Roehrig is a masterclass at writing this genre, and I feel like he is underappreciated at it. He is extremely popular at my library.

In the midst of ex-boyfriend drama, Rufus doesn't need a frantic call from his dramatic half-sister April to round out his night. Unable to resist her plea for help however, Rufus and Sebastian (the aforementioned ex) go to a creepy cabin in the woods (bad idea) & find April covered in blood, knife in hand, cradling her dead boyfriend's body, confused but proclaiming her innocence. Fabulous.

There definitely needs to be a suspension of disbelief for this murder mystery, and there were clunky elements (fog/mist as a portent of trouble is used waaaaaay too often for example), and some slightly eye-rolling things I won't mention (spoilerish). Roenig’s strongest talent is his main characters, however- so real, flawed, heartfelt, & honest, and between that and the fast paced suspense, this is a YA I will happily recommend.

I read this book for an episode of Fiction Forward and had the pleasure of interviewing author Caleb Roehrig with my co-host! He was a wonderful guest and though I am not usually a thriller fan, I really enjoyed White Rabbit and the LGBT representation!

I highly enjoyed Roehrig's previous work, LAST SEEN LEAVING, and also enjoyed this as well. The author is able to spin the thriller/mystery with the romance element, as well as exploration of sexual identity.

I wanted so much to enjoy this one, but it wasn't meant to be. Rufas and Sebastian's relationship was unhealthy at best, and that was just the start of the problems I had with this book. So much of it was unnecessary and made reading this a chore.

Hoo boy! I am not a person who reads thrillers regularly. My literary bread-and-butter is YA contemporary and fantasy. But this? THIS? I would read it a thousand times, and will gobble up all books by this author.
WHITE RABBIT takes place over the course of one night, one tumultuous, terrifying, twisty night. It is every bit as murdery and dark as one would hope from a thriller, while maintaining sweetness, cute moments, epic friendships, and solid coming-of-age themes.
I'm not going to say much about plot because it's best if you just let it all smack you in the face and take your breath away. Which it will. It's that good.

CW: sexual identity slurs, eating disorder comment, sexual assault, drinking/drug use by teens

Mysteries can be really interesting. I'm no stranger to watching them all over Netflix, Hulu, and whatever other streaming site I've got access to, not to mention gobbling up books. That's why I wanted to read White Rabbit: it sounded like a twisty maze of a murder mystery that would grip me from page one. 

Oh boy. It was a disappointment and I'm really sore about that. Reading the whole of the book turned out to be more of a duty than an enjoyable experience. The best thing I can say about this is that I can see it being easily adapted to other mediums. With a few tweaks and cleaning up of the more problematic aspects, there's still a lot of good stuff underneath. However, it was the troubling relationships, the lack of connection, and the pacing that ruined this book for me.

The relationship between Rufus and Sebastian before the book begins and during the majority of the book is, at best, uneasy and at worst toxic. Rufus was outed as gay in the fifth grade and has been dealing with the fallout since then, bullying and the like. Sebastian is terrified of what people would think if they found out he loved Rufus (his identity is unclear: bi, pan, or otherwise). The tension would make sense, but the toxicity comes in when you consider the dependence Rufus shows in regards to their relationship. He said many things that made it seem like Sebastian was the be all of his life and it was more than a little uncomfortable.



"Dating Sebastian Williams was both the best and worst thing that ever happened to me. In a lot of ways, being with him made me feel as if maybe I’d never really been alive at all before. I was like a violin— an object that hasn’t much purpose until someone touches it, fills it with resonance, draws things from it that it can never produce on its own. Sebastian had been the one to draw music from me, and it’s why the end was so bad; before him, I’d never actually realized how painful the silence was."



Sebastian contributed to the toxicity in a few ways. While he and Rufus were dating, he would still be flirting with girls, even knowing that it bothered his boyfriend.



"It bothered me that Sebastian still flirted openly with girls, even right in front of me, because I knew he still actually liked girls; but I also knew why he felt the need to do it, and I believed all the things he said to me in private— how special I was, how happy I made him, how good he felt when we were together— and so I plastered over my jealousies and let myself fall into him."



