I received this book from the publishers for this blog tour in exchange for an honest review. I was in no way compensated for this review.



The Hanging Girl was my first book by Eileen Cook though I do have another of her thrillers in my TBR pile. I was intrigued with this one because for one thing, Skye is pretending to be a psychic in order to earn money to pay for an apartment with her best friend after high school. She gives tarot readings and while not having any real divine talent she's still pretty good at what she does.


Then suddenly one of her classmates is kidnapped and Skye is the one who had a vision of her being taken. No one knows why Paige was taken but it likely had something to do with her father, who is a judge, and also plans to run for senate. But there's something Skye is telling everyone, that she was in cahoots with the kidnapper and helped plan the whole thing in order to gain ransom money to help pay for her future. But then things take a dangerous turn when the plan changes and everything that was supposed to happen doesn't. Soon there is a real mystery going on with what happened to Paige!


This one was quite exciting! Things were kind of crazy, but in a good sense. You never once feel lost by what is happening. We know that Skye was in on the kidnapping and things are slowly revealed as to the whys of the matter. And when chaos reigns its ugly head into the matter and changes the game, things get very dangerous indeed!


I didn't realize how many books Eileen has written already! For some reason I thought her book last year was a debut, but it wasn't. It looks like she might have written a thriller-esque kind of novel before that as well!


I don't want to get too much into the thick of things where it comes to plot changes and monkey wrenches, lol, but just know that this was one wild read! And the ending! Which I will get to in a bit! One thing that kind of left me puzzled was the lack of suspects into the matter. Obviously we know that the whole kidnapping scheme starts out as a fake before the tables turn drastically, but in the whole mess of it all, I never felt like we had a good grasp of suspects. Granted I did have some speculations among the characters we had, but they never felt like concrete suspects, more like choosing from what was available. I'm not sure if that was meant to be the case or not, but with a mystery-ish kind of read I would've thought we would have more suspects to choose from in our cast of characters.


But that ending! OMG! I think at one point I might have suspected something to the ending, but never really gave myself time to flesh it out. Even then I still wasn't entirely sold on the reasoning, but I do get it. Then there was the resolution too which also left me feeling a bit unsettled. I suppose it's meant to...in a way? I don't know. Clearly I have conflicting feelings over it!


What I did miss was the sense of danger. We did have some, but I guess it wasn't the heart-racing danger I was looking for. The Hanging Girl was still a rather remarkable read and has a good sense of moral values to it too.


The Hanging Girl was definitely an intriguing read and though I wouldn't call it a fast favorite it was still very enjoyable! I definitely can't wait to check out the other thrillers Eileen has written and will write!



Overall Rating 4/5 stars

Candi Skye Thorn is a senior in high school and has been giving tarot readings for several years now. She doesn’t believe that she actually has psychic abilities but she knows a lot about the people at her school which helps her fake her readings. But when the town’s golden girl goes missing, she decides to help the police with her psychic visions because this time, she has some inside knowledge. Unfortunately though, things don’t go the way Skye expected them to go and suddenly the rest of her senior year is a lot more complicated than she thought it would be.

‘The Hanging Girl’ is the first one of Eileen Cook’s books I’ve read and I already know that it wasn’t the last one. I immediately fell in love with her writing style and I can’t wait to get more of it. If you’re looking for a great YA mystery thriller, this is the book you should choose.

It kept me on the edge of my seat and I just flew through it because I needed to know what was going to happen next. There are several major plot twists in this book and I didn’t see any of them coming. They were very well done and actually made me gasp. Another thing I loved about this book was that it has pretty short chapters. It may sound weird but that’s actually a big plus for me. When I need to take a break for some unexpected reason, I just hate having to stop reading a book in the middle of a chapter just because I would have to read another thirty pages to get to the next one.

The only thing that bothered me a little was that the characters just felt a little flat. I didn’t really feel connected with any of them, not even with Skye even though the book was written from her point of view. But this is just a minor thing and it definitely didn’t destroy my reading experience.

All in all, this was a great book and I really, really enjoyed it. I decided to give it 4 out of 5 stars and I highly recommend you get yourself a copy once it comes out. I’m definitely going to get myself a copy of her other book ‘Without Malice’ now because it’s been on my tbr ever since it came out and it’s time to finally read it!

Apologies book not in Kindle format and am only able to read that sort of file attachments this time
I requested & was accepted for the later mobi edition, below is my review.

