No Time to Die (Dark Secrets, #3) by Elizabeth Chandler *SPOILERS*

My English class is required to read a mystery novel and write a review for a project grade this quarter. Get this: I have until JANUARY 7 to read and write ONE book review. It's November 8th today. I knew academic English would be easy, but this is just cray.




What I will turn in:

We didn't have much time to pick a book, and we had to pick from the school library, so that's probably the only reason I picked this book. Not to say that I wouldn't like it, but it’s just so short! This project is to expand your reading tastes, and since I don’t usually read mystery, or books with death in them, I think this will help.

When I read a book for school, I usually try to write a bit about it before I start reading, so when I finish, I can go back and compare what I thought and what happened. I write what I think of the cover, what I think will happen, and if I think I will like the book.




The Cover:

The cover is supposed to look spooky with its black and white coloring and the random pictures blended together, but it just looks amateur and crowded. The images don't make any sense (although they might after I read it) and put together they look like something a 13 year old could do, not a publishing company! The subtitle, Evil is waiting in the wings, doesn't really fit with the cover. Heck, the cover doesn't fit with the cover. This book is part of a collection, and the cover of the collection itself is much nicer, so I'm thinking that this cover was just a quick remake so the book could sell solo.




What will happen?:

From the back, I can tell it will be a ghost/death mystery. Main character and narrater, Jenny, is going to the camp that her sister died at. It's a murder mystery, and that's about all I can tell from reading the blurb. The blurb is very mysterious, ending with questions.

I think that Jenny will:

*fall in love with the guy her sister was in love with

*almost get killed but be saved by the ghost of her dead sister




I think the book will end really mysteriously or suddenly, making you wonder what happened to the characters after the book leaves off.




Will I like it?:

I honestly can't tell yet if I will like it. I do love ghost stories, but this isn't as much a ghost story as a murder mystery. I have two sisters myself, and I'm not sure if this book will upset me. I can't even think about losing my sisters, and reading about it happening to someone, it's horrible. I found myself almost tearing up reading the blurb! Maybe I'm just over-emotional, but I don't like reading about death. After-death is fine, but when it's someone close to the main character it's just like- no.

And the main character may or may not be killed by the person who killed her own sister!

I hope I like it, I really do! It has such great potential, and I need to get over my inability to read sad books.

--CH1--

I hope the rest of this book isn't as depressing as the first chapter was. Not depressing as in - this author has no talent-, but more like -omg i think i might cry-. I knew what I was getting myself into the second I read the part in the blurb about the sister dying, but I have to read this. Not only because it's a project, but so I can get over my inability to read books with death in them.

The chapter starts off a few months in the past, in a memory of the night Jenny's sister died. Jenny had gotten a few calls from Liza, her sister, who was at a theater camp in Maryland. She called back, with no answer. The next day, she finds out Liza was killed.

The book then returns to the present. Jenny's talking to Sid, her chauffeur, on the way to the same theater camp Liza went to.

Sid doesn't want Jenny to go, but Jenny persists. The most of this chapter is her inner monologue, thinking about her sister. She arrives at the camp and goes straight for the theater.




--Nov 14--

The book's getting a lot better. It's less of Jenny's internal monologue and more action. They introduced a bunch of characters and a bit of the mystery. A bunch of foreshadowing, as well.




--CH2--

In chapter 2, Jenny goes to the stage in the theater and speaks a line that popped into her head. She has no idea where the words wame from. She finds out that they were from Liza's role in the play they performed the year she died. Jenny thinks it was because she had helped Liza study for auditions, but I think otherwise. Jenny keeps hearing voices, Liza's voice.

A guy about Jenny's age catches her speaking Liza's lines. He introduces himself as Brian Jones, and takes her to her cabin. She sees someone in the theater as they're walking out.




--CH3--

In chapter 3, we learn more about Liza's murder. In the cabin, some girls don't want a room because Liza's ghost is supposedly haunting it. Jenny takes the room. The girls tell Liza's story, how she was killed with an ax, and her wrist watch was broken. Jenny's there for the whole story, and all she does is "cringe on the inside". I'd be sobbing and trying to claw my eardrums out, personally.

They go outside and see a guy named Paul, who was obsessed with Liza, and supposedly started a fire to kill her.

I would have read more today, but we only had 10 minutes in class.




--CH4—

From this chapter, I know one thing for sure- Walker is a jerkface. He thinks he’s all that and publicly embarrasses people.

When Walker arrives at camp, everyone gathers around him and his motorcycle. Walker asks them their names in turn, and Jenny’s inner monologue (I love using that phrase) explains how she anonymously registered at the camp. A fat boy named Tomas tells Walker he doesn’t want to audition and Walker embarrasses him, calling him fat. Jenny decides to wait until later to tell him about her stage fright.

Brian catches up to her after the meeting and promises to talk to Walker for her.

Jenny goes to the bridge where Liza was found murdered and sees the boy who was in the theater earlier. She confronts him, and he asks her name. She replies and he introduces himself as Mike. Jenny wonders if he’s the Mike Liza used to talk about being in love with, however, he claims that they were just friends. He tells her he’s thinking about Liza, and asks if Jenny knows her. I think he suspect she does, but Jenny said no.

Jenny then leaves for dinner or a party of some kind.




--CH—

Jenny goes to her room and unpacks, reading the last emails she ever received from Liza, from the night she died. In the emails, Liza talks about accidentally hurting someone.




Aaaand that’s where I stopped writing chapter summaries, for a couple of reasons.

1) My hand got really tired.

2) I COULDN’T PUT THE BOOK DOWN

I finished the book last night.




AFTER READING:

The cover makes a little more sense now, after reading. The bridge in the picture signifies the place where Liza died. The happy/sad faces symbolize the acting in the book. The cover is kind of blue, so I think that is for the ‘blue dreams’ Jenny has about her sister’s death.

So, what happened?

This is probably going to sound like an episode of a drama show, but that’s just my lack of explaining skills.

Brian, the first person Jen meets at camp, fakes interest in her to find out if she really is Liza’s sister, which he suspected from the beginning. His mother, Maggie, who is also the assistant director, is the person who killed Liza. Brian is probably her accomplice. When he finds out that Jen is Liza’s sister, he tells his mom, who then attempts to kill Jen, making it look like suicide. Mike, the boy Liza was in love with, saves her. She finds out he accidentally misled Liza, because he was interested in Jen.

The janitor kills Maggie, and Mike and Jen escape. Jen’s parents come to the camp and her dad reconciles with Walker, after a bad past.

Jen and Mike kiss, and all is good.




Did I like it?

Yes! It was amazing. The book had me dying to see what happened next, I couldn’t put the book down! This book made me realize how much I love mystery books. I love how everything seems to come together. I love the suspense. I love everything about it.

I may have cried a bit while reading it, or I may not have. Either way, I made it through the book, and that’s a huge step for me. I used to not be able to read sad books at all, and though this wasn’t that sad, I think it’s a step in the right direction.