2.5 stars. 

This was a miss for me. The writing was a bit inconsistent and hard to follow at times. Who was speaking? Random text message back and forths are inserted into paragraphs without any formatting cues. Some of it may be the fault of early formatting in the ARC that will (hopefully) get cleaned up for final publication. Beyond that, I had other issues here as well. Elle’s zealous environmental concerns placed throughout seemed to be a weird grasp at giving her a more full personality, but it just seemed really forced. Then we deal with the Covid lockdown aspect toward the end (are we not all done with that? I’m done with that). The story was much less mystery/thriller than a relationship drama of a group of friends/acquaintances that are all weirdly obsessed with and also misunderstand each other. 

I would like to thank NetGalley, Caitlin Hamilton Marketing, and the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars that I'm rounding down as the author's writing style just wasn't for me. I had a really hard time following who was speaking or whose thoughts I was reading. Perhaps that is down to this being an ARC and it will be fixed before publication, but it really slowed me down, forcing me to reread pages many times to figure it out. The story itself was very interesting and it keep you wondering what is happening, even though it was kind of easy to figure out or at least surmise who they "bad guy" was. I still enjoyed it.

Ellie Stone is left in charge of watching over her brother—star athlete and golden boy who is now struggling with the hold his addiction has over him. After a blow up one night, Ellie storms out, leaving Josh at home by himself. When she returns, the house is in flames with Josh still inside. This incident sparks recognition from an event—another fire—in Ellie's past and readers stand witness and she grapples with her guilt and culpability.

Bokat deftly navigates through the stress and anxiety of life in your twenties while exploring what it means to take responsibility for one's actions. With concise prose; a fascinating narrative; appropriate pacing; and shocking reveals, this story provides a lot for readers to chew on. Admittedly, I had to pick it up three or four times and force myself past the first few chapters so if I had a complaint, it would be that the writing and/or characters may be difficult to connect or engage with in the beginning.

Thank you She Writes Press and NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review! Available 10/01/2024!

"Eleanor 'Ellie' returns home to care for her brother Josh, who struggles with addiction, while their parents are away on a trip. Unable to handle the pressure, Ellie leaves, only to return to a house engulfed in flames. Tragically, Josh doesn't survive. As Ellie grapples with guilt, her past resurfaces: a childhood incident where she accidentally started a fire that left her friend Anna permanently scarred. The narrative deftly explores themes of guilt, responsibility, and redemption. Who is to blamed for the fire and death of Josh?

It starts with a disaster. Ellie Stone leaves her brother Josh alone in their parents house and starts the drive back to New York City. When she realizes she has left something she needs, she turns the car around and drives back. When she arrives, the house is aflame and Josh is seriously burned. Josh was always the golden boy of their family, a natural athlete around whom their parents' attention was devoted. But Josh had issues as he got older and became addicted to drugs. He had been through rehab and was clean at the moment but their parents had asked Ellie to come home that weekend as they were out of town and they didn't know what would happen if Josh were left alone.

Now Ellie's world spins out of control. She is wracked with guilt for leaving and then when the police investigate the fire, afraid that she would be blamed for starting it. It could have been started by a cigarette and while Ellie remembers putting her last one out, she doesn't really trust her memory. Josh had been fighting with his girlfriend, Audrey, on the phone that night. Had she come over? Had Josh started the fire to kill himself?

Her parents are crushed and depressed. Ellie can't concentrate and loses her job as an investigative reporter Without a job, she worries about making rent. The only person who seems to care about how Ellie is handling things is Drew, Josh's childhood best friend. Eventually, Ellie and Drew start a relationship and she moves in with him. Can Ellie turn her life back around? Will the mystery of what happened that night be solved?

Although some might consider this a mystery, I thought it was an exquisite rendering of young people at this time. I have family members in that age group so I'm familiar with the mind set and the author has captured it perfectly. The angst of graduating into a tight job market and working low end entry jobs while struggling with overwhelming student debts, the reluctance to form lasting attachments and the resulting often meaningless affairs, the sense that there is nothing but a disastrous world hurtling towards its end, all of these are here. The book is also set in the time of the covid shutdown with all the fear and uncertainty that the isolation created, especially in young people who often lost their jobs or struggled to finish their education online. The mystery of the night of the fire is slowly revealed and there are several twists and turns that surprise the reader This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.