Okay, im gonna be so honest and say I did not really like this book.
I thought it was bad. There. I said it. Honestly, I'm super disappointed. Especially after the absolute PEAK that was books 9, 10, and 11, this was just the biggest letdown.
I'll be fair and say I've only read through once (it has been a day) but after that absolute banger of a beginning, I am so disappointed. The start was so so so so so so so SO good, so when the rest fell short it felt like being hit by a bus. I know I'm being super negative right now but man was it not what I suspected? Now, I did enjoy a few parts, but my overall ranking of this book is a 4/10 or 5/10.
OKAY so, let's start with the things I did not like. Let's start with the big one
NO FRIAN?:
WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY ONLY KISSED ONCE AND IT WAS A KISS ON THE CHEEK? SPRATT. YOU'RE BULLSHITTING ME.
Like, what do you even mean? What even was that?!?! Not to mention the rushed amnesia plot. I can't lie, it was super interesting but Ian's comment "But she's so..." SO WHAT CUNT. DO YOU EVEN LIKE HER? ALL YOU DO IS FLIRT WITH OTHER GIRLS YOU CUNT. Okay sorry, I'm fine. Anyways, #NOTMYIAN.
BUT SERIOUSLY. I get that the purpose of this book was to explore Friday's family and go into further depth (and trust I'll touch on this more later), but she couldn't do that throughout the series?? Why sacrifice the main relationship of the story for stuff you could've easily included in the series? As soon as Ian disappeared I groaned because it feels like another shitty excuse just to disregard him? And his amnesia plot was insane! I liked it but it was definitely not used to its full potential. We also didn't get to see him interact with her siblings which would have been so interesting (don't worry I'm on it </3). Ian being gone was so bad too because sometimes you just need him in a scene. You need his sarcastic voice and bold personality to make stuff interesting!!! Put him on the front lines!!! The most unrealistic thing about this book is that Ian was in a fight and lost. You mean to tell me the kid who faced off against a whole ass prison escapee You mean to tell me this is the first time in a while where they 1. Are an established couple, 2. Are within the vicinity of each other, and 3. Don't have anything between them (unless you count Ian getting lost and absolutely BEAT) and they are barely together?!??!? Two words. Fuck. Off.
No, please, that was so mean but seriously I'm so sad I miss them.
The "mysteries":
What the hell were those bum-ass mysteries :( Guys. I'm actually so sad they all felt so rushed. It was like Friday would walk onto the scene, talk for a bit and then solve it IMMEDIATELY?!??! It just felt like boring filler at this point. The only one I liked was the one at the rich old guys 'anniversary' party. I'll touch more on this later but the whole way the main mystery was solved was so weird. I think she tried to fake us into thinking it was done mid-way and then it's really solved at the end but the two events didn't even correlate? I don't know man, it all just felt forced. I will admit though, I love Friday's energy when solving them! It's nice to see her actually enjoy mystery-solving again! But they all felt so sub-par. Even the whole thing with Halley being a bad guy was so??? Like what the hell where did that even come from??? And the tablecloth mystery? Do you mean to tell me NO ONE noticed it was written on a tablecloth??? NO ONE? It feels like the level of mystery is degrading as each book goes on. I do get that it's not Highcrest anymore (WHICH I WISH IT WAS PLEAS ECAN WE GO BACK TO HIGHCREST ERA) but seriously? The best you can do is some guy having an affair and shitty scientists?
The small details:
I know we're all asking the same question.
Who the bloody hell is Harold???
Friday's father's name is Rupert. Rupert. Who is Harold??? How do you even forget this??? How do you remember what random hockey team Bernie played for but not the name of a whole character??? One that was there for an entire book?? I've given him an entirely different name in my own AU and I still know his canon name.
Also all the new characters. I hate how good characters get introduced and then are left behind in each book. Such as Cassandra, Roberto, legit all of Highcrest. I can tell maybe Ms Dekker will stay since she and Quantum have something going but the rest? Bye.
Friday's family:
Where to even start bye.
Okay, so parents. Rupert is MIA, and Quasar and Orion are also MIA. So, I'll start with her mum.
The Worst Mother of the Year award goes to Evangeline Barnes!!! Fuck ass bitch. She's basically a baby in her old age. Her entire presence in the book made me groan. I didn't even like her at all, I like her more than the dad though... barely.
