I loved the mystery and eeriness that came with this novel, and trying to find out what happened. I enjoyed the twists and turns, and the revelations. I recommend this novel.

I had been looking forward to reading this book for a while now and finally got around to it as I love this author's thrillers. However, this one started with a bang as we have our main characters driving down a haunted road called Hicks Road when our main female Lennox hits something. She thinks it's a person but her friends swear it was a deer and an animal. The next day Lennox is back at school and still feeling like she hit a person, her friends though keep trying to change the subject and make it out like it's not a big deal. During the novel, Lennox meets Owen - a popular boy at school and he asks her out. Right through the whole novel, strange things start occurring with Lennox and she feels like she is going crazy. Especially more so, that her mum has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and it does start showing signs when you are in your teens. Lennox feeling that she is cray-cray takes up most of the novel like 80% of the book and it's not till the last 20% that the truth of what happened comes pouring out. I just feel that this had the thriller part rushed and jammed at the end of the book whereas it would have been better if maybe was 50/50. What Happened on Hicks Road? by Hannah Jayne for me was one of those weird reads that left me feeling WTF I just read. I will continue reading future books by Hannah Jayne as I do enjoy her reads overall despite this one giving me, We Were Liars feeling to it.

This book is built on a fairly standard construct - a kid new to town and sees something creepy. We wonder if it is supernatural, a conspiracy, or a figment of her imagination. This book leans heavily on that last possibility. While the looming specter of inherited schizophrenia is a solid element to include in a novel, it isn't incorporated well here. The book doesn't explore concepts much beyond the surface level and the characters are woefully underdeveloped. There is not enough tension to keep us engaged .

I have read many books by Hannah Jayne before and quite enjoyed them. They are twisty and dark and a great YA Fiction Mystery read. I was expecting more of that vibe from What Happened on Hicks Road. Unfortunately, if I am being truthful, I did not enjoy this book. I didn’t even finish it. I rarely DNF books, but I made it 43% in and just couldn’t keep going.

The book follows Sadie as she has moved to a new school and is making new friends, but then she suspects she hit someone one night on a dark road, but none of her friends saw. She keeps getting hints she thinks are telling her she really did it.

My first flag in this book was the repetitiveness. It was said on multiple occasions the striking blonde hair and blue eyes of the “victim” stood out to Sadie. That description was thrown around so much I got annoyed with it. I also felt like the story did not progress. It was 43% of Sadie wondering if she did it, and no progression in the story at all. Sadie’s personality was high-strung and annoying. Jayne definitely had me guessing about Sadie’s sanity the entire time I was reading, but not in a good way. I didn’t really care what actually happened, but rather that if Sadie was going to get her stuff together or not.

With a story that flows so slowly and no real build-up as the story progresses, I really struggled with continuing to read. Even after I had wanted to quit reading, I pushed forward. Finally, it became too much and I did not finish. Maybe one day I will try again, and I will always encourage others to try it out. Just because a book is not for me does not mean it’s not for someone else. Check it out and tell me your own thoughts on this novel. I will definitely check out Jayne’s next one because I’ve loved her stories in the past.

This book was good, it just fell a little bit flat in my opinion. It had me hooked the first half, and then it just took a nose dive.

Lennox is a high schooler in a new town trying to fit in. With her mother in a mental institution and her father a traveling nurse, she doesn’t have much stability until her father lands a job in San Jose. But all of that changes one night when she is driving home from a party with her friends, Allison and Eva. Lennox hits something—or someone—but her friends swear nothing happened. There are clues to suggest that Lennox is right, but did she actually hit someone, or is her mental health spiraling like her mother’s?

The synopsis of this book is spot on, but somehow it’s much more interesting than the plot itself. This is a psychological thriller with an unreliable narrator, which I really enjoyed. I didn’t know what to believe, and that is what kept me reading despite not much happening. It’s just Lennox and her friends having the same conversation over and over again: Lennox swears she hit a girl and her friends try to convince her it isn’t true. The ending is extremely abrupt and makes zero sense with the rest of the story. It majorly jumps the shark and doesn’t align with the characters and their interactions throughout the entire book. Thanks to NetGalley, SourceBooks, and Hannah Jayne for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

Creepy YA read!

