I found this to such a engaging mystery. I overall really liked the various structures in this novel and it was super fun read and engaging read. I really did liked the book and found the mystery to be super compelling. I wish I felt more connected to the "suspects" in this end because the end did not make the much of impact on me because I did not feel anything for those characters. I really did like the romance that developed and the setting of this novel. It does make me more motivated to pick up by this author in the future.
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I found this to such a engaging mystery. I overall really liked the various structures in this novel and it was super fun read and engaging read. I really did liked the book and found the mystery to be super compelling. I wish I felt more connected to the "suspects" in this end because the end did not make the much of impact on me because I did not feel anything for those characters. I really did like the romance that developed and the setting of this novel. It does make me more motivated to pick up by this author in the future.
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My feelings for this book are so divided. Part of me loved the mystery and was HOOKED by the whole premise of rich boys who might get away with murder. But the other part of me thought this book was a little draggy and Kate got a little too "Junior Detective" at times.

Basically, it was FIRST HALF = LOVED!! Second half = EHHHH.

I'll explain. At first it was super interesting that Kate was hiding that she was texting with Grant for weeks before he died. She was supposed to meet up with him on the night he died, but there was a misunderstanding and she didn't go to the party he invited her to. She was majorly struggling with guilt because she never let him explain himself and now he'll never be able to. Also, I was FEELING the mystery. I was thinking "how in the hell would you figure out which one did it without a confession?" I was completely fascinated and wanted to read this book straight through.

But THEN.... well there was this big twist and OMG I LOVED IT. I didn't see it coming at all and I kind of wish it was saved for the end of the book. Because the book immediately went into a downward spiral from there. It became draggy-- the main character just going over and over and over information that we already knew. It became unbelievable-- would a high school student be asked to do all the things Kate was being asked to do?? Wouldn't they have law students to do it at least?? Then Kate became annoyingly Ms. Nancy Drew. She was always trying to be Jr. Detective, but she took it to a whole new level towards the end of the book and I just wasn't feeling it.

There's a romance in this book and I did like it. I thought it was cute and I know that it wouldn't have happened without the twist--- but I would have been okay with that. It was a sweet romance, but it didn't make the book what it was. The book was exciting because of the whodunit element.

OVERALL: I loved parts of this book as much as my favorite books of the year-- but I equally didn't love parts of this book as much as books that I've DNF'd. It's a weird duality, but I think I would recommend it. There was enough of the ADDICTING parts to override the DRAGGY-NESS.

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This is Our Story by Ashley Elston is a YA thriller that has five young men going into the woods to hunt but only four coming out. One of the five has been killed, and one of the remaining four is the killer. No one will admit to being the killer and as a group they stick together in their silence. But was this murder or an accident?

The story is told by Kate, a high school senior, budding photographer and an intern at the District Attorney’s office. She becomes involved with one of the four and decides that in order to clear him, she needs to figure out which one is the real killer.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the book. There were definitely slow patches in the story and I had to overcome my strong doubts that a seventeen year old girl could be working on a murder investigation, especially one that involved people that she knew. But I did think the concept was original and there was enough suspense and plot twists to keep the reader guessing. I’ve seen some complaints about the ending being too abrupt but I thought it seemed like the natural progression to the story. ( )

This was a solid and compelling murder mystery, with a great main character. I liked the premise immediately, and it was definitely one of those books you don't want to put down once you start reading. It had shades of Veronica Mars, [b:The Raven Boys|17675462|The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1)|Maggie Stiefvater|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1459349126s/17675462.jpg|18970934] (without the magic and with decidedly darker boys), and [b:Endangered|18713041|Endangered|Lamar Giles|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1414510702s/18713041.jpg|26573710], plus interludes of the killer's voice that worked really well. I also might give this to fans of [b:I Hunt Killers|7766027|I Hunt Killers (Jasper Dent, #1)|Barry Lyga|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333289403s/7766027.jpg|10644152] and [b:The Naturals|13597723|The Naturals (The Naturals, #1)|Jennifer Lynn Barnes|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1374862751s/13597723.jpg|19187762].

A heads up (this isn't a spoiler for the mystery) that there are several side characters, girls, who were probably drugged and someone took a sexually posed photo of them together and shared it around. I really appreciated the nuanced and unflinching way that other girl characters talked about/dealt with the incident. The book does discuss this entire incident/crime a few times over the course of the story, so if that might be triggering to encounter in a mystery that is otherwise not about sexual assault, now you know it's coming.

I received an eArc from the publisher and Net Galley for review.