Book Review: The Cousins by Karen M McManus

Happy Easter Monday bookish people! I’m back with another book review. This time it’s for a Young Adult Mystery/Thriller book that I received in my December Illumicrate box. My copy has beautiful sprayed black edges and I was very excited to finally get to read it. So excited in fact that I couldn’t even wait for the 1st of April to start reading so technically I read it in March but it is part of my April TBR.

In this book review I will give star ratings for four categories and I will write a little about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review.

Plot:

The Cousins by Karen M McManus has a fast paced and thrilling plot. Practically every chapter had a twist that I was not expecting and scattered throughout the book are small hints of information that lead up to the climax of the mystery. I was hooked from the very first chapter of this book, It is told from different points of view throughout and I felt that this added to the tension of the book because it allowed me to see into the thoughts that make those characters do what they choose to do. There were so many unexpected twists in this book but I will say I did manage to guess the climax of the mystery which didn’t impact my enjoyment of the book. The only thing I would say is that there is a lot of focus on the relationship between two of the main characters, I won’t say which ones, and personally I didn’t enjoy this part of the novel because I felt that the focus was too much on them rather than the overall mystery.

Characters:

In this book there are plenty of characters that fit together like a jigsaw puzzle in this Young Adult Mystery book and for me I felt there were too many characters. As it focused on the main characters, the cousins, their parents, their grandmother, the staff on the island, the people who were on the island when the parents were teenagers and the mystery that surrounded them. Because of this I felt that some characters did not have a clear enough purpose. Again this didn’t take away from the book as a whole and didn’t have much of an impact on my enjoyment of the book,.

Writing and Dialogue:

The writing style of this book was smooth and clear. It was very easy for me to become caught up in the story because of the great writing and how the complexity of the mystery was presented throughout, given to the reader in tiny hints that all come together at the end. The dialogue gives the characters personality. It also was the perfect blend of showing and telling, it didn’t give away the mystery which happens with some books.

Overall:

I gave this book four stars overall because it was a great mystery book. Apart from a few small points about the book I really enjoyed it. I felt that the ending was very satisfactory and it felt right for this book.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah Story are cousins, but they barely know each another, and they’ve never even met their grandmother. Rich and reclusive, she disinherited their parents before they were born. So when they each receive a letter inviting them to work at her island resort for the summer, they’re surprised… and curious.

Their parents are all clear on one point—not going is not an option. This could be the opportunity to get back into Grandmother’s good graces. But when the cousins arrive on the island, it’s immediately clear that she has different plans for them. And the longer they stay, the more they realize how mysterious—and dark—their family’s past is.

The entire Story family has secrets. Whatever pulled them apart years ago isn’t over—and this summer, the cousins will learn everything.

That’s it for this book review, I hope you enjoyed it!