Novel by Margot Harrison
Recommended Audience*: None.
* Marketed to High School
Opinion: Strongly Do NOT Recommend
Synopsis: Geared towards high school students, this suspenseful novel portrays college-aged characters involved in the sudden disappearance of Callum Massey. While many suspect his girlfriend Kiri Dunsmore is responsible, main character Sam is determined to get to the bottom of the case. Sam becomes romantically interested in her old classmate Kiri, and will go to great lengths to protect her, even if she might be guilty. Nearly every box of “inappropriate content” is checked with this one. As such, this book is strongly NOT recommended.
Advisories: R-Rated language throughout, LGBTQ+ characters and romantic/sexual encounters, alcohol and drug use, glorification of casual sex, the list goes on…
Details:
This book caught my eye as it was a 2025 TAYSHA Reading List nominee on the shelf at my local library. As a lover of suspense and true-crime, I decided to give this book a read. Typically, I’m already on high alert when I see a book that is written for high school students but portrays college-aged students. This typically means that we’re exposing underage readers to adult situations and behaviors, and that rang true in this book as well.
If this book was marketed towards adults, this would be a different review. However, simply as a parent, forget as a Muslim parent, as I read I kept screaming internally, “WHY WOULD YOU MARKET THIS TO MINORS??!! WHO WOULD WANT THEIR TEEN READING THIS??” One would hope that the normalization of underage drinking, illegal marijuana use, and casual sex would make most parents want their teenagers to steer clear of this book and personally I can’t help but question the ethics of publishers that are pushing such agendas on our youth.
Furthermore, so much of this book is antithetical to Islamic values that I really pray that it doesn’t fall into the hands of our readers. There are so many aspects of this book that makes it unsuitable, not the least of which is that the main character Sam develops romantic feelings for her old classmate Kiri Dunsmore which culminates in a lesbian kissing scene.
In terms of any “value” in this book, I would say that I appreciated the cautionary tale that was the toxic relationship portrayed between Callum and Kiri. True-crime fans will likely draw parallels as I did to the real-life Gabby Petito case. Aside from that, there’s no great takeaways and the entertainment value wasn’t that high for me besides, at best a 3/5.
Things I Liked:
- true-crime element
- cautionary tale of toxic romantic relationships
Detailed Advisories:
- R-Rated language throughout (f***, b****, sh**, etc.)
- references to suicide, overdoses
- LGBTQ+ characters and romantic themes throughout, including a lesbian kissing scene
- reflections on heterosexual and LGBTQ+ past sexual encounters
- description of a “threesome” sexual encounter that nearly occurred
- normalization of alcohol and drug (marijuana) use
- normalization of casual non-committal relationships and sex
- portrayals of toxic and emotionally abusive romantic relationships
Need I go on….?! I think I’ll stop here but the list could keep going…
Advisories Note: This list of advisories is not exhaustive and does not capture every instance of questionable content, but rather is intended to give an overall sense of the content of the book.
Illuminated Pages 