A girl wakes up bloody in the woods with no memory of what happened to her. Her two best friends are missing. An easy solution presents itself-- a kidnapping gone wrong-- but she can't help but think there's something she still doesn't know. The clues might only be found in her missing weekend.

This book will definitely appeal to young adult mystery/thriller fans and to fans of Thomas' last bestseller, The Cheerleaders.

I'm always eager for a new Kara Thomas suspense thriller, and this one is by far my favorite of all her books.

When Claire wakes up on a hiking trail with a head injury, no memory of the last 24 hours, and two missing friends, she tries to investigate and uncover what really happened during their prom camping weekend. Were they robbed? Kidnapped? Murdered? Or, an even worse thought, did Claire do something to them that her brain has blocked out?

I read a lot of thrillers and, after a while, they start to become very predictable and formulaic. And yet, for Thomas's fourth book I've read in this genre, this is far from predictable. THAT WEEKEND features tons of great twists, surprises, and bombshells, plus great pacing and a likeable, relatable main character. I wish more authors would write suspense like Kara Thomas. This one gets five whopping, shiny stars from me. My only question is... how long do I have to wait for another from Thomas????

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for an advanced copy!

Thank you Netgalley, Delacorte Press, and Kara Thomsa for allowing me to read the arc of That Weekend. This is listed as a YA book, but I think that’s because the main characters are teens, not because of the writing or story! I didn’t love any of the characters, but the book was readable, even though so much was going on it was hard to keep track of everything. I enjoyed most of the book though, and will look for more books by this author. Three and a half stars rounded up to four.

Thanks to NetGalley for proving an early copy!

I've read every YA mystery/thriller that Kara Thomas has written, and this just SHOT to the top of my list of favorites. Dang. The pacing and the structure is a little unconventional (there are a few time jumps backward and forward) but it's pulled off perfectly, but I think that real standout is Claire's voice. Kara Thomas tends to write sardonic, unlikable narrators (which I say as a compliment; it's my favorite type of narrator!) and Claire is just the pitch-perfect example of how to do one well—I thought she was brash and funny and a little bit frustrating in the best way.

But the twists in this one. WOW. This book is a masterclass in introducing genuinely shocking but realistic twists. I can't wait for my friends to read this so I can talk about it with someone.

✨Review Time✨

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OMGGGGG this book! The twists were unreal! I was privileged to be allowed to read this before the release. It’s a fiction thriller about 3 teens that go on a wholesome camping trip gone wrong. It’ll leave you guessing from the beginning about what’s happening and who is the source. When Claire wakes up with no memory of that weekend or where her friends are she starts to question everything and everyone. Will she find out the truth? My mind went in several different directions without figuring it out. Not to mention the HUGE twist at the end. If you love thrillers, drama and the unexpected definitely pick this one up! Available on 6/22/2021

Aren't you supposed to trust your best friends in this world? That what Claire thought. After breaking up with her boyfriend right before prom she decided to go to her best friend's lake house with her two best friends. What could go wrong? The answer is a lot. Claire wakes up hurt on the side of the mountain after without any knowledge of how she got there, what day it is or where she friends are. Her best friends in the world are missing... and she has no answers to help find them. Can Claire find the answers she is looking for before it is too late? A awesome read that keep you guessing. This is one book you won't be able to put down. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. Sometimes that's all you need to say. What a gripping adventure this was. Just when you think you know what's going on, there's a new twist.

There’s almost too much to discuss here.

A YA thriller with plenty of twists and turns and an ending you really don’t want to believe!

Claire has recently broken up with her boyfriend, Ben. Instead of going to Prom, she heads to a lakehouse with two friends, Kat and Jesse. The weekend doesn't go well-not that Claire can remember. She ends up waking up bloodied in the middle of the woods with no memory of how or why she ended up there.