REVIEW
After two really good paranormal shape-shifter books I felt I should have a change of genre and settled on this book. After reading With Malice also by Eileen Cook, I have high expectations for this one. I am also curious about the psychic and tarot elements mentioned in the blurb.

The cover I have chosen to describe as part of my review is the one I have pictured above and it is also featured below within my Cover Compare feature. This cover has a tree as it's major feature, with a very dark and what may be described as a more sinister feel to the cover. Then there is a depiction of Eileen Cooks version of the "hanged man" tarot card which is nailed onto a tree. The card has the book title on it. This cover features the byline which says, "Trust No One, Deceive Everyone" at the bottom of the cover.

The main character of this book, who is also my favourite character is Candi Skye Thorn, though she uses her middle name of Skye in everyday life hating her real first name Candi! Skyes lives with her mother in an apartment in an increasingly run down area. Skye isn't in the popular gang at school, in fact after the "incident" she tries to keep a low profile and generally keeps to herself. During the "incident" she was caught lying. Skye dreams of getting out of her home town. In fact Skye and best friend Drew have been planning their escape for years. their dream is to move in together, Drew will attend college and Skye will find a job. Drew doesn't need to worry about money as she has rich parents so will have their financial support throughout college.

Skye's attempt to make some money is to utilise the "gift" her mother and grandmother say runs through their family of being psychic. Skye doesn't believe on the "gift" she thinks she is just very good at reading people and the tarot card meanings. Skye finds that most people project within their actions the answers they want from Skye. Skye is good at setting the scene for the mystical tarot card readings her grandma handed down to her. Her tarot cards may look they have been handed down through generation after generation but she bought them brand new from Amazon. Skye is clever and a little cunning which she believes runs in her family more than psychic abilities. When the new tarot cards arrived Skye aged them. Skye soaked each individual tarot card in a weak tea and then dried them on a low setting in the oven. The part Skye hates most about giving a reading is asking for the payment, it feels wrong, slimy but not so distasteful that Skye would do readings for free. Skye is panicking about how she is going to tell Drew that she doesn't have the money to move away with her as they had dreamed and planned to do. Would Drew forgive her? Was she destined to be stuck here in Michigan forever. Though Skye thinks she is smart she does get drawn into helping someone with a "kidnapping" scheme. Skye and the "kidnapper/s" exchange notes by placing them in a large reference book in the library. The kidnapper insists on having a code name which is Pluto. The whole reason and choice of the code name is explained within the book much better than I can, and I really do not want to reveal anything really spoilery as that would in my opinion spoil your individual enjoyment of the book.

The other main character and the character we are supposed to love to hate/dislike in this book is Paige. Paige is a young woman who is used to getting her own way and being given anything she wants no expense is spared. Unfortunately the very thing Paige craves is her fathers attention, and its the very thing she doesn't have. Paige has run away before, so that's what everyone thinks she has done again when she suddenly disappears.

There were many points in the book I wanted to shout at Skye to rethink the things she was about to do. When she finally caves in during a rash moment and agrees to be part of the kidnap plan! In fact a couple of my Goodreads updates explain how I felt at the time of reading the certain sections of the book dealing with the kidnapping. At around 18% so fairly early in the book was "What on earth has Skye got herself into?!" The morning after agreeing to the scheme Skye does attempt to back out of the agreement but Pluto will not allow her to and even hints that Skye could be blackmailed into going ahead with the plan!

To begin with the disappearing part of kidnap plan goes ahead without a hitch. It's as tie goes on that things start to go awry. Skye soon feels like she is being watched and followed and at a later section of the book she feels her own life and even that of her mother may be in serious danger! Which is when I make my second update comment on Goodreads which was at 75% my comment was "Wow what a mess, what a twist"! I have read two books written by Eileen Cook this one and With Malice, I truly adore Eileen Cook's writing style. As you read and become more invested in the characters of the book you feel submerged into their lives and problems. I seriously wanted to grab hold of Skye and shake her whilst asking why she ever agreed to being part of the kidnapping scheme. Then as you read more of the book Eileen reveals Skye's motivation for being involved. I guess some people will view Paige's character as an attention seeking, spoilt child but Eileen then shows us, the reader, why Paige feels as she does. In fact you begin not really liking Paige to feeling sorry for her and wishing you could just hug her. One thing the girls have in common is wanting something they don't have and having somewhat distant relationships with their parents. With Skye she has no father on the scene at all, and she views her mother as a charlatan psychic who she has little in common with and who she doesn't find easy to talk to. By the end of the book Skye's opinion does change towards her mother and Skye grows into a more mature character herself accepting who she is and where she comes from. I really loved this book I felt pulled into the action early and held there to the very end. The tension builds and then just when you think you have sorted out everything in your own mind, Eileen Cook delivers another twist. There were certainly at least a couple of twists in the latter part of the book that I didn't see coming! I will certainly be checking out other titles by Eileen Cook and recommending her books to others.

