Sadly this book just didn't connect with me the way I had hoped so I ended up DNFing about half way through. I can see why others would like it, but for me it just didn't click I'm afraid.

This book is more of a romance story of two teen Lesbians exploring their feelings. The mystery angle wasn't very hard to solve. It was very obvious at least to me. That part wasn't well written.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Alissa's last girlfriend was found dead after she ran away due to bullying caused by her rejection and refusal to come out. She let her popular friends bully her and allowed the whole school to play along. Now, her current girlfriend, who she came out for, is also missing, but the police refuse to think the cases are related. Alissa tries to piece together the events leading to Lana's disappearance and murder in the hopes of recovering some clues towards Hannah. All she has are mysterious note being left for her.

She recruits and old friend, nick, to help her solve the clues and find Hannah.

Allissa's mom is not ok with her being gay and constantly pushes nick on to her. It doesn't help that nick is in love with her and throughout the books makes certain situations uncomfortable.

Even through I had the book figured out early on, there was still enough plot twists that kept me re thinking inward right.

A surprise ending and overall a very great book!

Unfortunately I didn't finish this book, as I couldn't get into it - nothing against the author or book, just not to my personal taste. Thank you for the opportunity to read it.

3.5 stars

Synopsis: Alissa Reeves came out for Hannah Desarno. Hannah is smart, beautiful, and has just gone missing. Worse, she isn’t Alissa’s first girlfriend to disappear. Eighteen months ago, Alissa was caught kissing bad girl Lana Meyers. Too scared to admit her feelings for Lana, Alissa let her friends blame Lana. Weeks later when Lana disappeared, no one in their small town thought much of it until months later when her body was found.

With Hannah gone, Alissa finds herself following clues that will help her discover what happened to both girls, and the truth will change everything.

- - -

THE BAD

Well, there wasn't really anything too bad about this book; it's more just mediocre. It's good, but not great.

The mystery set-up was thorough, but a little obvious in my opinion. I guessed what was happening pretty early on—there are some pretty obvious hints about what is going to happen. I don't think they were nestled away well enough within the storyline for them to be NOT obvious. The author did, however, divert my attention a couple of times with other suspects, which was great, but not quite enough to make me second-guess what I already believed to be the truth about the killer/kidnapper.

As with the mystery plot, the ending was expected and a bit rushed.

THE GOOD

Let me preface this by saying I am gay myself, so I can relate to this next bit on s personal level.

I think the portrayal of homophobia was pretty spot on. Alissa faces this at home as well as in school. Her mother is one of those mothers all gays hope won't turn out to be theirs. IT'S A PHASE. Obviously it could be worse—her mother could kick her out of the house, disown her, and damn her to hell. This is, at least, straightforward. Mom believes you're gay, but hates it. The PHASE parent is shitty to a different extent. Alissa tells her mother she is gay, but her mother discredits and disrespects her by just blowing it off as a phase and continuously trying to push her (quite obviously) toward guys.

As for the students at school... once Alissa and Lana are discovered by the "popular" girls, all hell breaks loose. Alissa makes some bad decisions based on the fact that said popular girls are HER FRIENDS. They are extremely homophobic, and not only that, but Lana is of the "quiet goth girl" stereotype. Alissa's friends concoct a lie basically blaming the entire thing on Lana being a pervert and Alissa, fearing for her reputation, goes along with it. Peer pressure and all that. Dyke this, dyke that. Etc, etc. The author wrote it well.

The characters were also very well-written. I think I was impressed with that most of all. Even Lana and Hannah who weren't in the present-tense of the book, were pretty stand-out in their personalities. Very well done.

OVERALL

18 Months is a quick mystery/thriller read. It's set up pretty well, but a little predictable. Technical flaws, if you will. Easy to overlook though, considering the characters were so well presented as was the realism in relation to Alissa's life experiences as a gay teen and just a teen in general. I would recommend it for sure, especially if you enjoy LGBT reads or straightforward mysteries.

I'm pretty good at guessing what is going on in mystery books. I got one part early on but was still surprised at the end to learn I had missed another crucial part. Well done!

Stevie‘s review of 18 Months by Samantha Boyette
Contemporary Young Adult Lesbian Mystery published by Bold Strokes Books 12 Dec 16

One of my main criteria for assessing mysteries is the identity of the villain. Are they convincing and do their motivations make sense? Are they someone whoreaders and the protagonists can spot, without the former getting annoyed at the latter’s missing of obvious clues? In stories featuring amateur or accidental investigators, is there a good reason why the police haven’t already looked at this person? After that, of course, I need a good cast of characters, along with a setting and plot that I can feel comfortable with for the duration of the book. Not too comfortable, obviously – this is a crime story – but I need to understand what makes the protagonist want to live in that location (if indeed they aren’t just desperate to get out) and how the plot carries them along the twists and turns of their investigation. A likable protagonist is generally a plus too, but in young adult stories, one with understandable flaws is sometimes more believable.

Alissa Reeves used to be one of the popular girls – or rather part of the crowd that most of her classmates aspired to join but few were let into – but now she’s an outcast, after declaring her affections for Hannah Desarno. She’d expected that, having almost lost her place in the clique 18 months ago when the others caught her kissing Lana Meyers. Back then she was a coward and accused Lana of coming onto her, getting the other girl into a whole heap of trouble, but now she’s prepared to stand up for her relationship with Hannah. Unfortunately, Alissa hasn’t told Hannah the whole story, and Lana can’t contradict what she’s been saying; 18 months ago, Lana disappeared: her dismembered body showing up some months later. Now Hannah’s started getting curious, and Alissa is forced to tell her the truth of how she betrayed Lana and their relationship.

The girls quarrel, and the next day Hannah fails to show up at school. Alissa worries that both her girlfriends have fallen victim to the same predatory killer – even after Hannah’s parents claim to have heard from her – and then someone starts leaving messages for Alissa, claiming to be holding Hannah prisoner. The police believe Hannah’s parents over Alissa – except for one young officer who isn’t convinced either way – and so Alissa is left to seek out the truth by herself, occasionally helped by a companion from her preteen years, whom she abandoned for the popular crowd, but who now wants to revive their previous friendship.

I enjoyed all the twists this story took and was convinced by most of the characters’ motivations for helping or hindering Alissa’s investigations. While I had my suspicions about the killer, I was only partly right, but their motivations mostly made sense when it came to the big reveal. An author whose work I’ll be looking out for in future.

Grade: B