Each month you will make a post with three books from your TBR List (these books can be already on your kindle or shelf or books you might want to purchase) and add your link on the linky that will be provided on my post. Your followers and the people on the linky will help you choose which book you will read next. The following Saturday you will announce the book that won. Then read the book and on the last Saturday of the month post a review. My TBR List is now hosted by Michelle & Berls (Because Reading) so be sure to link up your review below!
The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow, Liz Lawson Narrator: Mehr Dudeja, Sophie Amoss, Holly Linneman
Series: The Agathas #1
Published by Delacorte Press on May 3, 2022
Genres: Mystery, Young Adult
Pages: 405
Length: 11 hours 58 minutes
Format: Audiobook, eBook, Hardcover
Source: Library, Purchased
Goodreads
Welcome to Castle Cove — a town cursed with missing girls,bad boyfriends, family secrets,and some very steep cliffs.
Last summer, Alice Ogilvie's basketball-star boyfriend, Steve, dumped her. Then she disappeared for five days. Where she went and what happened to her is the biggest mystery in Castle Cove. Or at least it was. Because now, another one of Steve's girlfriends has vanished: Brooke Donovan, Alice's ex-best friend. And it doesn't look like Brooke will be coming back ...
Enter Iris Adams, Alice's tutor. Iris has her own reasons for wanting to disappear, though unlike Alice, she doesn't have the money or the means. That could be changed by the hefty reward Brooke's family is offering. The police are convinced Steve is the culprit, but Alice isn't so sure, and with Iris on her side, she just might be able to prove her theory.
Luckily, Alice has exactly what they need to crack the case — the complete works of Agatha Christie. If there's anyone who can teach the girls how to solve a mystery, it's the master herself. But the town of Castle Cove holds many secrets, and Alice and Iris have no idea how much danger they're about to walk into ...
In December y’all voted for us to read The Agathas and we both enjoyed it! Here’s our Buddy Review!
Quick note on format:
Berls: I read and listened to The Agathas – both from the library.
Michelle: I had a physical book – Purchased because I’m a book hoarder.
What did you think of the characters?
Berls: Overall, I liked them. This is a YA and I definitely felt that — teenagers who are solving a crime while most the adults are incapable, or too caught up in their own lives, etc. And you definitely have the awful parents that seems to be a theme of YA. That said, once you accept it’s a YA and the characters are YA, Iris and Alice are actually very likeable. In fact, they are in some respects, the most adult characters in the book. I like that Alice is going through a transformation where she’s learning what real friendship looks like. Iris is dealing with her own demons and some of that is learning how to accept true friendship. So that was nice.
Michelle: This was a fun YA mystery, I liked most of the characters. Iris and Alice were great, it did take me some pages to actually like Alice but as she grew (as a person) in the book she sort of grows on you.
What did you think of the plot?
Berls: The plot is where this book shines. There’s one main mystery that had me guessing and second-guessing almost to the very end. There’s also a couple subplots – one involving Iris and her mother and another involving Alice and what happened to her this past summer. I enjoyed both these subplots. There is some mystery to both, in that we don’t fully know what is going on with either of them and both Alice and Iris are trying to figure out the mystery of the other person too. The subplot involving Alice was a little absurd to me in some respects but I did want to know. And Iris’s was very compelling.
Michelle: I was really draw in by this story. I thought the mystery was really well put together but it did have a few things that I felt were rushed and not super explained. Unless I missed something I thought the story from start to finish was interested and a true YA Mystery.
What did you think of the resolution?
Berls: I was very satisfied with the resolution – of all 3 plots. I especially liked the resolution to Iris’s situation as that was probably the one I was most hopeful/worried about. I also really liked the way I kept having to guess for the main plot and the resolution was unexpected (even if I did figure out one element slightly before it was revealed, the way things wrapped up was surprising and kinda funny).
Michelle: Yes, I loved how the end was resolved and honestly didn’t see it coming.
What did you rate The Agathas and why?
Berls: I’m giving it 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4 on goodreads). I think because I did really love the plot and mystery but some of the YA elements gave me a slight eye roll — but truly nowhere near as much as many YA books! I would read more in this series.
Michelle: I am going with a 4. I liked the story, enjoyed the MCs and thought the mystery was very well done.
Narrator thoughts (Berls only):
Berls: I did a bit of this on audio — the majority I read in eBook — and I felt the narration was solid. There are three narrators – Mehr Dudeja, Sophie Amoss, Holly Linneman – but I honestly didn’t listen to enough to realize or recognize the differences. Or they were so well incorporated that I just didn’t realize it was different narrators? I do know that the voices felt distinct to me and I was able to listen at my normal 2x speed easily
@BerlsS and Michelle buddy read The Agathas for #mytbrlist! See their review! Share on X
I love how you did this Buddy read review! It’s so helpful to see your opinions like this and really helped me get a sense of the book. I was curious about this one but I don’t think it’s for me but I know someone who is always looking for YA recommendations and I will definitely recommend this to her.
Yay for the buddy reads.