Had a very hard time getting into this book, which disappointed me as I thought I would truly love it based on the description. The characters didn't do it for me, but it may have just been me. I will show it to customers and allow them to for m their own opinion, as not everyone likes the same things and there are plenty of times that others have liked something and i did not,,,, and vice versa

This was a hit at my book club and caused lively discussions.

Nancy Werlin’s book is a young adult fiction that is told between the first person (Saralinda) and the second person (Caleb) which jumps back and forth between these two points of view.

The book has remnants of the fantastic Neal Shusterman’s Unwind series without the science surrounding the near future existence of that book. The book is well written and the jumping back and forth between the two perspectives works extremely well.
Some of the plot devices found within the text sometimes feels a bit force and not totally clear of whether this is because of the story being told from the characters points of view or a thought process not totally thought through. Saying that, as the main narrative is from a teenagers point of view, then the plot suffices.

The paranoia state of the teens is very well handled and the romance sometimes feels out of place but is understandably the glue that really holds the work together. The characters are well developed and the pacing is very well handled. At times, the reasoning behind the action seems a little force but does not take away from the general action.

All the diversity and political correctness boxes are all ticked and she has woven these in very professionally. You tend to only pick up on this through hindsight and through discussion but whilst reading it really doesn’t jump out at you.

This is the first book that I have read by Nancy Werlin and I have to say that I am intrigued. I have added her other books to my reading cue and looking forward to reading her.

Overall, the book was an exciting and enjoyable read and for it’s the audience that it is intended for, I think it would be an excellent read as a mystery thriller. With an interesting plot device, characters and overall premise of the piece, it is a satisfying winner.

And Then There Were Four begins with a murder attempt, and that pretty much sets the tone for the book. The plot is that these teens are being targeted by their own parents (various reasons for each) - which, in my opinion need not have been given away by the blurb, but oh well! The four surviving teens band together to figure out the why and how of the attempt on their lives, and how they can protect themselves against further attacks. We are given two POV in a diverse set of characters, Saralinda and Caleb, with the former in first person narrative and the latter in second person narrative.

Firstly, I want to say that the plot is certainly intriguing and in the first half of the book, with so much unknown variables, the stakes were high. But as the book progressed, it felt like the tension seeped out of the text and was shifting focus towards romance (why would you have romance in the middle of running for your lives?) and moving towards a climax that kind of plateaued out. There is mystery, sure, and figuring out the motives of the parents was enough to keep you hanging in there, but I place the blame of my not enjoying it fully on the way it is written.

Saralinda's first person POV comes across more like a preteen writing in her diary with a lot! of! emphasis! on the mundane. She comes across as extremely childish which I can partly understand due to her closeted life, but cannot condone when in the other POV she sounds pretty mature and holds her own. Of course, the other POV belongs to Caleb, who likes her, so maybe that changes how she is presented. His POV was strange to read through, mainly because it is in second person, which is quite rare enough in most YA books that it is unnerving at first. Coupled with that, his (possible) mental illness at first felt the reason for the odd second person narrative but then in the other POV he talks so much like a single person that it made no sense to have his narrative in second person. Still, between the two, the secondary characters Kenyon and Evangeline are fleshed out enough to have their own arcs.

As for diversity, with the exception of Kenyon, all characters are POC, and with Saralinda's disability and Evan's bi(or pan)sexuality, it is inter-sectional. On that aspect, I felt the rep was good. But as for the mental illness, which actually is the backbone of the plot, I felt the rep was calling upon too frequently used stereotypes - like Dissociate Identity Disorders patients having sociopathic tendencies or an 'evil' alter (which is what Caleb believes). Also, considering that there is manipulation thrown into the mix, it would have been good to have at least one positive rep for mental illness.

Finally, I would like to say I was conflicted about what to rate this book as. From a plot and diversity perspective, it checks the boxes. But the writing doesn't lend to an enjoyable reading experience (which I qualify as higher priority) so I brought it down to a 3.5 star rating.