I understand why he felt the need to keep their relationship private, but knowing how Rufus felt and still doing things like this felt like it contributed to bad stereotypes about bisexual characters. Sebastian isn't identified as strictly bisexual, though he is coded that way, and these stereotype hints don't help. It's distasteful on its own and then Rufus letting him get away with it just adds a whole other level of nose wrinkling frustration.

Sebastian then ends their relationship by ghosting Rufus. He never recognizes or stands up for Rufus when his friends bullied him. He excuses what the bullies do, related to Rufus or not, as being "little kids" back then or just "kids". Age doesn't excuse the stuff they did because they were all old enough to know better by this point.



"“You think maybe I’m in on it.” I respond to the charge with silence, and he states gruffly, “I wouldn’t do something like that, Rufe. Not to you. You know I wouldn’t.” “I don’t know what you’d do,” I shoot back,"



Even if they weren't dating, it would have been the decent thing to do. Rufus confronts him about it at one point and Sebastian brushes it off as just something that they do and it doesn't mean anything. These two didn't seem healthy for each other and their ending up a couple didn't sit right. The trust issues that were around before the start and that didn't have the time to get properly worked on were really serious, as evidenced by the quote above when, after Rufus gets the call from April and thinks it's an ambush that Sebastian could be in on. You don't go from something like that to what they do on the night in question and have it be a healthy relationship without a heavy duty dose of therapy or something.

Moving on to Rufus and his half-sister April: whatever he did for her during the course of the book, I cannot believe that he would have so easily let her basically drift into his friend group at the end. Considering the torture that she put him through their entire lives, that her family put him through, it didn't make any sense. It felt like he was letting those things go and that hurt.



"Rounding the corner, I walked straight into a trap. April stood against the wall, her blue eyes wide and solemn, and she watched with silent fascination as our older brother Hayden and two of his friends spent the next four minutes beating me into a quivering, bloody pulp at her feet."



There were also a few smaller things that bugged me that weren't really important to the overall story line, but were off just enough that my mind kept coming back, like a loose thread. For example, calling a manga volume by it's subtitle and then switching to the series title without explanation (only fans of the series would realize what had happened) or when Lia, one of the suspects in the murder, says she used prescription cold medicine to dose someone, but did so at a house where she shouldn't have had access to such a product (where did she even get it??).

It was really hard to get through the book because I realized around 30% that I didn't care about anyone. I was semi-curious to find out who the murderer was, so I forced myself to finish, but there was no fun, no enjoyment.

After reading the synopsis of this, I had to get my hands on it. Imagine my surprise when I saw that I was approved for it! I hopped on the chance to read it and was immediately taken back to what I loved about Roehrig's writing. I can easily say I loved this as much as I loved his debut Last Seen Leaving!
Rufus is having a rough night. His ex-boyfriend shows up and wants to "talk," at the same time he gets a really weird phone call from his half sister saying she needs him. They go to her and find her over her boyfriend's body with a huge knife in hand. Rufus wants nothing more than to leaveher there, but then she offers him something he can't refuse. So he agrees to help her hopefully prove her innocence.
The main thing I loved about this book was the timeline. I LOVED that it was told overnight, and even moreso that it was told in the span of a couple hours. It was so interesting to see how things unfolded and how so much happened in one night. It would seem that everything would be rushed and that it would be SUPER hard to get to 300+ pages of a story that only went over about 12 hours. But it wasn't like that at all. The story flowed just as well as a story that was told over days or months.
I also really liked the mystery in this one. The synopsis made me go O_O and as I read, it just got better and better. Roehrig knows how to keep you guessing until the very end. I tried so hard to come up with the person who did it, but with everyone keeping information and no one being truthfully honest, it was hard to keep everything straight. I ended up coming to the conclusion at the same time the characters did.
The only thing I didn't care for were the characters. Well, I liked them, but for the most part, all of them were still assholes lol Truth is, they were all likeable, just some were bullies, some were mean, and some were just batshit cray.
I also lost myself in this story just as I lost myself in Roehrig's last story. The further I read, the more invested in the book. I couldn't put it down. The last 100 pages I realized had bitten all my nails down. I went through all these different emotions as well; second-hand embarrassment, second-hand terror, second-hand feels, just everything. All signs to me that I'm reading a great book.
I can't lie, I fell hard for this book and I can't wait to see what Roehrig writes next. His thrillers are the perfect balance of creepy and mysterious woven together to make a great story. I will be reading whatever he puts out!

