School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up--In Mitchell's latest teen thriller, secrets don't stay buried for long, and the things we do in the dark aren't hidden forever. For years, Ava has struggled with the aftereffects of being sexually assaulted, including a scar on her face that reminds her of it daily. When Ava unexpectedly stumbles upon a secret no one was meant to find in the woods, she has to decide what to do. A part of her knows the right thing is to tell an adult or the police, but the burdens of her own past beg her to keep the secret. An outstanding thriller concept and mystery plot will grab readers who love writing that is dark and emotional, and Ava's internal struggles are authentic and heartfelt. This haunting and mysterious story will keep readers guessing until the final chapters. VERDICT Teens who enjoyed Courtney Summers's Sadie or Kathleen Glasgow's Girl in Pieces will be invested. A standout choice for high school libraries where these titles circulate well.--Elizabeth Pelayo, St. Charles East High School, IL
Kirkus Review
A teen loner grapples with buried demons as she stumbles on someone else's secret in the woods.In her latest novel, Mitchell (The Prom, 2019, etc.) again explores the sexual awakening of adolescent identitiesthis time against the backdrop of childhood sexual assault. Though hesitant to open up to anyone apart from her best friend, Syd, 17-year-old Ava Parkhurst reveals early on that she was raped at age 9 and visibly scarred for life when her attacker traced "a razor blade finger" down her cheek. As if Ava, a good student who strives to live in the present and not fixate on past trauma, doesn't have enough challengesSyd is keeping secrets from her; her father has moved out, leaving her and her mother on their own; and, for the first time, she's finding herself physically attracted to the daughter of the policeman who, years before, handled her assault casea walk in the woods one snowy Maine night leads to a harrowing discovery that dangerously tests the confines of Ava's carefully guarded world. Mitchell's roller-coaster confessional narrative runs the gamut from teen melodrama between friends and the throes of first love to reckoning with guarded secrets and the psychological fallout from astoundingly brutal acts. Most characters default to white; her love interest is biracial (white Jewish and Korean).A searing, fast-paced whodunit that addresses sexual assault head-on. (author's note, resources) (Thriller. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Seventeen-year-old Ava wants you to know that the rape she endured at age nine doesn't define her actions: I have damage, you have damage. Nobody knows what they're doing while they're doing it. Yet as she tells the story of the winter night she finds a body in the woods, it's clear that Ava's carefully structured life has helped her hide her PTSD, rather than confront it. Instead of calling the police, Ava decides to protect the body, a young woman, from further humiliation, eventually investigating the murder with the victim's online friend Nick. These thriller elements play out the backdrop of Ava's enclosed, predictable life shuttling between school and home, between her overprotective mother and her sole friend, Syd as it starts to change and expand, especially as Ava falls for Hailey, the daughter of the policeman who handled her assault case. Mitchell mixes contemporary drama the joy of first love, the pain of breaking friendships with psychological thriller in this insightful, cathartic read. A moving author's note and contact information for sexual assault helplines are included.--Krista Hutley Copyright 2010 Booklist