My immediate thoughts upon finishing this book, that was my last Goodreads entry was "Once again Eileen Cook gives plenty of suspense, tension building and keeps you guessing to the very end with lots of twists and turns along the way".

Skye has given tarot card readings and has had psychic visions before, but they've always come easily enough seeing as they've all been faked. Now, though, her "visions" are helping the police find Paige, the missing daughter of a prominent local judge, but this time she has insider knowledge. The kidnapping was supposed to be easy - a harmless prank - that would earn her the money she desperately needs to move to NYC after graduation with her best friend. Things go south as Skye realizes that the people she's involved with are willing to kill to get what they want. She'll have to uncover their true identity before it's too late.

The Hanging Girl is the first novel that I've had the chance to read by Eileen Cook and I'm certainly glad that this novel was my jumping in point to her work. If you love a great YA mystery thriller with an unreliable narrator, I expect you'll really appreciate this story. Let me get this out of the way first: I didn't really like any of the characters presented here. That being said, I was absolutely hooked by by this intense and twisty thriller. I didn't want to look away in case I missed the next turn because just when you think you're starting to get things sorted out - bang - something comes along and totally changes the game.

Skye, our MC, isn't all that likable, but she is still a fascinating character to follow since she is pretty much a compulsive liar. If she thinks she can benefit from a lie, she's spinning stories to get what she needs. She also has a great memory for details and she's great at reading body language and facial expressions. Her mother, to put it lightly, is half out of it and very eccentric. She thoroughly believes in all sorts of spiritual types of things from reading auras to having psychic visions and she definitely doesn't set the best example for her daughter, or provide for her. To say the least, Skye has a crappy home life on top of everything else. The only bright spot in her life is Drew, her best friend, and really her only classmate who has been willing to put up with her. While I appreciated Drew's role, I wish it could have been a bit further beyond what end up getting. As much as I want to talk about some of the big twists, I won't spoil it for those of you that haven't had the opportunity to try this novel. Here's my forewarning: don't let your guard down because you've got some real doozies coming your way!

Overall, The Hanging Girl by Eileen Cook is a new YA mystery thriller that is a roller coaster of twists and turns. If like me you have a soft spot for unreliable narrators and are looking for a YA Gone Girl-esque read, you need to try this novel and meet Skye. I will definitely be bumping Eileen Cook's 2016 release, With Malice, up my TBR list.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

I love Eileen Cook. Her books are just so good! For one, the plots aren't overwhelmed by the romance if there is any in the first place. So many YA books have the plot playing second to the romance aspect and it gets old. Second, her characters are never black and white in morals, there's always shades of grey, which I personally love.

After reading "With Malice" I had to request "The Hanging Girl" and I was not disappointed. Even though I guessed the ending twist it was still an awesome book full of wonderful characters. I really liked the tarot card inclusion because my sister and I used to use them all the time for fun. Looking forward to her next book!

Skye Thorn has a simple goal: to get out of her small rural hometown in Michigan.  Skye will do whatever it takes to move with her best friend, Drew, to New York.  But Skye has no money barely scrapping by on her burger place job and giving fake tarot card readings to her classmates.  Then Skye receives an offer, a dangerous and too good to be true offer.  All she has to do is help the investigation of perfect golden girl Paige.  But the deeper Skye gets into the investigation the more she understands she can't trust anyone.

I have a big fan of Eileen Cook's since 2013's "Unravelling Isobel" but I was slightly disappointed by "The Hanging Girl".  Cook's books usually grab me from page one with their strong characters but the characters in "The Hanging Gil" felt lacking.  They never felt real with each one being more unlikable then the next and Skye being the worse.  At no point in the story did feel like she underwent any kind of journey or experience any real growth.   Plus, she actually gets more unlikable as the book progresses making it almost impossible for me to care if she accomplished her dreams or not.   Then there was  the mystery was both a bit obvious and a bit convoluted.  The plot is very twisty with a lot plot turns but none were really surprising.  However, all the twists and turns did make an average length book feel long.