I was really excited to see that Roehrig was releasing another YA mystery-thriller, because I had lots of love for his debut, Last Seen Leaving, and was looking forward to reading more of his work. Here's a round of applause to Roehrig for avoiding the dreaded sophomore slump with White Rabbit, which was a total page turner for me.

•Pro: Rufus was all sorts of good stuff. He was witty and sarcastic, but also slightly damaged due to some unfortunate life events, such as his "half" family making his life miserable, being outed, and his ex-boyfriend forgetting to tell him he broke up with him. He was an underdog I could totally get behind.

•Pro: As far as exes go, Sebastian was one worth fighting for. There was great chemistry between him and Rufus, and their romance was one that made me smile. This Scooby mission revealed a lot about a myriad of characters, but I was most pleased with the personal journey Bash went on and the resolution that he reached.

•Pro: Once again, Roehrig blended so many wonderful things together to deliver a great story. The main focus, of course, was the murder mystery, but there was also romance, self discovery, and the exploration of family dynamics. This was one of the things I really enjoyed about his last book, and still enjoyed in this book.

•Pro: The story had a lot of great twists and turns and head shaking moments. I loved the way the whole story was kept just out of reach. I would think I had a handle on the whole situation, and then something would be revealed, which sowed the seed of doubt in my mind. I also loved how each new piece of information was accompanied by some sordid secret. I am always up for a mystery shrouded in delicious drama.

•Pro: I am not going to pretend that the mystery was my favorite part, because if you know me, you know how much I love romance, and I was shipping Bash and Rufus the whole time. There were these flashbacks, which showed me the beginning of their romance, before Bash betrayed Rufus, and I wanted that back for them so badly.

•Pro: This book was sort of dark, so I really appreciated the way Roehrig gave us some lighter moments as well as some really touching and heartwarming moments too.

•Pro: Me and endings have a love-hate relationship, but I am putting this one in the love column. Lots of answers, lots of closure, and it left me satisfied and with a little bit of a smile on my face.

Overall: A throughly enjoyable mashup of murder, mystery, suspense, romance and family drama, which made me laugh, rage, gasp, and swoon.

So poor Rufus Holt is having the worst night. First-off, his ex-boyfriend Sebastian has shown up after ghosting Rufus for weeks (and very publically going back to his, Sebastian’s, girlfriend). Then Rufus’s half-sister, April, calls him begging for help. Saying he’s the only one she can trust, etc. etc.

Rufus, who is without a car, grudgingly accepts a ride from Sebastian out to April’s Boyfriend’s Parents’ Lake House only to find April, high out of her mind on something, sitting in a pool of blood next to her dead boyfriend. Oh, and she’s holding a knife.

Yikes.

It’s worth mentioning that Rufus’s paternal half of his family is full of assholes. Rufus and April share a father, Peter Covington, who is, well, an asshole who had an affair with Rufus’s mom. The Covingtons go out of their way to treat Rufus and his mom like shit. But April is nice, sometimes! So…for some reason, Rufus believes April when she says she definitely didn’t stab her boyfriend to death, even though it definitely looks like she did. Now Rufus, Sebastian and April have just one night to figure out what the hell happened in order to prove April’s innocence and catch the real killer.

