Little Threats
2 Stars

***An ARC of the book was provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Released after 15 years in prison for a murder that she cannot remember, Kennedy Wynn returns home to face the survivors: her father, her sister, and the victim's family. When the host of a true-crime show takes an interest in the case, tensions rise and secrets are revealed.

Despite an intriguing premise and the potential for an exciting and action-packed thriller, Little Threats fails to deliver on its promise.

To begin with, this is not a mystery or a psychological thriller. Rather it is an almost clinical documentation of the effects of tragedy on the community and environment of both the convicted killer and the victim. Unfortunately, the characters are underdeveloped and lack substance, which makes it difficult to connect or empathize with any of them.

Even the "who-dun-it" elements are mundane and uninspired. The pacing is slow and the eventual revelation of the truth behind the crime is anti-climactic.

The writing is also problematic. The sentence structure is awkward, and the vocabulary choices are often contextually inappropriate. In addition, there are several flashback scenes as well as shifts in narrative perspective from first to third person. This does not appearto serve any real purpose and actually results in a story that is disjointed and lacking cohesion.

While some readers may enjoy the slow burn and psychological drama of the book, those with a preference for gripping police procedurals or exciting thrillers may be disappointed. ( )

Complex and well crafted with interesting characters. Doing 3 stars instead of 4 because while I did think it was good it didn't really wow me and I probably wouldn't reread it. ( )

*Thanks to Netgalley for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*

Actual Rating: 3.5

A whodunnit that takes place fifteen years later promises to be two things: tragic and nerve-wracking.

Little Threats is a mystery that kicks off in 2008, after Kennedy Wynn is released from prison for murdering her best friend Haley over a love triangle — a night she remembers nothing of. After fifteen long years, her twin has grown distant as she secretly dates Haley's brother, her father is obsessed with putting the past behind them, the boy she crushed on fifteen years ago is sneaking into her house and making threats, and Haley's mother is bent on revenge and still convinced of Kennedy's guilt. When a crime show host comes into town and starts digging up the past, Kennedy's memory starts to return, new evidence surfaces, and everyone starts becoming a suspect.

The plot for this started off really interesting and I was really invested in reading about the dynamics between characters, especially as Kennedy was just returning home. For me, I think my interest in the plot waned a bit because there didn't seem to be a very active plot for Kennedy or any of the characters in terms of finding out what had happened years ago. Only the crime show people were actively asking questions and we didn't hear much from them — I think I was really hoping we'd get to know more about the mystery from Kennedy's perspective, maybe her figuring out what had happened and looking for clues or talking to people.

The characters were okay; I do have to say that I think Kennedy was pretty much the only perspective I cared about; her twin sister and her boyfriend never really got the character development I wanted them to, and it gradually felt like the book was adding so many new characters in an attempt to increase the number of suspects, whereas it would've been much more effective to flesh out the backstories of the few characters they had.

The writing style was pretty good overall; I liked the descriptiveness of different scenes and settings, and I definitely got the "grunge nostalgia" feeling. Ultimately, I still think this is a good read in the adult fiction genre; I'd consider it mystery, but not necessary thriller or suspense. ( )

One of the best suspense novels I have read in a while. Twin sisters Kennedy and Carter are rich girls partying it up with their brilliant, beautiful, and wrong side of the tracks best friend Haley in the 90s. During a night on acid in the woods where only Kennedy is present, Haley is murdered. Kennedy is convicted of the murder and remembers nothing of the night. This book focuses both on the mystery of Haley's murder as well as the aftershocks experienced by the friends and families of Haley and Kennedy. ( )

Little Threats by Emily Schultz is a highly recommended whodunit and a psychological study of a family.

In the summer of 1993, privileged sixteen-year-old twin sisters Kennedy and Carter Wynn and their friend Haley Kimberson are pushing boundaries. Kennedy and Haley decide to party one night with twenty-one year old Berk Butler. Later that night Kennedy wakes up in the woods, looks for Haley, and finds her dead, murdered. Kennedy can't remember a thing from that night. Suspicions fall on her and Berk, but his testimony places guilt on her and she ends up just pleading guilty.

Now it is fifteen years later and Kennedy is being released. The world has moved on. Carter has grown distance, their father, Gerry, is trying too hard to protect family bonds and forget the past. Laine, her mother, died from cancer when Kennedy was in prison. Kennedy's return to the family home is bringing the case back to the surface and a true crime show is investigating the case to see if they can uncover who really killed Haley.

The story is told through three points-of-view: Kennedy, Carter, and Haley's brother, Everett. Carter and Everett have started a relationship, which is potentially fraught with trouble for both families and has questions arising about what really happened in 1993. There are a lot of questions that need to be answered because it seems clear that Kennedy's guilt is hardly a given. The secrets and hidden guilt of various people over a myriad of actions are slowly revealed in the narrative. As you read, guilt will jump from one character to another as a new secret is exposed or something else is remembered.

The story does start out slowly and as the plot unfolds, it is at a measured pace until the ending. The writing is good, but you need the patience to slowly follow the backstory of the individuals involved and their psychological state of mind. This is a portrait of two families in crisis, the Wynns and the Kimbersons, and how the murder affected them. Everyone has guilt over something and there is more than one suspect. The ending is a shocker, but you will recognize the clues and small details leading toward the guilty party.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Penguin Random House.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2020/08/little-threats.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3475145836 ( )