Bottomline:  "The Hanging Girl" may appeal to some mystery fans but other readers may want to look elsewhere.

Final Rating: 2.5 out of 5    

I received an eARC of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was completely drawn into this book from the beginning until the end. Looking back, I can appreciate that information was revealed to the reader bit by bit... but while I was reading all I could think was, "Why won't they just tell me what I need to know to figure out what is really happening!?" I was taken by surprise with this book--especially the ending, but I'll let you figure out what I mean by that by reading it for yourselves.

Skye, a observant young woman, is asked to aid in the kidnapping and ransom of a popular girl from school. Under better circumstances Skye might not have taken the offer but with the hope of following her friend Drew to New York City after graduation and no bank statement allowing her the option, she decides to take the chance. She was told it would be easy.

But nothing is that easy and what happens where she finds herself in over her head. One lie leads to another and than soon enough Skye can't find her way out. Has someone found the answer for her?

What an original idea for a ya thriller! I don't think I've ever read anything ya quite like this before, and it definitely stands among the good thrillers (ya or otherwise). I think many readers will be able to guess the twists, but I definitely enjoyed them and did not see it/them coming. Somewhat unsatisfying ending and felt like things could have been developed a bit more in some areas, but overall a standout, fun read.

Skye Thorn makes money on the side by reading people's tarot cards and her mother has "the gift" as well. Even though Skye makes money at her craft, she doesn't believe in any of it. Skye uses her "gift" to be a key player in a kidnapping. By taking the knowledge from the kidnappers, she goes to the police with her "psychic visions," leading them closer to the missing girl. No one was supposed to get hurt and Skye was supposed to get a big pay out that would allow her to move to New York after high school. Skye soon learners that the kidnappers are not to be trusted and something more deadly could happen during this "fake" kidnapping.

I did not find myself liking any of the characters, which I think the author did well. I just always have a difficult time with books that only have characters that are hard to connect with. I enjoyed the concept.

Skye Thorn is a high school senior that has grown up with a mother that thinks she’s psychic leading Skye to begin her own business of tarot readings. For Skye though she knows there’s no psychic ability behind her strangely accurate readings, she just knows how to really read people and with a little help reading personal files when working in the office she’s spot on with her “predictions”.

Now that high school is coming to a close though Skye finds herself desperate for money when it doesn’t look like her plans of moving to New York with her best friend will ever come to pass from her readings or part time job. Before she knows it Skye finds herself pulled into what should be a harmless prank leading her to predict the whereabouts of a missing girl but Skye soon finds herself in over her head and wondering just how far things may go.

The Hanging Girl is my second book I’ve read by Eileen Cook and just like the first it took no time at all to be deeply engaged in the story within the pages. Somehow this author has managed to pretty much lay it all out there with her stories at the very beginning but still drag a reader into the intensity of the characters and story even with thinking you know where the book will take you. But having read her before I knew that eventually I was going to go where I’d never expect and just happily went along for the ride.

Skye is a bit of a girl from the wrong side of the tracks so to speak having been raised by a mother who was no more than a child herself when Skye was born. She sees herself as waiting tables with no future while all her friends will be moving on which leads her to get herself into more than she bargained for looking for that way out and a step up in life. I loved her rather sarcastic nature and quick wit and immediately became invested in finding out just what she was getting herself into.

Overall, I’d definitely recommend checking this one out if a fan of young adult mystery/thrillers. It was engaging from the start and a definite page turner as the story unfolded with plenty of twists and turns to keep one guessing until the very end.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Skye Thorn has been a well known tarot card reader for many years but a not known fact is that her physic abilities is not there, she is pretty much a fake. When a girl goes missing she goes to the police with clues about what happened to her. Skype is quickly thrown into the investigate as Skype becomes desperate for the money that comes along with it though she truly has no idea what she has signed up for.
This book really did exceed my expectations, I've read with Malice and I found this much better, more fast past and I was really on the edge of my seat, turning page after page.

As for Skype as a main character I loved her, it was unique to experience a character who was in the tarot card reading business even if she was just pretending to begin with.

Over all the writing style was great and it flowed really well, it kept me interested and that's what I look for in mystery novel

I would pick up another book from this author in a heartbeat

I think Eileen Cook is a real author to watch. Her books seem to be flying relatively under the radar so far, but in both this book and With Malice, she’s demonstrated her talent for dragging me in and keeping me interested throughout the tale she is weaving.

