This book had so much potential, but the execution fell very flat. The ending felt thrown together and the book itself felt disjointed and confused. The unreliable narrator trope was turned on it's head a bit which I found really intriguing but I felt like more could be done. More could be explained and expanded. The ending was abrupt and did not lend itself to the narrative well at all.

This book captures your attention with it's plot twists, forcing you to focus on it until you finish it in a frenzied attempt to figure out just who killed Zoe Spanos. Very good read.

This was really enjoyable. The podcasts were extremely fun and engaging, and it kept me hooked until the end. And I absolutely loved the Anne x Gilbert mention.

Thanks NetGalley for the arc of this title. YA and thriller are my favorite genres, so I was really excited when this book had both. My students are always asking for murder mysteries and there are so many great ones that I can’t give them. This is an awesome thriller but still appropriate to have in a classroom library.

Anything that is compared to Sadie, one of my all time favourite books, is something that I instantly need in my life. When you combine that with a razor-sharp mystery and the fact that it’s inspired by Rebecca, you have me utterly sold.

Frick takes the essence of Rebecca in all its shine-chilling, Gothic beauty and infuses it into a thrilling mystery. It reignites the spirit of the classic and gives it a fresh and new feel to it. Information is drip-fed to you through multiple timelines, allowing for a slow build of atmosphere and this constant unsettling sense of not being able to trust anyone. Everyone is a suspect and for a lot of the book you’ll go back and forth on whether Anna indeed committed the crime. That sense of déjà vu that haunts Rebecca is so prevalent here, with Anna’s uncanny resemblance to Zoe and the secrets that are slowly unravelled. Every character is carefully sketched out so a cloud of secrets looms above them, with salacious hints of affairs, obsession and scandals.

The mystery is so well-constructed and imagined. You become utterly wrapped up, spawning theories left and right as new clues are uncovered. Frick has crafted an incredible riveting mystery that makes it so hard to stop reading. As I read, my mind kept whirring as it thought up new potential theories. When a book consumes your every waking thought, you know it’s a good one and it’s what a mystery should achieve. Frick delivers all that and more. It’s definitely worth re-reading, as it’s so interesting to see the breadcrumb trail of tiny hints that lead up to the big reveals. Like any good mystery writer, Frick tosses us a multitude of plot hints, threads and potential red herrings to keep you constantly on your toes. You really can’t trust anyone you meet. Throughout reading, you have to be constantly suspicious and looking for clues. This type of engagement in a book is so rare and it is an impressive feat.

I Killed Zoe Spanos utilises two alternating timelines (earlier in the summer and after the confession) and interludes of the podcast. It is the latter feature that reminds readers of Sadie, as it feels like such a real podcast that would definitely be a smash-hit. Using this allows the reader to feel more involved and part of the story, keeping you glued to the page. However, it is also similar to Sadie in its incisive, deeply feminist writing. Frick offers biting social commentary on the role of women and privilege, including an excellent conversation about white privilege. A lot of the book revolves around both media and public perceptions of people, showing how easily these can be manipulated and influenced by our own implicit biases. Frick plays with these expectations expertly, often exploiting assumptions that you may have made in order to surprise you.

On the flipside, Frick also offers a quieter study of guilt and grief alongside the dramatic mystery. It’s an emotionally charged story with a lot of introspective character study. This is particularly evident through Anna’s perspective. She may be somewhat unreliable and untrustworthy but you can only reveal the truth by peeking into her mind. The structure really complimented the twisty nature of the story so much and the parallels within it. For example, the book’s opening and closing lines are both ‘I killed Zoe Spanos’, giving it this unsettling feeling of inevitable destruction.

I Killed Zoe Spanos is a stand-out YA thriller of 2020, with a dark and entrancing tone that will keep you hooked until that explosive final reveal.

This was a solid YA mystery that had a fun podcast component. The timelines confused me at times because I was unsure of who actually knew who. I didn't get connected to or invested in any of the characters. So ultimately, this was just okay for me.

