Review: All That’s Left To Say by Emery Lord

 

Rating: Stop what you’re doing and buy it ASAP

What is it? A teenage whodunnit  

Ideal for fans of: Nancy Drew, Watch Her Fall by Erin Kelly 

What makes it special? A balance of carefully crafted gut-punching emotion, and a regular ol’ detective story

Get it in South Africa from: Jonathan Ball Publishers

For Hannah, Sophie was more than a cousin. She was a best friend, a sister, a soul mate. The girls grew up together, shared everything, and saw each other as two halves of the same equation. There were no secrets between them.

Or so Hannah thought. Because what started as a regular Saturday ended in a hellish nightmare. Sophie, dead at a party. Sophie, dead by overdose. Sophie, dead.

Hannah cannot accept that her hard-working, chipper cousin, with a love of the environment and a contagious laugh, would ever be involved in drugs.

For months, Hannah drifts though life in a grey daze, trying to come to terms with the tragedy. She is convinced that Sophie was set up, drugged, or even worse. And she is determined to prove it.

But that means she needs to start telling lies of her own, as she changes her look and her school to covertly investigate, and discover what really happened to Sophie.

All That’s Left To Say is nothing short of a masterpiece. While the idea of a mourning teenager running around solving a case may seem far-fetched and warrant an eye roll, Emery Lord has created the perfect teen detective.

Hannah is smart, she’s strong, and she’s hurting so much. Her grief, fury and helplessness, apart from being palpable to the reader, fuel her in her search for the truth. Emery Lord has managed to provide a book shouldering a boat-load of grief, but rather than a depressing ‘woe is me’ tale, it’s refreshing, deeply addictive, and impossible to put down. The characters are easy to love, and some easy to hate, and the plot is as twisted and rewarding as anything I’ve read in ages.

There’s a dash of romance, a horde of wholesome families, and even humour. In short, All That’s Left To Say is just *French chef's kiss*. I dare you not to finish this book in one sitting, as you wade between tears and triumph. What an adventure!

All That’s Left To Say by Emery Lord is published by Bloomsbury, and is available in South Africa from Jonathan Ball Publishers.