Nothing More to Tell by Karen M McManus | Book Review

Nothing More to Tell by Karen M McManus
Release Date: 30th August 2022
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Genre: YA, Thriller
Source: Publisher
Rating: ★★★★

Four years ago, Brynn left Saint Ambrose School following the shocking murder of her favorite teacher—a story that made headlines after the teacher’s body was found by three Saint Ambrose students in the woods behind their school. The case was never solved. Now that Brynn is moving home and starting her dream internship at a true-crime show, she’s determined to find out what really happened.

The kids who found Mr. Larkin are her way in, and her ex–best friend, Tripp Talbot, was one of them. Without his account of events, the other two kids might have gone down for Mr. Larkin’s murder. They’ve never forgotten what Tripp did for them that day. Just like he hasn’t forgotten that everything he told the police was a lie.

Digging into the past is bound to shake up the present, and as Brynn begins to investigate what happened in the woods that day, she begins to uncover secrets that might change everything—about Saint Ambrose, about Mr. Larkin, and about her ex-best friend, Tripp Talbot.

Four years ago someone got away with murder. The most terrifying part is that they never left.

I was a little disappointed by McManus’s previous book that came out last year as I found it very boring compared to her usual YA thrillers, but I’m pleased to say that she is back on form with Nothing More to Tell! I didn’t find any of the issues that I previously had and I had the best time reading this one.

I really enjoyed the dual point of view within this book. I think it worked really well with the mystery, as you have Brynn who is returning to town with an interest in true crime, and Tripp, someone who was possibly involved in a mystery. I loved watching the two of them keep things from one another and rekindling their friendship and then slowly opening up again. Their relationship was so cute, and that’s saying a lot as I’m over most YA romance nowadays.

Tripp does have an issue with alcohol in this book, so I would be cautious if that it one of your triggers as you’re very much in his head as he struggles with that. It’s quite clear that he’s using alcohol to cope with PTSD and is very traumatised by his teacher dying and the lies surrounding it.

I really enjoyed trying to figure out the mystery of this one, and with so many characters and twists and turns, I didn’t have a clue who really did what. There were layers and layers of mysteries, and I loved it.