Liar’s Beach Book Review
Liar’s Beach by Katie Cotugno book review and recommendation with NO SPOILERS
Date: 2-09-25 Post Written By: MK Overall Rating: 4.9/10
Book Cover Rating: 8.1/10
(My personal opinion)
Title: Liar’s Beach
Author: Katie Cotugno
Pages: 288
Genre: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Mystery
Subplots: Thriller, Romance
Series: Liar’s Beach #1
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Published: 2023
Number of Editions: 14
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, Ebook, Audio
Goodreads Rating: 3.09/5
Amazon Rating: 3.8/5
Movie/TV Show?? : No
Book Type: Standard
POV Type: Single
Pacing: Average
Generally: Murder Mystery, A New Take On The Mysterious Affair at Styles By Agatha Christie
Hook: Linden immediately feels out of place at Martha’s Vineyard. He isn’t accustomed to wealthy estates and rich parents. His roommate Jasper, on the other hand, is. So when Jasper invites Linden to come to Martha’s Vineyard, Linden decides to go- even knowing he will stand out. He goes purely for the fun with a friend- but ends up tied into a whole lot more than he ever could have expected. Once the dead body is found in the mansion’s pool after a night of partying- things start to take a turn drastically for the worse…
My Review
Going Into It:
Going into this book I was in a bit of a reading slump, so I was hoping for an exciting, thrilling YA mystery.
Characters:
Michael Linden- Linden is a junior in high school. He goes to an elite boarding school, so everyone assumes he’s rich, but in reality he isn’t.
Holiday Proctor- Holiday is one of Linden’s childhood friends. She is smart and loves mysteries.
Jasper Kendrick- Jasper is also a junior in high school. He is rich, and his family owns a massive house on Martha’s Vineyard.
I’m gonna be completely honest: I did not like these characters. The main character completely rubbed me the wrong way, and only one of the side characters was remotely interesting. The characters also lacked depth in my opinion.
Character Rating: 2.9/10
Setting:
This book takes place in a mansion called The Hemlock House on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
This setting was average (not to be boring, but it’s true!). Literally nothing stuck out to me in either positive or negative ways. The setting was almost always on the island, which didn’t give much chance for variety, but I kinda liked that for a ‘killer on the loose’ type of book.
Setting Rating: 5.4/10
Plot:
This plot was not what I was looking for when I said ‘exciting, thrilling YA mystery.’ Yes, there was a murder, and yes this book was about figuring out what happened, but it certainly wasn’t gripping or exciting in my opinion. It had the sort of plot that I rushed through just so I could move on to the next book. I think my lack of connection to the characters really negatively impacted my opinion of the plot because, not to be rude, I kinda didn’t care too much about twists or trouble for the characters.
Plot Rating: 5.5/10
Writing:
I honestly did not love this writing. Obviously this is a YA book, but it felt a little too unsophisticated. It was basic and plain. (Disclaimer: Writing books is SO hard, so to do it at all is a MASSIVE accomplishment, I just didn’t love this writing in comparison to other books I’ve read).
Writing Rating: 4.1/10
Ending:
I guess the ending was okay. It wrapped up the mystery aspect well, and gave a semi-satisfying conclusion. But the twist and mystery’s solution didn’t shock me or blow me away.
Ending Rating: 6.0/10
The Overall:
Overall, I didn’t really like this book. It was a YA mystery, but it wasn’t gripping or particularly exciting. I did not like the characters, and everything else was average. There are probably at least 20 other YA mystery books I would recommend reading before this one.
Overall Book Rating: 4.9/10
I would not particularly recommend this book
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Katie has studied at both Emerson College and Lesley University
She has written over ten books
Her books have earned a number of awards
She currently lives in Boston
For more information, view Katie Cotugno’s website: katiecotugno.com
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