The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas

The Darkest Corners

by Kara Thomas

"Gripping from start to finish . . . with twists that left me shocked."—Victoria Aveyard, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Queen

For fans of Gillian Flynn and Pretty Little Liars, The Darkest Corners is a psychological thriller about the lies little girls tell, and the deadly truths those lies become.

    There are secrets around every corner in Fayette, Pennsylvania. Tessa left when she was nine and has been trying ever since not to think about what happened there that last summer.
    She and her childhood best friend Callie never talked about what they saw. Not before the trial. And certainly not after.
    But ever since she left, Tessa has had questions. Things have never quite added up. And now she has to go back to Fayette—to Wyatt Stokes, sitting on death row; to Lori Cawley, Callie’s dead cousin; and to the one other person who may be hiding the truth.
    Only the closer Tessa gets to what really happened, the closer she gets to a killer—and this time, it won’t be so easy to run away.

And don't miss Kara's next "eerie and masterly psychological thriller" Little Monsters—on sale now (SLJ)!

Reviewed by whisperingchapters on

3 of 5 stars

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This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.


Around ten years ago, there was a serial killer that targeted girls. Four were found dead near the Ohio River and that's how the name "Ohio River Monster" came to be. Tessa and Callie were having sleepover when they were 7-years-old when all of a sudden, Callie says she had seen Wyatt Stokes and that he was the one to kill her cousin, which put Wyatt in prison. After leaving Fayette, Tessa comes back years later to see her dying dad. What makes her stay is a fifth body appears and Tessa starts to question what really happened that night of Callie's cousin's death and if they really accused the right person for those murders or if the killer is still on the loose.

For a YA Psychological Thriller, this was a good story, but not great. It entertained me a lot and I read it in a day but I think it could have been done a different way. Nonetheless, I think it was really interesting. While the story is slow, the pace gave the story a more realistic feel to it. In real life, trying to solve a murder case doesn't just happen over night, especially if you aren't with the official team (cops, PI's, etc).

The friendship between Tessa and Callie was very rocky at the beginning but they were able to join forces to figure out who the real killer was. Tessa and Callie would spend days investigating this whole case on their own without help from the cops and it took them a long while to even figure out who could have done it. Tessa isn't only trying to figure out who's the killer but also where her sister is because she just up and left one day and never came back so she has a lot on her plate.

At times, the story would feel out-of-place and then get back together but that's just how I saw it and how it felt to me. What did surprise me were the last few chapters. Everything that unraveled was very mind-blowing. I did suspect this character but, as sometimes it happens to me, I forgot about the character until it came into the story near the end. I couldn't believe the plot twist that had happened. Not only that, we got another plot twist in the last chapter that left me like.... What?! But it was very good and kudos to Kara Thomas because I really didn't suspect this at all.

Overall, it was an interesting story that had lots of potential but my expectations weren't completely met. I still consider it was a good story since it left me entertained.

I received an eARC for review from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.


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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 7 April, 2016: Finished reading
  • 7 April, 2016: Reviewed