Week 41 Review: Under This Red Rock

From Goodreads:

From award-winning author Mindy McGinnis comes a mesmerizing YA psychological mystery following a teen girl who is grappling with the death of her brother as she starts a new job in the caverns of Ohio—only to become the number one suspect in her coworker's murder. Perfect for fans of Courtney Summers and Kathleen Glasgow. 

Neely's monsters don't always follow her rules, so when the little girl under her bed, the man in her closet, and the disembodied voice that shadows her every move become louder, she knows she's in trouble. With a history of mental illness in her family and the suicide of her older brother heavy on her mind, Neely takes a job as a tour guide in the one place her monsters can’t follow—the caverns. 

There . . . she meets Mila. Mila is everything Neely isn't—beautiful, strong, and confident. As the two become closer, Neely's innocent crush grows into something more. When a midnight staff party exposes Neely to drugs, she follows Mila's lead . . . only to have her hallucinations escalate. When Mila is found brutally murdered in the caverns, Neely has to admit that her memories of that night are vague at best. With her monsters now out in the open and her grip on reality slipping, Neely must figure out who killed Mila . . . and face the possibility that it might have been her.

My Review:
This was such a fantastic read! I really enjoy Mindy McGinnis's books, and this latest one that dealt with mental health as well as a mystery, yeah, I had to read it! I had to know more about Neely and her monsters, and Mila and whoever murdered her.

The idea that you might be responsible for killing a loved one-and not even know it? That's a terrifying thought, and an interesting one explored in this book. Mental health issues doesn't mean that you're a bad person, but there's that fear that you might hurt someone by accident.

Watching her investigate, while also dealing with her monsters, that's a difficult thing to juggle. Watching as new information came to light, as it became both easier and harder to figure out what had happened, I had to keep reading and see how it would all play out! 

I really enjoyed how things wrapped up. Neely went through a lot, losing someone who she cared about deeply, and changed. Who the bad guy was, that was awful, and infuriating, given their reasons. I'm glad that the truth came out, and she could rest easy, not having that hang over her head. 

Loved reading this book and I can't wait to read more by Mindy McGinnis! 

Author: Mindy McGinnis
Read: October 9th, 2023
Source: Edelweiss
Reason Why: Love her writing and it sounded really great, and it's a SAC 2023 Book and a WoW Book! 
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books
Expected Publication: March 19th 2024 

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars