Golden by Jessi Kirby
"Seventeen-year-old Parker Frost has never taken the road less traveled. Valedictorian and quintessential good girl, she’s about to graduate high school without ever having kissed her crush or broken the rules. So when fate drops a clue in her lap—one that might be the key to unraveling a town mystery—she decides to take a chance.
Julianna Farnetti and Shane Cruz are remembered as the golden couple of Summit Lakes High—perfect in every way, meant to be together forever. But Julianna’s journal tells a different story—one of doubts about Shane and a forbidden romance with an older, artistic guy. These are the secrets that were swept away with her the night that Shane’s jeep plunged into an icy river, leaving behind a grieving town and no bodies to bury.
Reading Julianna’s journal gives Parker the courage to start to really live—and it also gives her reasons to question what really happened the night of the accident. Armed with clues from the past, Parker enlists the help of her best friend, Kat, and Trevor, her longtime crush, to track down some leads. The mystery ends up taking Parker places that she never could have imagined. And she soon finds that taking the road less traveled makes all the difference."- summary from Amazon
I absolutely loved Kirby's debut and have been meaning to read her second book In Honor since I got it last year, but being on this blog tour forced me to find time for Golden, her third book. Reading this really made me want to read In Honor, which I'll probably do very soon. Kirby crafts these wonderful coming-of-age tales that are just perfect; I really loved Parker as a main character and seeing her grow over the course of the novel.
The mystery of the novel made it very interesting too; that, along with Kirby's compelling writing, really kept the story moving. I had problems putting the book down. I wanted to see how everything would turn out and it was simply amazing. I just loved it.
In terms of characters, there's mainly just Parker, Kat and Trevor. Yes, there's Parker's mom, and the teacher, but it felt to me like those three were the main focus. It was nice to see a small cast of characters and get to know them. Their interactions were very realistic and they just felt like real friends. Seeing Parker and Trevor get closer throughout the novel was fun too.
Overall, seriously, just pick up this book. It's awesome and a perfect way to start the summer!
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FTC: Received e-galley from Edelweiss. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.