On June 7, Sourcebooks Fire published Kara Terzis’s debut novel, Frayed. While the novel was well written and the story interesting, the ending left me frustrated and disappointed.
The book is about Ava, a teen girl who is a mess after the murder of her sister. Kelsey was dragged from a lake with a rope around her neck and the killer is still on the loose. As the story unfolds, Ava does her own investigation into the incident, finding out terrible secrets her sister was keeping from her. She’s not the loving sibling that Ava thought she was. And Ava will wish she let things lie when she discovers the true killer.
The book kept me guessing through the first half. The mystery was intriguing and the story was well written for a teenage author. However, in the last quarter of the book, I figured out where it was going and I was severely disappointed to find out I was right.
When I was a pre-teen, I read all the R. L. Stine I could get my hands on. Not the Goosebumps series, but the teen Fear Street novels. There was one, I don’t remember the title now, that sounded fascinating from the blurb on the back. However, when the twist happened, I felt like I had been cheated. It was so ridiculous and far-fetched, it was laughable. Unfortunately, Frayed had the same exact twist.
I have to give this book three stars for its writing style. The writing was good enough that I didn’t realize how young the author was. However, I have to deduct the last two stars for a disappointing ending. If Terzis writes another book, and I hope she does, I would read it in a heartbeat. Her writing is bound to mature along with her and I can see her achieving great feats.