Review : This is Our Story by Ashley Elston

Posted by on January 13, 2017 4:44 pm in 3.5 stars reads | 0 comments

this-is-our-storyThis is Our Story by Ashley Elston
Pages : 320
Genre : YA, Mystery
Stand alone
My Rating : 3.5/5

About the Book  :

Five went in. Four came out.

No one knows what happened that morning at River Point. Five boys went hunting. Four came back. The boys won’t say who fired the shot that killed their friend; the evidence shows it could have been any one of them.

Kate Marino’s senior year internship at the district attorney’s office isn’t exactly glamorous—more like an excuse to leave school early that looks good on college applications. Then the DA hands her boss, Mr. Stone, the biggest case her small town of Belle Terre has ever seen. The River Point Boys are all anyone can talk about. Despite their damning toxicology reports the morning of the accident, the DA wants the boys’ case swept under the rug. He owes his political office to their powerful families.

Kate won’t let that happen. Digging up secrets without revealing her own is a dangerous line to walk; Kate has her own reasons for seeking justice for Grant. As she investigates with Stone, the aging prosecutor relying on Kate to see and hear what he cannot, she realizes that nothing about the case—or the boys—is what it seems.

My Thoughts :

This is Our Story is, mostly, your typical small town murder mystery – a genre you guys all know I absolutely love. And this one had what I thought was an intriguing setting for a YA novel : five boys went into the forest, four came back, and no one knows what really happened. It seems obvious to everyone the four remaining boys are lying, but how to prove it?

There’s a good story in there wrapped in a good narration. I enjoyed the killer’s point of view appearing in between chapters, which told us just enough about the boys without revealing the killer’s identity. It added a bit of mystery, which was needed, I felt, as Kate’s story wasn’t as captivating as I would have hoped.

Here’s the thing. I liked Kate as a character, and her personal story was good. Her work for the DA’s office explains why she is so closely involved with the investigation, but I found myself wishing things were a bit different. Because of her position, Kate is kind of limited in what she can do. And while that is certainly more realistic than the teenage investigators we usually meet in YA novels, it is also a bit more boring. Consequently, I found the middle of the book to be dragging a little.

I could also have done without some of the relationships, which I felt overshadowed the story toward the end rather than bringing it to life.

There’s also a twist toward the middle, which I didn’t see it coming at all, and I loved it. Not only because it surprised me, but also because of how it changed the story. It’s both little and big, if that makes sense, and one of my favorite twists in a while.

Overall, I had a good time with This is Our Story. I first fell in love with its clever cover, but the mystery I found inside entertained me. There’s a good pace, lots of characters, and just enough clues to intrigue without pointing to the killer too obviously. I also felt that Ashley Elston’s writing suited her story perfectly. I’d recommend this one to fans of YA mysteries. It certainly was a good start to my 2017 reading!

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