For a YA murder-mystery, this book is a well-done and very quick read - seriously, you will start and then immediately want answers, so you’ll just power through the whole thing. Rufus is a highly entertaining narrator, snarky and sympathetic, aware of his inherited anger issues and Sebastian’s struggles with his sexuality. The discussions between Sebastian and Rufus about their relationship are just fantastic - painful, awkward, and honest. As for the mystery itself and the timeline of the book, there are some issues. Mainly, April is the worst. She lies and lies and lies and lies and still expects Rufus to come to her defense. Also, she’s like, 15, and throwing raging parties and drinking and smoking? And dating a drug dealer who hawks a drug called White Rabbit, which is supposedly worse than bath salts?? Jesus Christ. When I was 15 I was still reading Lord of the Rings fanfiction.

Granted, I was a very weird 15-year-old with no friends…

Anyway, the entire action of the book is supposed to take place over the course of one night. The characters stumble on a murder scene, deal with police, drive in and out of town half-a-dozen times, interview suspects, visit the site of an arson…all during the night of the 4th of July. Which is weird because summer nights aren’t really all that long. I mean, you can go on Time and Date and see what time the sun rises and sets in Burlington in July. Maybe everything really is closer together on the East Coast, but I have a hard time believing Sebastian and Rufus did all that running around in a single night. It requires the same suspension of disbelief as an episode of 24 - for everything to work you have to believe that 200,000 things could happen in just a few short hours. Meanwhile it took me two and a half hours to figure out how to code a combo box to do exactly what I wanted it to do in Microsoft Access. (Dear Microsoft Access: I hate you. Sincerely, me.)

Anyway, though it is a bit unbelievable that all of this action could’ve gone on in a single night it keeps the story from lagging or getting boring. Plus, Rufus and Sebastian are delightful. The Covingtons, though? They’re the worst.

RECOMMENDED FOR: Anyone in need of a tight, YA mystery with a believable LGBTQ main couple

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR: Anyone with intimate knowledge of police procedure, time.

RATING: 3.99/5 - love the relationship and the main characters, but not a all the characters who were the worst plus the timeline stuff bothers me.

I must say, I am really digging this influx of gay thrillers. Caleb Roehrig's debut Last Seen Leaving was one of my favorite LGBT books of last year so I was super excited for his follow up. It promised action, adventure, a will they won't they style romance, and everything in between. And, while all those elements were there, They just didn't gel well together in the end.

White Rabbit is about Rufus who get's a mysterious call from his sister April while his ex-boyfriend has come to talk with him. This sets of a chain of events that eventually leads Rufus to try and clear his sister of murder before time runs out. This is definitely a twisty sort of book and, as someone who reads a lot of mysteries, I'm pretty good and figuring out twists and whatnot, but White Rabbit had me guessing from start to finish. It's the sign of not only a good story, but a good writer.

But that's kind of the best thing about this book. My biggest issue is that when it's not focused on the mystery, and there are more times where that happens then I'd like, the story grinds to an utterly boring halt. Rufus doesn't have that much personality outside being still totally lovestruck with Sebastian. I appreciate how Roehrig tried to make Rufus this confused guy who still loved his ex, but didn't want to be hurt again but it didn't ring true when Rufus would wax poetically about how he was nothing before Sebastian. It was clear from page one they were going to get back together in the end, but it was so dragged out and the characters were so boring I couldn't find myself to be invested in them.

White Rabbit could have been so much better then it was. If Roehrig had just reworked a few of the character's personalities and made Rufus not so lovesick then White Rabbit would have mostly likely been a home run for me. But, alas, was more of a bunt then anything else.

I've been meaning to read Caleb Roehrig's first novel, Last Seen Leaving, since the moment I heard about it, but I kept putting it off. That was OBVIOUSLY a mistake because White Rabbit was absolutely incredible, and I now need his first book in my hands asap. When I received an ARC of this one, I couldn't help myself and dived right in.

White Rabbit reads like a night in Riverdale, but if it were following Kevin and Moose. I'm a huge fan of slasher films, especially ones where you're trying to figure out who the murderer is, so this story was right up my alley. Throw is the gays™ and some amazing pop culture references, and I'm so in. (Any book that references Cruel Intentions is instantly on my good side.)

