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15
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You have to murder at least three people to be called a serial killer. the Magpie Man got there when I was nine. Ten years ago, Jess lost her mother to the Magpie Man. She was the first of his victims but not the last. Now Jess is the star of a YouTube reality series and she's using it to catch the killer once and for all. The whole world is watching her every move. And so can the Magpie Man.
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There were a few good moments in this book, but mostly it felt disjointed and I'll conceived. The plot tries to combine a hard-hitting murder mystery (someone secures a spot on a reality TV show in order to find her mother's killer) with a high school story (they go on a weird retreat that has very little to do with the story at hand). The television storyline exists solely as a plot device in order to create a couple of connections and felt ignored the rest of the time. Character motivations, including the Magpie Man's, felt flimsy at best. And there was an attempt at making her a “modern protagonist” with little interest in the romance of most YA, but she still managed to have two kind-of love interests.
Mostly I was left with questions. Why did she think she would ever be able to do better than the police? Why would she agree to be on a reality show - actively apply in fact - and then not do anything with it for her “cause”? Why would the other contestants concede to her? There were attempts at answering these questions, but they felt flimsy at best.
The premise was promising, but this needed a lot of editorial direction that it did NOT receive. I'd skip this one personally.
