Title: That Night by Cyn Balog
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 320 pages
Book Rating: B
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
Some secrets are best left buried…
It’s been a year since Hailey’s boyfriend Declan died, and Hailey is still far from okay. She’s lost almost all her friends, her grades are falling, and she pretty much lives wrapped up in bed. Everyone says Declan’s death was a suicide—after all, his father’s gun was found near his body—but Hailey knows that the happy, confident Declan she knew would never do that. She’s positive. The problem is, she can’t remember anything from the day he died.
Kane, Declan’s stepbrother and Hailey’s best friend, thinks that everyone should move on—why relive the pain? But when Hailey sees a strange picture with a threatening message amongst Declan’s belongings, she’s convinced she has proof that there’s more to the story. Hailey starts searching for answers and throws herself into memories her subconscious tried to make her forget…and the deeper she looks, the more she remembers.
But the truth she uncovers will be more dangerous and more devastating than she could have ever imagined.
Review:
Weaving seamlessly back and forth in time, That Night by Cyn Balog is a compelling young adult mystery.
One year after her boyfriend Declan Weeks’ suicide, Hailey Ward is still struggling to make sense of his death. The past year has not been easy for her since she spent time as inpatient at a psychiatric facility. Although back in school, Hailey is drinking and self-harming in an attempt to stop her emotional pain. She is also still trying to recover the memories she has suppressed about the weeks leading up to Declan’s death. Equally confusing is her uneasy relationship with her longtime friend and Declan’s stepbrother Kane. But what Hailey finds most upsetting is the troubling discovery of a photo bearing an ominous message in Declan’s belongings. Hailey becomes even more convinced her deeply devout boyfriend’s death might be murder. But will her slowly returning memories bolster her supposition?
Despite her hospitalization, Hailey has still not come to terms with Declan’s death. After seeing the photograph, she becomes insistent in her quest to uncover the truth. Kane is reluctantly helpful but Hailey resents how easily he has moved on. She is extremely distressed by some of the memories that gradually return in the months after the anniversary of his suicide. Is Hailey fully prepared to handle the shocking details of what really happened during the weeks before Declan died?
That Night is an intriguing young adult mystery. Through a series of flashbacks, Hailey’s life in the present is cleverly interwoven with her romance with Declan in the past. With an absolutely unanticipated stunning plot twist, Cyn Balog brings this riveting novel to jaw-dropping conclusion. A very engrossing young adult that I recommend to older teen and adult readers due to content such as suicide, self-harming, and underage drinking.