A group of friends drives to Hicks Road one dark night for some spooky fun. When 17yo Lennox sees a blonde girl dart in front of her car and she feels the thump of a hit, she stops the car to look for the girl. Her friends reassure her that it must have been a deer and that they didn’t see anything. Lennox is worried that she’s becoming schizophrenic like her mother and starting to hallucinate. Being new in town, Lennox doesn’t know her friends well at all and when they tell her over and over that she didn’t hit a person, she believes them.

Likes/dislikes: I like how the author created the uncertainty of whether or not the main character is reliable. The setting is wonderfully spooky. The unstable family life of the main character is an interesting part of the story.
Mature Content: PG-13 for implied drug use; kissing.
Language: R for 27 swears and 2 f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for hit and run.
Ethnicity: Allison has tanned skin. Falls to white.

What Happened on Hicks Road sounded super spooky. In some ways it is. But in some ways it isn't. Sadie (Lennox? Why the name change?) is always the new kid so she doesn't make friends easy. But for the first time she has friends. But one prank goes wrong and Sadie thinks she hits someone with her car. Sadie wants to go to the police but she shouldn't have been driving and there's no body to find except for a note that says *find me*.

It was hard to tell characters apart sometimes. And I don't like mental health and illness being used a plot device. What Happened on Hicks Road is a fast read and perfect for spooky season. But it's still your typical YA thriller.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with a review copy.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher/author for providing me with an E-arc of this book. The following is my honest opinion*

I really enjoyed the idea that this book was trying to convey. I think it had the potential to be really good. The problem I had with it was the deliverance and the style of writing. I started this book multiple times. and for a while there, I couldn't focus. Then, something would grab my attention but then it would get taken away. There also seemed to be transition issues but I kinda chalked it up to it not being the final draft, and maybe playing into the characters mental health.

I would love to reread this in its final form at a later time to see if I feel differently towards it.

This book was a real slog to get through. The pacing was so slow and the dialogue felt repetitive. So much of the book felt like unnecessary filler.

The author brings up different topics throughout the book and then never goes back and discusses them. The character development was really lacking too. I don’t want to spoil anything if you decide to read the book, just know the way some of the adult characters are characterized is inappropriate and doesn’t add to the book.

The ending felt very rushed and thrown together. When it was over, I had to go back and reread because I thought that surely couldn’t be the end. This book was lacking in so many any areas.

Sadly, I just can’t recommend this book.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire for the e-arc!

What Happened On Hicks Road follows Lennox in her sunny new life in California. Despite trouble with her mom who’s mentally ill, she has new friends, a new guy in her life, and feels normal for once.

Until Hicks Road happens.

This book had a lot of potential. The synopsis was very intriguing. Everyone loves a good urban legend. But the characters were unbearable and the repetition was too much. This book could’ve been 100 pages shorter and the characters fleshed out more. The ending was good in its own regard, but the lead up to it was a mess.

I had high hopes upon reading the book summary but I just couldn’t get into it. It was different than expected and just not my kind of book. It didn’t make sense to me at all. I really didn’t care for the writing style.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read and review.

I had to DNF at 27%. I had no idea what I was reading and where this was going. Really confusing. Not for me.

Thank you NetGalley, Sourcebooks Fire and the author for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I liked the description of this book but I couldn't really get into the characters and eventually I just stopped picking it up.

Thanks to NetGalley for a digital copy of this Arc. Well I hate giving bad reviews but sadly I did not like this book at all. It was so hard to get into and was really hard to connect with the characters in any way. It felt like an absolute chore to read. At just about half way it seemed like it was never going to get to the point. This unfortunately was a DNF for me.

Who doesn’t love urban legends? The kind of haunting and sinister tales locals whisper about on cold nights around campfires or with friends late at night. The kind of telephone game based on reality that evolves into something more grotesque and terrifying.

What Happened on Hicks Road is the subtle tingling heightening your senses. The underlying certainty that someone or something is watching, lurking in the shadows. This was a good, fast read. The kind of story that keeps you enthralled wondering how it’s going to end and questioning the narrator. Despite many problematic elements, I couldn’t put it down.

