White Rabbit

by Caleb Roehrig

[Sam@WLABB]

I was really excited to see that Roehrig was releasing another YA mystery-thriller, because I had lots of love for his debut, Last Seen Leaving, and was looking forward to reading more of his work. Here's a round of applause to Roehrig for avoiding the dreaded sophomore slump with White Rabbit, which was a total page turner for me.

•Pro: Rufus was all sorts of good stuff. He was witty and sarcastic, but also slightly damaged due to some unfortunate life events, such as his "half" family making his life miserable, being outed, and his ex-boyfriend forgetting to tell him he broke up with him. He was an underdog I could totally get behind.

•Pro: As far as exes go, Sebastian was one worth fighting for. There was great chemistry between him and Rufus, and their romance was one that made me smile. This Scooby mission revealed a lot about a myriad of characters, but I was most pleased with the personal journey Bash went on and the resolution he reached.

•Pro: Once again, Roehrig blended so many wonderful things together to deliver a great story. The main focus, of course, was the murder mystery, but there was also romance, self discovery, and the exploration of family dynamics. This was one of the things I really enjoyed about his last book, and enjoyed, once again, in this book.

•Pro: The story had a lot of great twists and turns and head shaking moments. I loved the way the whole story was kept just out of reach. I would think I had a handle on the whole situation, and then something would be revealed, which sowed the seeds of doubt in my mind. I also loved how each new piece of information was accompanied by some sordid secret. I am always up for a mystery shrouded in delicious drama.

•Pro: I am not going to pretend that the mystery was my favorite part, because if you know me, you know how much I love romance, and I was shipping Bash and Rufus the whole time. There were these flashbacks, which showed me the beginning of their romance, before Bash betrayed Rufus, and I wanted that back for them so badly. And yeah, there were swoons too.

•Pro: This book was sort of dark, so I really appreciated the way Roehrig gave us some lighter moments as well as some really touching and heartwarming moments too.

•Pro: Me and endings have a love-hate relationship, but I am putting this one in the love column. Lots of answers, lots of closure, and it left me satisfied and with a little bit of a smile on my face.
Overall: A throughly enjoyable mashup of murder, mystery, suspense, romance and family drama, which made me laugh, rage, gasp, and swoon.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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