Review: The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas

The Darkest Corners
by Kara Thomas




The Darkest Corners is a psychological thriller about the lies little girls tell, and the deadly truths those lies become.

There are ghosts around every corner in Fayette, Pennsylvania. Tessa left when she was nine and has been trying ever since not to think about it after what happened there that last summer. Memories of things so dark will burn themselves into your mind if you let them.

Callie never left. She moved to another house, so she doesn’t have to walk those same halls, but then Callie always was the stronger one. She can handle staring into the faces of her demons—and if she parties hard enough, maybe one day they’ll disappear for good.

Tessa and Callie have never talked about what they saw that night. After the trial, Callie drifted and Tessa moved, and childhood friends just have a way of losing touch.

But ever since she left, Tessa has had questions. Things have never quite added up. And now she has to go back to Fayette—to Wyatt Stokes, sitting on death row; to Lori Cawley, Callie’s dead cousin; and to the one other person who may be hiding the truth.

Only the closer Tessa gets to the truth, the closer she gets to a killer—and this time, it won’t be so easy to run away.

I've been really into mystery and thrillers lately and it is because of this book. I finished reading The Darkest Corners and I realized I wanted to read more books like it. It's been a while since a book has totally captivated me and The Darkest Corners has managed to do just that.

Tessa and Callie's lives were shaken up when they helped put a killer in prison - an event that they’ve never really gotten past after so many years. It has affected a major part of their lives and now it’s haunting them. They weren’t fully honest about what really happened that night. Now they are forced to relive the past and acknowledge the truth in order to find the real killer.

This book is such a compelling read. It's a bit slow, but it's the kind of slow that gives depth to the story. Tessa and Callie are so different from each other. They've been through a lot of changes in their relationship from being childhood friends to barely looking at each other. There is a lot of complexity there that, for me, makes this book stand out from other YA thrillers I have read. It has no romance and is focused on the mystery and every little bit of detail leading to answer the biggest question of all. It was a complete mystery to me. The further I got into the book I got just as confused as the characters as to what was really happening. It kept me guessing until the end.

This book is messed up - in a good way (if there is such a thing). I'm really glad I read it and that it lived up to the good reviews I've been hearing about it. Simply put, The Darkest Corners is a GREAT read. I recommend this to young AND adult readers alike.

*A copy of this book was sent by the publisher for this review.