A teenager, Joan Wilson was murdered by three girls who set fire to a small beach chalet in 2016. Hours earlier, Joan was struck by them and locked in the chalet. The burns covered 80% of her body and she died after three days of the ordeal. Several years later, a journalist, Alec Z. Carelli wrote a book about emotional insight before the murder.
This is a work of fiction but based on actual events with some adding for dramatic purposes. It drove my mind. A lot of complicated feelings for such a young girl to carry. The most common problems of teenagers are peer pressure, growing up too fast, and identity crises. Personally, I don't require trigger warnings for myself 😅😅. But please be warned. This book heavily contains bullies, torturers, violence, weak-minded, grief, manipulation, homophobia, suicide, attention-seeker, fandom of true crime, and delusion - to name some of them.
The story delves into the psychology of the characters and their motivations including the pov of the victim's mother, the perpetrators and their parents, teachers n friends. Eliza Clark does a really good job of depicting the narrative of a twisted yet driven murderer. Unlike many other crimes, a prank gone wrong appear to be senseless, right? Despite the display of a realistic depiction, it's not normal behaviour to kill someone for no reason. I thought the details could be worse irl. 5 ⭐️
Thanks to @times.reads and @putrifariza for the review copy. Opinions are my own 💙
*Available at all major bookstores in Singapore and Malaysia and their online stores
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