I've seen a few reviews on here complaining about Rufus' character and his relationship with Sebastian, but I think they read a completely different novel than I did! Rufus and Sebastian were both amazing characters, and the dynamic between them felt very real. Most authors butcher the 'forced to work together' trope in YA romances, but Roehrig gives his characters so much history that the trope 100% works here. The tension between Rufe and Bash was stellar. And if anyone read that tension as "unhealthy," I'm not sure our interpretations are even in the same ballpark... As for Rufus himself (glad to have another Rufus in LGBT YA, btw), I thought he was an awesome protagonist. He was flawed, but I related to him a lot, and he was funny. I wanted to shake some sense into him at times, but I always understood his reasoning, which made me root for him.

The third act here had my heart pounding, and I didn't know what to expect, exactly. It reminded me of the Scream films, in the best possible way. I didn't feel cheated by the revelation of the killer(s) either, which is something other novels have done to me, like One of Us Is Lying. A book needs to follow through on its promises to its readers, and White Rabbit definitely does that. The prose in this book were so beautiful and funny at once, as well. 5/5 stars and a new favorite. I will be reading everything by Caleb Roehrig from now on. Go buy this fantastic book!

White Rabbit is a YA novel written by Caleb Roehrig. I haven’t read any of his other books, but I was excited about the opportunity to read this one because the plot intrigued me.

Rufus is at a Fourth of July party when he receives a frantic phone call from his half sister. They don’t have much of a relationship, so Rufus knows that things must really be bad if April is reaching out to him. Rufus is less than thrilled that his ex-boyfriend Bash wants to come along, but since Bash is the one with a car, there isn’t much of a choice in the matter.

Rufus and Bash walk into a crime scene, and then they spend the rest of that one long night trying to figure out what happened at the lake house where they found April. They crisscross the town, interviewing and reinterviewing the other people who were at the lake house. Everyone has their reasons for being evasive, and truthfulness seems to come at a premium.

And of course, all that time alone in the car gives Rufus and Bash the opportunity to figure out what happened to their short relationship, and why things went wrong.

This was an amazing book. It’s very fast paced, and I loved that Rufus was such a smart protagonist. The plot was intriguing, and there was a mystery to solve, but Rufus’ wry sense of humor made the book even more enjoyable. It was a little bit more difficult to like Bash because he hurt our protagonist in the recent past, but he is equally as intriguing, and he has own obstacles to overcome. Roehrig has created an interesting dynamic with Rufus’ family dynamic, and his secondary characters all offer unique perspectives on the situation.

I would absolutely recommend White Rabbit. I read most of this book in one sitting. It was so exciting that I didn’t want to stop reading. I just had to find out what would happen next, both in terms of the big mystery and the frostiness between Rufus and Bash. It’s astounding that everything that happens (and so much happens) occurs over a single night. This is an epic book, and I am definitely going to seek out more of Roehrig’s books in the future.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book.

If it tells you anything about how severely I disliked this book, I only got a little over 100 pages into it and I had a literal full PAGE of bullet points for things that I found to be nonsensical, annoying, or downright unhealthy.

I wanted so, so badly to love this book. There are so few own-voice gay books in the world that, when I saw this on NetGalley, I immediately requested it and was ecstatic when I got my approval. Plus, the fact that it was a thriller, and judging by the title, had some relation to an Alice retelling? Yes! This book was supposed to be perfect!

Unfortunately, it completely bombed for me, right from the beginning. It starts off with an incredibly unhealthy portrayal of a relationship, as the main character gushes and raves about how his ex-boyfriend (of a whopping month-long relationship) completed him:

“I was like a violin—an object that hasn’t much purpose until someone touches it, fills it with resonance, draws things from it that it can never produce on its own. Sebastian had been the one to draw music from me, and it’s why the end was so bad; before him, I’d never actually realized how painful the silence was.”

Can we please stop writing YA books that tell teens - of any sexuality or gender identity - that their significant others should complete them and bring meaning into their previously dismal, hopeless lives? It's like Twilight all over again, I swear.

