3.5 Stars

I thought this was a nice enough YA novel. Henry moves to a prestigious school in Seattle. As the new kid on the block he finds it hard to fit in but he eventually makes friends with a few students especially the rather peculiar Julius Drake.

Julius is from a wealthy family and he is clever, eccentric and somewhat mysterious. Henry admires Julius but also feels a deeper attraction for him which he doesn't want to admit to. When a student attempts suicide Julius decides to investigate who drove him to it and Henry and a couple of his other friends team up to help. It appears someone is catfishing their school mates and manipulating them using social media. Henry, Julius and their friends decide to find out who is doing this. In the course of their investigation Henry also investigates his only feelings towards Julius hoping to get closer to him and at the same time hoping not to.

I thought this was an enjoyable story. It is well written and the characters are engaging. I don't normally read YA mostly because the characters are often too young for me and mostly end up doing things that I wouldn't approve of as a parent, such as Henry sneaking out after 10pm when his mother was fast asleep (shock, horror). Having said that I think I would still disapprove even if I had read this as a young person.

It is a lovely story though. Julius is a curious and enigmatic character who comes into his own as the story progresses and he and Henry race to unveil the manipulative cat fisher. When the story ended I wanted more. I hope this is just a first of many Henry and Julius adventures.

Copy provided by Riptide Publishing via Netgalleyin exchange for an unbiased review.