[Book Review] The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas

 

3.5 STARS 

The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas is a psychological thriller about our main character, Tessa, who visits her hometown after finding out that her father is on his death bed. While visiting her hometown her past starts to catch up with her and her childhood friend, Callie, once they realize that the man in prison for killing their friend may not have done it after all. 

This book had me pretty hooked once I got about fifty pages into the story. Kara Thomas writes dialogue really well and I slipped into the story without a problem. It was addictive and fast paced that had me wanting to know what was going to happen next. The characters of Tessa and Callie are both just out of high school, so at times their drama could feel a bit juvenile, but I let it pass mostly because they were going through some heavy stuff so their arguments seemed realistic. I enjoyed both of them as characters, I didn't get too upset at them and I felt like their motivations for their actions worked for the story. I really enjoyed Callie's mom, Maggie, who acted like a second mother to Tessa and I genuinely felt that connection between them. 

The whole time reading the story I wasn't sure what to believe and I kept second guessing myself when I tried to figure out the mystery. I really enjoy being able to try to figure out a mystery to a book by paying attention to the clues and putting pieces together so it was fun to have mini theories in my head as I met more characters and learned more information about their past. However, my biggest flaw with this book is that I don't think the story left enough clues for the reader to figure out the mystery by themselves. Maybe that was intentional, but if it was I think it's a mistake. I enjoy feeling like I am there with the main character. When everything is revealed and the story starts to come to a close, I didn't think the answer to the mystery came out of nowhere, but I don't think we as readers were given enough to go on to come to the conclusion on our own. Because of the lack of clues, the writer had to have a chapter or two of basically info dump explaining everything because it was like she had known we wouldn't have gotten to the mystery on our own. it was a bit of an info dump that felt like it had to explain everything because it wasn't properly integrated into the story for it to make sense unless everything is carefully explained. My only other issue with the book, and it's a real small one is that Tessa had a sliver of a love interest, and it didn't seem to go anywhere. I won't say too much because I don't want to spoil, but I was enjoying it, and then it kind of disappears.

Although the lack of clues did bum me out, I still really enjoyed this book. I had my heart racing and I was frantically turning the page, especially by the last eighty pages or so. With the writing flowing so nicely that you slipped into the story easily, the action packed plot, and my desire to need to know the mystery I recommend this book to anyone who wants a fun fast paced mystery.

Thanks for reading!

Have you read The Darkest Corners? What are some of your favorite psychological thrillers or mysteries?