The unhealthy portrayals continue as we learn that the ex-boyfriend/love interest is a black bisexual teen boy who is depicted in some of the worst possible lights. He not only flirted incessantly with other people while dating the protagonist and remained best friends with a group of kids who constantly beat Rufus up, but he then proceeded to ghost the poor kid so that he could go crawling back to his ex-girlfriend. The entire character arc for Sebastian (the ex-boyfriend) is gross. Not to mention, in the first 1/2 of the book (which is roughly what I read), his entire purpose is just a plot device - there's very little dialogue on his end at all, and he honestly just feels like a prop.

The final straw for me, however, was how unrealistic many of the events (past and present) were. Rufus is abused constantly at school, to the point of broken bones over and over again, but nobody ever steps in, including his mother (which would make more sense if she was written as a neglectful parent, but she's actually a very loving figure). There are discussions of legal matters between Rufus' parents that make no sense at all and make it very evident that no substantial research went into the laws behind these topics.

If you're looking for a queer YA thriller and don't mind complete suspension of disbelief while you read it, I would say maybe check this out, but otherwise, there are many better books in the world for you to spend your time and money on.

All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to Feiwel & Friends for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Although I found the diverse representation in this book to be excellent, the story itself felt choppy and abrupt. The pacing seemed off. I enjoyed the relationships, and I appreciated the diverse cast of characters. However, I never fully understood why April chose to call Rufus, this seemed unrealistic to me. Also, Hayden was initially set up as if he was going to have more of a role in the story, but then he kind of faded into the background. He seemed like an extraneous character and I'm not sure I understood the point of him.
The story seemed to jump from scene to scene in an abrupt manner. It was easy to follow, but it was abrupt. The writing seemed choppy. This was disappointing to me, because I am a fan of the author and his first book was excellent. I would highly recommend reading that one.
I do want to highlight some positives about this book- although I think it could have been handled better, the premise was interesting. The ending was exciting and well done. The characters were diverse and interesting. If anything, I would have liked to see this story more fleshed out. It's a good story, it just seemed rushed.

I’ve tried multiple times to finish this book and I sadly cant. I feel like author had two good story ideas and tried to mash them together in this. It didn’t work for me and I often felt like their was too many things happening and not connecting. I just couldn’t get through it and while there are many elements that didn’t work for me does not man it won’t be a great read for someone else.

Twisty and fun whodunit with a magnificently crafted protagonist. Highly recommended.

This book was a trip. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Rufus and Sebastian are totally likeable and I was rooting for both of them the whole time.

I kept going back and forth on who I thought was the killer. I kept thinking there would be a super unforeseen twist where it was someone we totally didn’t expect. I was even starting to get suspicious of Sebastian at one point even though there was literally no way he could have done it. There wasn’t the big twist I was expecting, but it was still done well and I didn’t have pegged down who it was so it was still a little of a surprise.

This book was very well written and very addictive. I love Sebastian and Rufus together and want an entire book of them two being able to be happy together. The last chapter did a good job of giving us a glimpse into that life.

The only thing Rufus wants to worry about on 4th of July is having a good time at his best friend's party. When his ex-boyfriend, Sebastian, shows up, Rufus doesn't think the night could get any worse, but little does he know, it's the turning point of the whole evening. After Rufus get a mysterious and strange call from his half-sister, April, pleading for his help, Rufus is so taken aback by the whole thing (due to the fact that he and his half-siblings don't have the best relationships, putting is mildly) he immediately leaves the party. Needing a ride, Rufus has to rely on the person who broke his heart mere weeks ago, the person that he's almost-but-not-quite over yet: Sebastian.

When they arrive at the party the scene is straight out of a horror movie with April unconscious next to her very dead and murdered boyfriend and looking like the guilty party. Rufus doesn't want to get involved any more than he already has, but April has something that Rufus desperately needs and in exchange, he agrees to get April off the hook. The problem: there were four other people at the party all who don't care a thing for Rufus and all who seem to have motives of their own. As Rufus makes himself a direct target of the killer, the only person he can trust is the same person who broke his trust: Sebastian.