Eventually Claire learns both Kat and Jesse are missing and no one really knows what happens and Claire is no help because she can't remember! Were Jess and Kat kidnapped? Murdered? Was Claire a victim or is she a blame? As the length in the investigation continues, Claire's desire for answers increases and she sets out to get herself some answers. As she starts digging Claire slowly begins to realize her friends may not have been completely honest with her. Were they ever really friends at all?

This mystery will make your head hurt in a good way. I promise you.

Readers who like a mysteries with lots of twists and turns will love this entry by Kara Thomas. The beginning few pages felt like the start of a lot of teen mystery books but that is where the comparison stops. The way the author reveals the story of what happens through memories and lack of memories keeps the reader engaged. Just when you think you know what happens the thoughts of what happened turns totally in a different direction. Put this title in to any teen who loves a quick and enjoyable mystery. It will lead to turning pages to figure out what really happened out there in the woods.
I received an ARC ebook from NetGalley and the publisher, Random House Children’s, in exchange for an honest review.

I loved The Cheerleaders, and I was unsure if another of her books would live up to that one. This one sure did! I was riveted from the start, as anxious as the main character Claire for her to regain her memories of “that weekend” when she was badly injured and her two best friends went missing. This was a wild ride start to finish, and I did NOT see this ending coming. A must read for suspense fans!

Instead of going to prom, Claire, Kat, and Jesse decide to head up to a cabin for prom weekend and to camp in the mountain. Days later, Claire wakes up with a head injury and memory loss where she is unable to recall the days prior. The big problem is her best friends are missing and Claire can’t remember what happened that weekend.
TWISTY, TWISTY, TWISTY!! Every time I thought I knew where we were heading in the plot something new would come up and surprise me. I really like Claire’s investigative skills and her determination to find out what happened to her and her friends on the mountain that night. Even when it was all said and done and it seemed like the case was closed, Claire persisted to fill in the gaps of that weekend. Some of the characters throughout the book were written to give you a certain vibe and I think that the author completely delivered with her descriptions and the deception. I trusted some of the characters that I shouldn’t have and that’s what good writing can do to elevate the plot and trick the reader. I really enjoyed that aspect to the book. I also enjoyed most of the ending. There were a few unresolved things to me that I think could’ve ended cleaner but overall, I was deceived, surprised, and overall satisfied with the ending which is really all I can ask for when it comes to thrillers.
Kara Thomas is incredible at what she does and thrillers are what she does best.

Ah..this was going so well until the ending, and now I'm annoyed and incredibly unsatisfied. The ending(s?) was so out of left field, I can't even deign to call it a plot twist--and I called what happened to the friends from the very beginning. If Kara Thomas had just honored the story she was trying to tell, I might've rated this higher. Unfortunately, it seemed in the end, she was trying too hard to work in the shock factor. It made for an unsatisfying and ineffective ending. I love Thomas' work, but this one is a miss for me.

An intensely readable page-turner with more twists than an M. Night Shyamalan movie, That Weekend is a young adult mystery thriller about a trio of friends that disappear in the woods. The story begins with Claire, the only one of the three that is found injured and alone in the woods with no memory of what happened that weekend. It’s the perfect set-up for a summer thriller.

The first twenty percent of the novel was slow, setting up Claire’s story and her relationship to her two best friends. It was essentially just Claire’s romantic drama with three different teen boys and while I found it exhausting, I wasn’t too surprised given that this is a YA novel. The plot flirts with the romantic suspense genre which was decent, it’ll hook the right reader.

Thankfully the meat of the novel was really great, the mystery about what happened and the drama that unfolds between the characters made it hard to put down. I blazed through most of the novel in one sitting and stayed up all night reading, it was that engaging! I even came to like Claire, even though I found all of her boy drama to be frustrating.

I really wanted to know what happened, but all the plot twists bombed the ending for me, there was just too much and the narrative goes so wildly off the rails, I couldn’t help but sigh. Claire, who the reader follows for most of the book, is just as naive, useless, and frustrating as she was at the beginning of the story. The book overall didn’t quite stick the landing for me, but I can appreciate it for its merits and will be a good summer thriller for readers to devour.

