Who Does She See?
Jody goes on a weekend getaway at a ski resort with a group of strangers. Her best friend Kate is unable to make it, but she encourages Jody to go along anyway because she doesn't want her to miss out on the most incredible ski resort out there.
There were two issues I had with the story. One, nothing suspenseful or mysterious happens until halfway through the book. Ellis takes too long focusing on this group of strangers without giving us any intriguing details about them. Two, everybody hates popular girl Leahna with such vicious hatred that it is concerning and not well justified.
Aside from those two issues, the story functions quite well once the mystery begins. Jody is certainly the most likeable character given that she is untainted by this closeknit group of friends and their prejudice against Leahna. Also admirable is how she persists spying through the window of Leahna's cabin once she sees her involved in an altercation with an unknown visitor. Despite the vivid hate that the rest of the group has for her, namely because she discards boys' feeling so easily, Jody decides for herself that Leahna is worth looking out for, especially after she gets Jody help when she sprains her ankle and is thereafter bedridden for the rest of the trip.
A bit of a Hitchcockian "Rear Window" appeal, the story brings about a good complex energy. We get to be with Jody through what quickly becomes an uncertain few days holed up in a snowbound weekend with an injured ankle. Staying with a bunch of strangers doesn't help, and they all seem suspicious in one way or another when it comes to their candid emotions toward Leahna, who we actually never really meet. The most we get to see is a peripheral view of her when she comes to Jody's aid and then a filtered look through her dark room. This leaves her character both literally and metaphorically in the shadows and makes uncovering her murder that much more fascinating.
The sounds and sights that Jody is exposed to while all alone in the cabin (as the others go out) are enough to keep you on edge and suck you into a tangled web of mystery.
Lots of red herrings are thrown in and guessing the culprit is virtually impossible in this YA thriller.