I liked Quantum and Halley (I like her as in her character and role. Not the actual character HATE HER)
We knew they were bad but what? The fact that they all know Friday is a detective and enjoys that and they all take it as a joke. Honestly, I do have to condemn Spratt for making them so insufferable.
The overused plot:
OH MY GOD WRAP IT UP. The continued plot of someone being arrested or kidnapped WRAP IT UP OH MY LORDDDDDDDDD and the "terrorist" plot FUCKING WRAP IT UPPPPPPPPPPPPP.
I'm actually so done with it. It's boring now. It's overused. It's in every fucking book now. I'm actually so sick of it. "OH! Fridays gonna get arrested for being a fake terrorist oh no!!!" SHUT UP.
I miss the original and interesting plots of the Highcrest era books. The writing has gotten better but the plot is so boring now. Highcrest era stories with the new writing would be peak. But seriously, the next book is going to have a 'kidnapping' plot now which is so annoying. I really do want them to just go back to the interesting plots. What do you mean we went from old headmasters turned criminals and a secret swamp yeti to the same terrorist plot for 3 books now? Are you kidding me!! I liked the whole family aspect but there should've been something else with it honestly.
Okay last one and I'll stop being negative, the pacing:
I really hated the pacing. It sucked. The whole 'main' mystery being solved mid-way through and then the most random mysteries after? The book somehow felt too slow AND too fast at the same time. Nothing added up, there was no 'big reveal'. There was no investigating either. It didn't even read like an FB book and was not done well tbh! I don't know if she was trying something new but it was weird. Also, I hardly understood anything. I wish the whole "Halley's a villain" thing was expanded on more because it was so sudden. A good example of pacing is book two. I really enjoyed how as you read you get more and more suspicious of Chris!!! It just didn't hit me in this book.
OKAY ONTO THINGS I LIKED YIPPEE. This part is a bit short.
Quantum and Halley:
I REALLY LIKED QUANTUM AND HALLEY.
Starting with Quantum, which, I am quite disappointed but with myself because if you've read my volleyball story or the stories including him and you've read the new book, the two are so widely different. Of course, Quantum has never been seen before in the series so I made it up but now I'm a bit sad. Even so, I really liked his character!! I don't know if anyone's watched Haikyuu but the best comparison is I wrote him like Oikawa or Seiko when actually he acts like Tsukishima and Kageyama. I really liked how he progressed through the book I loved his confession to Ms Dekker he's so desperate and nerdy. He's a literal loser and I love that for him?! I'm doing a re-evaluation for the Barnes siblings so I'll go more into depth for that.
Now for Halley. MAN OH MAN do I love her. That speech Bernie gave at the end about her? I ate that shit up. I see her as almost a parallel to Friday, or maybe what Friday could have become. So consumed in her work, Halley becomes absolutely heartless. (I had always pinned her as the mean one so I'm glad that came out true). I like how it seems like in the future she'll regret everything. She and her boyfriend are a mean villainous duo omg. Her being rude to Friday too? Chefs kiss but I also wanna punch her.
The first two chapters:
NO ONE IS MORE DISAPPOINTED THAN ME THAT THE FIRST TWO CHAPTERS ARE NOTHING LIKE THE REST OF THE BOOK. HELLO. I won't go into too much because I've already posted about how much I like it, but it was so good</3
And lastly, Friday!!!!:
MY BABY I LOVE HER.
SHE'S SO AHHHHH
Firstly, she's grown so much!!!! Hello!!!!!! Omg!!!!! She's so in tune with her emotions!!! She's really grown and I'm so proud of her/???? She's literally so kind and sweet to everyone and they're all treating her so bad I was gonna cry. She's always been a kind person but before she used to help people for money or if she found the case interesting, now she's helping her SHIT family because she cares!!! Dare I say the most emotionally intelligent Barnes family member?? (I do because she is). She is quite literally the best girl ever and her growth was amazing to see. Her and Melanie's friendship??? Absolutely amazing except for the few times Melanie was a bit of a slag..
OKAY to conclude, this book was a real hit or miss and I'm super disappointed considering I had really high hopes because of the first two chapters and that it's the 10-year anniversary. I'll reread the book and see if I enjoy it my second time around but yeah </3 I will admit I did rush my reading a bit but we shall see.
Thats it! I know I was quite negative but honestly, I was very crushed. If you guys have anything you wanna discuss feel free!!! byeyeyeeyey