This was quite a mind twister. It definitely had me continuously interested. I devoured this in one sitting.

Kara never ceases to amaze me.

I’m split on how I feel about the characters, but they are well built with their own personalities. The reason I say I’m split is because some of the characters are downright horrible people.

Claire is an interesting character and never gives up trying to find the truth. All the interactions are very realistic. Kat has hidden truths and so did Jesse.

The truth always comes out. The truth was NOT something I had expected or thought of.

The plot was decent and it held steady the entire time. It is told from two different viewpoints but mostly from Claire. This was a really good book.

I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Claire wakes up on a mountain and doesn't remember how she got there. All she knows is the friends she was with are missing. If only she could remember what happened. Unlike a lot of thrillers that don't really peak until the end, this book kept me on the edge of my seat from the beginning. There weren't any parts that seemed to drag on and I didn't want to put it down. This was my first book by this author and made me want to read her other books. Highly recommend #netgalley #thatweekend

This book is a quick and easy read that definitely has you craving more in search of answers. It also had a few twists that I couldn’t say I was ready for and definitely did not expect. Although, it’s those twists that made me feel a bit disappointed and left me feeling not as satisfied as I would have liked.

It’s the uneasy feeling that as I finished that leaves me not sure what I want to rate this book. The author did a great job of keeping me on my toes and wanting more, and with creating unguessable twists, but I was also left a bit unsatisfied and unsettled. However, to the author’s credit this does have me wanting to read more of their books which is always a good thing. So while I would probably give this book a 3.5 stars, I’ll round up just for that alone.

That weekend SHOULD have been one of the best of their lives...instead, Claire is left with a giant gap in her memory and the knowledge that her best friends have gone missing. What happened on that mountain on prom weekend? Claire leads readers through her investigations in the months following that dreaded weekend...and through the realization that her friends are likely dead. But Claire isn't a quitter...and she WILL figure it out. A page-turner!

This was my first book by Kara Thomas.

Claire goes for a weekend getaway with her friends. Everything is going fine until she wakes up alone and disoriented in the mountains with a major head injury! She has no memory of the last day and a half and her friends are no where to be found. What happened??? Clair is determined to solve this mystery.

I do enjoy mystery/thrillers and I did enjoy this book. I can see how many young people would really like this.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I don't know about you, but the thought of being injured and consequently losing part of my memory is terrifying. Just thinking about that possibility makes my stomach turn a bit. So, when That Weekend begins with a scene of Claire coming-to, alone on a mountain hiking trail with no memory of how she got there and in pain, my heart rate felt like it picked up just a little. The fun part about this kind of a beginning to a book is that as a reader, I only know what the characters of a book reveal. So, if Claire doesn't know how she ended up where she did, I don't either. Creepy, right?

As the story moves on, Claire is found by some hikers and taken into a hospital and treated for injuries. At one point, Claire abruptly asks where her friends are, and it becomes clear that at this time the friends she was supposedly camping with preceding her losing consciousness are missing, and Claire may be the only one who knows what happened to them, if she can only get her memory back.

Through chapters that go backward and forward in time to reveal new twists and turns leading up to the day that Claire can't remember, we learn a little bit more about Claire and the friends she was spending time with. Frustratingly, Claire still cannot recall what happened on the mountain, despite the fact that two of her close friends are missing and foul play is beginning to be suspected. The investigators that are handling the case aren't giving Claire much to work with, and she begins to worry that they might begin to look at her as a suspect rather than a victim.

Saving the best for last, That Weekend becomes even more intriguing in the last quarter of the book. Upon reaching the end of this book, I was relieved to feel like all of the loose ends were tied up and I wasn't left with the feeling that I was waiting for closure, which is always a good thing. I enjoyed this book immensely and can't wait to read more from Kara Thomas!

Review of a Digital Advanced Reading Copy