Soon-to-be college student Anna Cicconi thinks she's landed a dream summer gig as a nanny in the Hamptons' village of Herron Mills ... until townspeople start telling her how much she resembles missing local Zoe Spanos, who hasn't been seen since New Year's Eve. Dealing with a series of memories that may or may not belong to her, Anna befriends a local podcaster and quickly becomes embroiled in the mystery of Zoe's disappearance. The perfect summer beach read, this young adult thriller will keep you guessing until the very end!

A dual timeline… “Now” and “Then.” A murder confession. One word that controls the plot: Murky!

It is summer vacation and the small towns on Long Island are opening up to all the tourists of the season. But the year-long residents of Herron Mills are still reeling from the disappearance of local college student, Zoe Spanos. Anna Cicconi has arrived for her summer nanny job and is immediately recognized as a virtual doppelgänger of Spanos, and this brings her into the missing girl’s circle. A friend’s sister who is producing a podcast looking into the possible crime, a biracial ex-boyfriend who is still suspected of wrongdoing, and a family who is grieving. Anna feels compelled to investigate… some out of boredom and some out of true curiosity.

One thread leaps ahead a couple months when Zoe’s body is found and Anna almost immediately confesses to the murder. But people close to the case see too many holes in her story and question why Anna has put herself in this position. This is when the book really takes off. Coupled with the backstory put forth by podcast, the investigation really starts to get off the ground with a series of twists and turns that left me questioning all the characters.

This is a fun one! I found the mystery very satisfying. Sure, the ending is a bit fanciful, but the run up is worth it. I liked the Long Island, small-town setting, and the relationships Frick sets up between the townies and the Brooklyn nanny. So many secrets in this town!

I have one minor criticism: I didn’t think the blurb’s comparison to Serial and Sadie was apt just because I feel like this book is much different than those stories. Sadie was larger in scale and just throwing out Serial as a connection feels contrived, like it is only mentioned because it’s probably the most popular crime podcast. I guess I’d just rather that I Killed Zoe Spanos would stand on its own, which I think it definitely can and should.

4 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster Publishing, and the author for an advanced copy for review.

I Killed Zoe Spanos is full of twists, turns, and "I didn't see it coming"s. The majority of the novel takes place in an idyllically small Hamptons village, which makes the disappearance of beloved Zoe Spanos even more sinister. When Anna Cicconi arrives in Herron Mills to nanny for the summer, she turns quite a few heads, as she bears and uncanny resemblance to the missing Zoe. Then, Anna starts to experience "flashbacks" where she remembers places around town that she could have no way of remembering and there are convenient gaps in her memory that correspond with when Zoe went missing. How does Anna know these things and where was she the night that Zoe disappeared? Read to find out!

Wow. This book. There’s a lot going on and so many twists and turns in the plot, it is hard to decide where to start. And so I start by just saying – WOW. I didn’t know what to expect from this book when I picked it up. The description was intriguing but it felt like there was a lot that could go wrong. Thankfully, it all went very right!

Read my full review here: https://booksteahealthyme.home.blog/2020/06/30/book-review-i-killed-zoe-spanos-by-kit-frick/

DNF @ about 25%

I can't do it fam. I was on the street team and was given an arc, but I never got beyond the first few chapters. I even switched to the audiobook because hello, full cast! But even then I'm bored. And confused. And there's only two narrators so far?? Where are the others??

I really hope someone else likes this more than me. And yes, I gave it 2 stars while DNF'ing, but I reserve 1 star ratings for books I hate. And I didn't hate this one! I just kept falling asleep to it.

“𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝐝𝐨 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓, 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂?”

“𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒍, 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒐𝒇𝒇. 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒌, 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆. 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒔.

𝑴𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕, 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒔.”

Damn.

What a whirlwind of wild this little beauty turned out to be.

I Killed Zoe Spanos is told from two POVs – Anna Cicconi, the main lead and prime suspect in the disappearance and murder of Zoe after a shocking confession, and Martina Green, a friend of Zoe’s younger sister with aspiring journalistic dreams and a promise to find out what really happened. The story flips between the present and two months prior, before Anna confesses to killing Zoe. It documents Anna’s time in the Hamptons working as a nanny for the summer for a prominent family, how she discovers and learns about the disappearance of Zoe Spanos, and how she eventually confesses to killing her.