White Rabbit is an extremely readable, smartly paced, YA mystery / thriller. This is the first book I've read by Caleb Roehrig but I found the writing style to be fantastic. The story starts off so abruptly that, at first, I was a little dissatisfied. I wanted a little more build up, but the author did a wonderful job of incorporating backstory via flashbacks into the narrative in the best possible way. These scenes are peppered throughout the more nail-biting and thrilling scenes giving the story a good balance and the readers room to breathe in between moments of high-anticipation. I loved the way the mystery builds upon itself with Rufus, simply enough, questioning the other people at the party. But it soon becomes apparent that secrets are being kept and watching how each unravels and seeing the impact is has (or not) on solving the murder mystery is interesting.

The only thing that got me was the way Rufus kept getting roped into investigating. I mean he's sixteen years old. He is by no means a licensed detective and every time the plot would twist and turn I kept thinking how much more trouble Rufus could get in. So I kinda had to suspend my disbelief and oftentimes remind myself that it's an entertaining story. I think if the characters were maybe just a little bit older this might have helped too, but I think that would have then contended with the relationship aspect of the story which is just as important as the murder mystery.

Rufus had been rudely outed a few years ago and was subjected to teasing and mocking and outright bullying by people who he thought were his friends. He survived and came out of it knowing who he was and not making excuses for other people's insecurities. He's got some good friends that stick by him. Sebastian, on the other hand, runs with the popular crowd (the very crowd that berated Rufus), he's an all-star in sports and has had an on again / off again relationship with one of the popular girls for years. He's attracted to Rufus but he's not "out" and after months of dating things end disastrously between Rufus and Sebastian. I liked that Caleb Roehrig incorporates the mending of the relationship all while Rufus and Sebastian are searching out a killer. I mean there's not better situation to bring things into perspective than a life-and-death situation. I really loved that throughout the whole story, Sebastian doesn't define himself as gay or straight or bi-sexual, etc. Whether he's not ready to define himself, or he just doesn't want to. It's a simple matter of one person liking / being attracted to another person. For me, it made the way things played out between them really sweet. With sixteen being such an age group of firsts: first love, first kiss, maybe even first sexual experience, I do think it was important that they weren't too much older despite thinking they were definitely too young to be the de facto investigators.

Overall, I was pretty impressed with White Rabbit. Taking place over the course of one evening really amps up the tension as the various twists and turns lead us to the explosive ending.

Rufus Holt’s fourth of July celebration has gone from boom to bust when his ex-boyfriend, Sabastian, turns up at the party wanting to talk. But Rufus just put his life back together after Sebastian stomped on his heart “like a spent cigarette.” But Rufus’ half-sister from the same mister calls him frantically begging him for help. Since he and April are the opposite of close, he finds the request odd but decides he can’t ignore her plea for help. Rufus and Sabastian find April passed out, holding a knife and covered in her boyfriend’s blood. April swears she didn’t kill her boyfriend and begs Rufus to help her find out what happened. He agrees after she offers him $2,000, money he desperately needs, to help clear her name before the night is over.
Roehrig’s mystery While the premise is exciting, I found the story tripping up on some important points. The first being that a lot of the beginning is being told to me, not shown. Rufus delivers a bunch of backstory that tired me out and put distance between me and the characters. I ended up putting the book down for two months before deciding to give it a second chance, and I’m glad I did. After all the backstory was told, the story stayed in the present action and then took off.
As the mystery unfolded, Roehrig offered clues, red herrings, and tried to eliminate characters as the killer as the story unfolded, but he missed the mark on making it a fair-play mystery. The means in which the characters were eliminated seemed unrealistic and were muddied by credulity, and left me questioning if I should really rule out the characters. It wasn’t until after the killer was exposed that I realized that yes, I was supposed to eliminate the characters based on what transpired on the page.
I enjoyed the push and pull of Rufus and Sebastian’s relationship and the insight into the complexity of a gay person’s self-identity, both before and after ‘coming out.’ While this mystery fell short of being a fair-play mystery and had a little too much telling at the beginning, I would still recommend this novel to young adults. It’s an intriguing adventure and serves to normalize gay relationships that should already be normalized in our society.