It’s Katie’s 17th birthday – the dancefloor is packed, the drink is flowing and Rave-fess, the Raven’s Hill School confession site, is alight with gossip. Then a huge fight breaks out, sending guests fleeing.
When Frankie, Jess and Sorcha go back to help Katie clear up her wrecked house before her parents get home, they find more than broken bottles … There’s a body on the living room floor.
The gripping teen thriller that will keep everyone guessing.
A strange thing happened as I was reading this. I found myself thinking that the characters were overly Irish. In fact, they're perfectly normal Irish (and one English), I'm just far more used to reading American or British characters, so reading Irish was a shock to my system, sad as that is to think.
And these are properly Irish characters; I work in a bookshop and overhear conversations and talk to teens, and the characters here would fit right in. It extends to the narration as well, with Hiberno-English constructions showing up here and there - shout out to 'hoosh' which I tested on American and Israeli friends and no one got it right! (The British one did though.)
The mystery is fantastic too - I love having the plan of the house to know what's happening where, and the idea of reconstructing everyone's movements through social media posts is fascinating! I'm constantly pleased that when I was a teenager, mumble years ago, there was no social media to host this kind of post.
I know that Sam has written adult novels, though I've never read them, but I sincerely hope this isn't her last teenage novel - I'll happily read plenty more in this style.
(Also, this has no bearing at all on the actual book, but I love the proof for this book! I love when a publisher puts some effort into their proofs and this is one of the coolest ones I've seen.)
Something Terrible Happened Last Night publishes on the 4th of May, 2023. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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