Confused?

As you should be.

“𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅. 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕.”

Anna is from Bay Ridge in Brooklyn where she has spent way too much time drinking heavily and taking party favors, in the hopes that her mother might pay attention to her. But Anna wants to change. She wants a break from the relentless fog and partying, so she takes a summer job in the Hamptons. But upon arriving to this new place, she learns of the odd disappearance of a girl named Zoe Spanos. On New Years Eve, Zoe vanished without a trace. With little clues as to what had happened to her, and even less motive for foul play.

But what Anna quickly learns upon arriving in the Hamptons, is that she bares a striking and eerie resemblance to Zoe. Some would say, an almost identical resemblance.

“𝑴𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕?” 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒔 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂’𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒓.

And as Anna begins to learn more about Zoe through locals who mistake her for the missing girl, friends and news articles, Anna begins to fall deeper and deeper into the intricacies and mysteries surrounding the case. And to a point where secrets, truth, lies and blurred lines begin to reveal themselves.

“𝑰𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒂𝒚. 𝑨𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰’𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕…

𝑰 𝑲𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒁𝒐𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒔.”

This shit gets a liiiiiittle crazy.

From the beginning, Anna starts dropping little hints about her life back home. It consists of a lot of partying and activities that fuzzy up the mind, and gives the reader an overwhelming sense that she is running from something. Murder, you say?! Hmmm…maybe so. But what’s really interesting about Anna’s character is that you never really get a solid read on her. She’s a bit of an enigma shrouded in hazy darkness, and it seems as if only the top few layers of her are pulled away. She’s like an onion…you know the saying.

But what really started to intrigue me about Anna, besides her need to leave her past behaviors behind, was her constant forgetfulness.

Here is a girl who obviously isn’t a hardcore drug user, and sure…she seems to have a bit of a pull towards the bottles of alcohol that she notices, but nothing to suggest she has a serious problem with substances. Which is the only reason I was coming up with for why she would be forgetting things randomly, to the point where the little girl she was nannying was constantly reminding her of conversations and clearly exasperated for having to do so. Obviously there’s a rhyme and a reason for this odd behavior, but the way it is executed had me swooning.

Kit Frick was meant to write mystery thrillers. She knows how to create an eerie yet familiar personality in a character that feels authentic, but has ever so slightly had sprinkles of slight paranoia and hysteria woven in to make the reader question the sanity of the MC. And not only does she make the reader both trust and question Anna, but she adds in other multiple characters that feel innocent and guilty all at once.

“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒈𝒐,” 𝑪𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝑰’𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓, 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑾𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏. 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝐢𝐬 𝒉𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅. 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈.”

I’ll be honest, I had no idea who in the hell the murderer was until the murderer was actually revealed. And even then, I didn’t believe it. There are SO MANY characters who are perfect suspects and have clear motives. SO MANY characters who act strangely and suspiciously. Who seem to always be covering things up or sweeping clues into a rolled up rug and throwing it into the ocean.

Its all.

Very.

Suspish.

But isn’t that what we love? To be hit at the knees and have a bag pulled over our heads? And in true murder mystery form, we get to play detective alongside the characters. Throughout the story the POV switches over to Martina Green and her podcasts episode transcripts where she is trying to find out what happened to Zoe. She discusses police reports, insider information from the family, possible suspects, and even points the finger at the boyfriend.

Because it’s always the boyfriend.

“𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒊𝒓.”

Though of course, nothing is ever as it seems, is it?

And without giving anything away, I just need to comment on the ending. Sure I was totally blindsided, but do I realllyyyyyy believe that ending?

Meh.

It’s questionable.

I felt like some conversations and relationships weren’t tied up. I wanted a convo between the murderer and…a prominent character to take place, but it didn’t. I wanted to see the TRUE feelings and thoughts of the murderer, but all I got was the confession and facts. But then again…that is the most authentic way to end a story like this, isn’t it? When do we ever really get the full details on murders and heinous crimes?