In The Hanging Girl, I was hooked pretty quickly. Skye's narrative was instantly engaging, showing her to be someone we might not be able to trust and someone willing to lie and manipulate to get what she wants. And yet, she is not unlikable. I found it very easy to sympathize with her desire for something more than what she has. I understood the lies she told - she created a fictional life for herself; a fictional life she wished she had.

If you haven't already, I don't recommend reading professional reviews for this book. Kirkus and others reveal what I found to be a superb twist. It happens only a third of the way in, but I still think it is better to experience it firsthand rather than being spoiled before. So I'll be coy about it: When a pretty teenager goes missing, Skye tells the police of the psychic visions she has been having about the disappearance, offering clues to the missing girl's whereabouts.

However, it soon becomes obvious that Skye is involved more than she is letting on. When things take a very unexpected turn, Skye must decide whether to reveal what she knows or continue the deception.

To be honest, I think naturally suspicious readers will have no problem working out what is going on, but that didn't seem to matter for me. Skye was a strong enough narrator and didn't need a surprising conclusion to elevate her story - it was enough to wonder what would happen when the truth came out. And I found the ending very satisfying.

I'm sure some will want a different ending for The Hanging Girl. Perhaps more drama, definitely more (view spoiler), but I think it's pretty perfect the way it is.

The story centres around Skye Thorne, a not so honest Tarot card reader, desperate to escape her suffocating small town and a barely there other Skye needs the money to start her new life and quick. After Skye accepts a seemingly harmless deal off a mysterious stranger she finds herself in hot water.
I love YA and adult thrillers, I had yet to did my foot into the pool that is YA thriller, until now, although it is no great surprise that I enjoyed The Hanging Girl.
Although a total liability hell bent on making the worst decisions possible, Skye was a surprisingly likable character. Generally, I lean towards plot driven books and although the plot was really great I felt that Skye’s character was the great success of this book.
With a great storyline and a surprisingly likable character it’s a great read for any mystery/thriller lover.

I just finished reading With Malice by Eileen Cook a couple weeks ago, so I was already hooked on her style of writing when I heard about The Hanging Girl. She really knows how to suck me in.

The Hanging Girl starts like any other contemporary YA novel -- with a girl named Skye who is just trying to figure out herself, her life, and her future. She wants to move to New York with her best friend after graduation, but doesn't have any money saved up.

In a moment of desperation, she agrees to go along with an elaborate scheme that will get her the money she needs.

But things don't go according to plan and before she knows it, she's in over her head and watching over her shoulder.

The best part? Just when you think you've figured it all out, you're hit with another twist. And another one. This book keeps you guessing until the very end. I did NOT see the final twist coming, but looking back through the story, it all came together and makes sense.

This book kept me on my toes and glued to the page all the way through. I couldn't stop reading. The suspense built quickly and kept me guessing, stressing, and second guessing right up until the end.

Thrillers are making their mark in the YA world this year, and this is a great one. If you liked We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus, or With Malice, you'll love Eileen Cook's newest book. And it's releasing just in time for Halloween. Perfect!

Cover love: I like this cover. It's creepy and the colors suggest something sinister. It looks more like something you'd see on a horror novel instead of a thriller, but it hints at darkness and mystery.

Content: Lying, and a small amount of cursing (2-3 f-bombs).

Source: The publisher sent me an advanced reading copy.

The Hanging Girl far exceeded my expectations. The plot was complex, the characters were brutal representations of human nature and the twists just kept cropping up unexpectedly.

Skye is well-known in her area as a young girl who will read Tarot cards to predict your future for an easy ten dollars. She learned all she knows from her mum. And she'll happily tell you that it's really just a good knack for reading body language, rather than having a magical fortune telling vision. But she needs money to move with her best friend, and she doesn't want to let her down, so she has to do something drastic. She agrees to help someone in a kidnapping, a kidnapping of a popular girl at school (Paige), in exchange for some of the ransom money. All does not go to plan.

I really liked that the story was told from multiple points of view. It helped to build the mystery into a more complex creature rather than an easy to figure out standard thriller. Equally, it's great to see the main characters as opposites - Paige is obviously the kidnapped girl, and Skye is the one responsible (partly) for putting her there. It's interesting to see the two perspectives, and particularly as usually the person solving the mystery isn't in on the game!