Let me preface this by saying that the Goodreads summary of this book has the main character under the name of Sadie, but in the version I read, her name is Lennox, so that’s how I will refer to her in this review.

The Hicks Road urban legends are real urban legends stemming from the San Jose area. There are many variations and tellings of these legends. For anyone who was interested in the legends, did a little research, and thought this would be a retelling based on local lore, you’re going to be disappointed. If you enter this book without those expectations, you’re in for something definitely chilling and mysterious, but lacking cannibals and vampires. The Hicks Road urban legends are an undercurrent running through this story. They’re the foundation of the setting and create a small town feeling where whispers of the ghostly and paranormal lurk down a dark road on the outskirts of town. The atmosphere is perfect. There are a few scenes that are jarring and creepy, adding to the thriller vibe.

Lennox Oliver is a new girl in town. She’s finally getting a sense of normalcy after moving countless times with her father for his job as a traveling nurse. She’s never had the opportunity to make good friends or even date. For the first time, she feels like she belongs, until a simple mistake leaves her reeling and questioning her sanity. Lennox is an interesting character with a strong voice. She’s artistic, funny, and honest with herself.

The most compelling aspect of this whole book is Lennox’s real fear of becoming her mother. Lennox’s raw, emotional feelings of being a ticking time bomb, questioning her own memory, reprimanding herself for her paranoia, all of these become an overwhelming weight on Lennox’s shoulders that she can’t escape. Hannah Jayne does a fantastic job of channeling these very real fears to make us question whether Lennox has a firm grip on reality. While this book does deal with mental health-specifically acute schizophrenia, there is not really a lot of discussion about the actual diagnosis. There are examples of what some behaviors can look like and the knowledge that it can be hereditary, but nothing to spur discussion or reduce the stigma around schizophrenia.

The characters all felt under explored. There were subtle things here and there to flesh them out, like an alcoholic parent or too many siblings or lists of their jobs, but not anything substantial. There could have been more development.

Much of the story centered on Lennox’s conviction that she did hit a person on Hicks Road and that she needed to find the body. While everyone else around her is dismissive, Lennox can’t rest until she knows for sure that she’s innocent, despite trying to forget and act “normal”. While some other readers considered this repetitive and too much, I felt like it helped build Lennox’s hysteria and increased the tension.

The ending. After hundreds of pages of questioning and uncertainty, the ending took a handful of pages. There was enough foreshadowing and hints sprinkled throughout to take some of the surprise out of the twist. It felt rushed and underwhelming. And if we’re being real, unfinished. The story basically ends on an incomplete conversation. I actually flipped to the next page expecting an epilogue or something, but it was just acknowledgements. Many things were left unresolved.

What Happened On Hicks Road follows Lennox who goes out with her friends one night and thinks she hit someone or something. She wants to get out and find out but her friends insist that nothing is wrong. However, Lennox can't shake the feeling that something is wrong. She wants to go to the police but she can't because she should not have been driving. But then she gets a note that says find me. Lennox Is determined to prove that something happened. And she will do whatever it takes to find out. 

This was a very interesting mystery/thriller read. Most of the time people do not believe the main character. But she is determined to prove that something was wrong. This book had a sense of paranoia to it, making it so the reader was left in the dark. I really enjoyed that. This is not the best mystery/thriller book that I have ever read. But I still thought it was an interesting read and kept me engaged. I think I would suggest this one.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcefire for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I… don’t really understand what I just read. In the moments after finishing it, I immediately had to think to myself: what the hell? I have no clue what What Happened on Hicks Road was about, I have no clue how this book passed through editing. There were so many moments where the scene shifted aggressively, where the interactions didn’t make any sense. I know it was a psychological thriller, but it could’ve made a LITTLE more sense, right? Anyway, I don’t really know what else to say about this book because I cannot even fully gather my thoughts on this one. All I can say is proceed with caution.

I can usually tell within the first 25% of the book whether or not I am going to like it. Within that amount of pages in this book I found myself wondering if the entire book was going to be so repetitive and if I was going to be bored the entire time. I thought back to something a friend once told me “life is too short to read bad books”. So, I took that advice and did dnf this one. I usually love YA thrillers, but that is not the case here.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review. I will not be posting outside of netgalley for this one.