. It's a lot easier to admit things online than it can be face to face and this was highlighted in the text.

It was a great read and I loved every minute of it. Can't wait to get started on the next one.

[layawaydragon]

I was pleasantly surprised by The Amateurs. Besides from one racist incident, I don't have a single complaint.

I thought I would like it sure enough, but I got swept up so quickly with these kids, the story, and couldn't get enough.

But what really clenched it?...

THAT ENDING! So creepy and disturbing. I really did NOT see that coming and I will most def. be continuing the series to find out more.

FYI: There is this really racist moment where Brett suggests Madison "Asian bond" with a Chinese woman when she's Korean. All he says is "oh, my bad." But NO ONE stood up for how FUCKED UP that is, even if she was Chinese. Ugh, so annoyed with them all for that, especially Brett.