The thing I liked most about this story wasn't actually all the clever plot twists other reviewers have pointed out - although that was obviously brilliant. The most interesting thing about this book is that the characters are such an honest depiction of what it means to be human, to mess up, to have inner turmoil with some of the things you let come out of your mouth! Skye particularly encompasses all of this. She isn't the most honest, I mean she tells tales for a living, but she also becomes anxious enough to tell a lie (which sometimes gets out of hand) because she's human, and we all do it. This was a refreshing thing to read about. Equally Skye struggles between her knee-jerk reactions to her mum, sometimes shooting her down with comments she later regrets. How many of us have done that? Snapped at our mums and then later thought "I hate myself for that, she's my mum, look at her". I don't know why, but these small things which made up Skye's personality were really what made the story unique and wonderful to me.

A gripping page turner, with complex characters and a surprising plot. One for the top of the to-read pile.

"Maybe the only way to make the life I'd been wishing for a reality was to do something big. If destiny was going to try and keep me here, I was going to have to do something bold to change it."
 Oh, well... let's just say I'm a bit disappointed with this one. I still haven't gathered all my thoughts but I'll do my best at explaining what I enjoyed and what I didn't that much.

I was beyond happy when I got an ARC of this book, so first thank you to the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read it! The premise sounded like something I'd totally love, giving that it was a mystery (and you know how much I've been loving thrillers lately). And even though I overall had a nice time while reading the book, I have mixed feelings about it.

I hadn't read Eileen's Cook other novel, but I heard pretty good things about it, so I was going into this one with very high expectations, and there were some things that actually surprised me in a very good way.

"I always thought I was brave, but now I realise it was only because there was never anything I really needed to be scared of."
 I had a very love/hate relationship with the characters. The story was told in two POVs, mainly it was by our main character Sky, but there were a few chapters narrated by Paige. And let me tell you I loved Paige as a character. She was quite intelligent and her character has a depth I really enjoyed reading and knowing. I felt she was a very good unreliable narrator, and I cannot tell you how much I adore those types of characters. She kept surprising me more and more throughout the story.

However, Sky was a character I still don't know if I like. I liked knowing about her whole story and how she tried to solve all the mystery, but there were certain decisions she made that made me want to punch her. I'm sorry, but that's true. There were some plot holes regarding the story and the characters that made me feel a bit more distance with the story. .

I can tell you right now that there was no romance in the book. AT ALL. I don't usually come across this, so I was really happy to see that. Otherwise it would have probably felt a bit more forced and innecesary to me. So extra kudos to that.

"It's not magic or anything. My mom says lots of people have the same skill, but they don't always realize it. They call them hunches, intuition, or lucky guesses."
BUT GUYS THERE WERE A FEW PLOT TWISTS THAT I DID NOT EXPECT AND OHH THAT FELT SO GREAT. Especially at the beginning of the story where I was still getting to know everything.

However, the ending felt a bit flat and predictable to me. Which is so sad because it was going great! But yeah, I felt a bit disappointed with that. Also the way it ended was just a bit weird for me??? Like I understand everything that happened but the ending I just couldn't comprehend. Nope.

I recieved an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This however doesn't change my opinion about it. All thoughts are mine and mine alone.

This was such an amazing and intoxicating read! It was extremely worthwhile.

Unable to read the book due to it not being available for kindle. I can't wait to read it once released.

When I read the synopsis for this book and found out that the author is Canadian, I had to request it on NetGalley. I did like what the author was trying to accomplish with this book but I found the end product to have fallen a bit flat.

Hanging Girl is about Skye Thorn, a girl who needs money to move into an apartment with her high school friend in New York. Skye pretends to be a psychic to make her way through high-school. She agrees to help someone in school fake a kidnapping and keep the police investigation going with her psychic skills so that they can get the ransom money and do what they want. But it all goes wrong and Skye is stuck with the aftermath.

I did like the concept of this book. Cook attempts to go against the main plot line in the YA thriller genre; she makes the main character part of the kidnapping. It's very interesting watching Skye try to outsmart the police and trying to be covert. She puts on a cool demeanour but it's interesting to see the real Skye as the book goes on and the kidnapping plan falls apart.
But it was a bit difficult to like Skye because she was so distant. I also didn't like that the side characters were not very developed. To be honest, I totally don't remember the ending so if that doesn't say how unmemorable the ending was, I don't know what will.

Overall, I'd say to check out this YA thriller if you are sick of the same plots in the genre.