Maybe if it involves Ed Kemper, but he’s a unicorn.

Anyways.

This mystery kicked ass and finally got me out of my reading slump. It may be because there was murder in it, which seems to be my happy place lately (don’t you fucking judge me) and the only genre to keep me interested. But I will say, that little situation with Star and the conclusion of that was a bit…anti-climatic, no? Like realllyyy? That’s how that ties up? With a slapped on band-aid and a shrug?

Oh okay.

What an interesting YA murder mystery full of good twists and turns! There's something about mystery novels set during the summer that just work so well (and it's set in the Hamptons?!). The story is told with a timeline that switches back and forth to the past vs. present while also having elements of a true crime podcast, Missing Zoe, that narrate your way through. I highly, highly recommend this to YA readers...even if you don't normally like mystery novels. This one will change your mind!

I can see why this is the YA book of the summer! I quite enjoyed it and there were some twisty turns in the narrative that kept me on my toes. I also liked the podcast element. I recommend for anyone looking for a YA thriller for a summer read.

Tonight! We’re joined by author, Kit Frick. WIll she spoil her book? Will she burn books in a metaphorical sense? Only one fun way to find out. Give a listen now!

https://anchor.fm/bookedallnight/episodes/An-Interview-with-Kit-Frick-egq9v8

What happened to Zoe won’t stay buried… When Anna Cicconi arrives to the small Hamptons village of Herron Mills for a summer nanny gig, she has high hopes for a fresh start. What she finds instead is a community on edge after the disappearance of Zoe Spanos, a local girl who has been missing since New Year’s Eve. Anna bears an eerie resemblance to Zoe, and her mere presence in town stirs up still-raw feelings about the unsolved case. As Anna delves deeper into the mystery, stepping further and further into Zoe’s life, she becomes increasingly convinced that she and Zoe are connected–and that she knows what happened to her. Two months later, Zoe’s body is found in a nearby lake, and Anna is charged with manslaughter. But Anna’s confession is riddled with holes, and Martina Green, teen host of the Missing Zoe podcast, isn’t satisfied. Did Anna really kill Zoe? And if not, can Martina’s podcast uncover the truth?

Woah. What a thrill. I absolutely cannot wait to hear my students gush about how much they loved this book. It is exactly the kind of dark mystery they are always craving.

This book was so great!! I really enjoyed it. Matter of fact, I had a hard time putting it down. I love how it made you think one thing and then totally flipped things around. Recommending this one to everyone. I love a good twisty YA thriller. This one perfectly delivered that! I cannot wait to read more by Kit Frick

Teenager Anna desperately needs a fresh start, and a nanny job in the Hamptons fits that need perfectly. But when she gets there, she discovers she looks exactly like a missing girl named Zoe, whose case is the subject of a local true crime podcast. While Anna's confusing memories and old friends try to pull her under, Zoe's body is found, and Anna is arrested-but is she confessing to a crime she didn't commit?

This book was so good! I absolutely love a mystery and/or thriller centered around a fictional podcast (which would be one of the many reasons the Six Stories series is one of my all-time favorite series). It worked really well to have the podcast host be a teenager who lives in the town, who has a personal stake in solving the crime. Frick's story had so many twists and turns and reveals, and everything made sense looking back.


I wanted more of the podcast! There were some times when an episode was just casually referenced, and readers didn't get a transcript of it. I would have liked the book to include transcripts of all the episodes, and for there to be more (and longer) episodes in general.

I definitely recommend this book! Books are always a comfort for me, especially in times like these, and this was the perfect book to distract me. It's a thriller with substance, a young adult book adults can and should read (read more YA books!), and a story that will keep you hooked.

What a fun ride! This is a book I can't wait to hand to my teens who love true crime. If you have readers who love podcasts like Serial and My Favorite Murder I think they will love Kit Frick's "I Killed Zoe Spanos!

I absolutely loved this book. I'm usually really good at figuring out twists but this one, no. I am definitely going to check out Kit's other books!