{"product_id":"the-last-confession-of-autumn-casterly-by-meredith-tate-2529i","title":"The Last Confession of Autumn Casterly by Meredith Tate","description":"\u003cp\u003eMeredith Tate's gripping YA thriller about sisterhood and secrets-now in paperback!  When band-geek Ivy and her friends get together, things start with a rousing board game and end with arguments about Star Wars.  Her older sister Autumn is a different story. Enigmatic, aloof, and tough as nails, Autumn hasn't had real friends-or trusted anyone-in years. Even Ivy.  But Autumn might not be tough enough. After a drug deal gone wrong, Autumn is beaten, bound, and held hostage. Now, trapped between life and death, she leaves her body, seeking help. No one can sense her presence-except her sister.  When Autumn doesn't come home, Ivy just knows she's in trouble. Unable to escape the chilling feeling that something isn't right, Ivy follows a string of clues that bring her closer to rescuing her sister... and closer to danger.  Autumn needs Ivy to find her before time runs out. But soon, both sisters realize that finding her also means untangling the secrets that lead to the truth-about where they're hiding Autumn, and what Autumn has been hiding.  Editorial Reviews  This tale of undeterred sisterly love is a primal scream that will not be ignored. -New York Times Book Review  A page-turner with real heart. -Booklist  This book touches on important social issues . . . Recommended for libraries wanting mysteries with substance. --School Library Journal  A sharp and biting look at the bonds of sisterhood. I loved it. --Erin A. Craig, New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrows  A heart-pounding thriller and a searing critique of how our society treats girls and women. --Rachel Lynn Solomon, author of You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone - From the Publisher  Tate toggles effectively between the sisters' points of view...One by one, the puzzle pieces start to click into place as this breakneck thriller accelerates, turning up skeletons that the sisters, their family and their community thought had been shoved permanently in the closet...This tale of undeterred sisterly love is a primal scream that will not be ignored. - The New York Times Book Review - Jennifer Harlan  01\/01\/2020  Gr 9 Up--Autumn Casterly is ready to get out of her town. She has dreams and a college she wants to attend--not ideas normally associated with the school's biggest drug dealer. Ivy, Autumn's board game-playing, band-loving, nerdy younger sister couldn't be more different than tough and often absent Autumn. So when Autumn doesn't come home one evening, Ivy doesn't seem too surprised, except she has a strange feeling that things are not right. With alternating perspectives between the sisters, readers know that something terrible has happened to Autumn and Ivy investigates, often without the help of the adults in her life. As the story progresses, readers see glimpses of an assault that led to Autumn's distance from her family and see how the abuser faced no repercussions while Autumn's life fell to pieces. Ivy, with the help of her friends, begins to understand her sister more and more as she finds clues and pieces of her life. The mystery is engaging and readers will root for Ivy to find her sister in time. This book touches on important social issues around rape culture, shedding light on an experience when an abuser walks free and the survivor sees more damage to her reputation than the perpetrator to his. VERDICT Recommended for libraries wanting mysteries with substance.--Megan Huenemann, Norris High School, Firth, NE - School Library Journal  2019-11-17 When Autumn Casterly disappears, only her younger sister, Ivy, believes something is wrong.   Everybody knows Autumn is a bad girl, a drug dealer who often spends the night away. So when Autumn doesn't come home one day after a drug deal gone wrong, no one bats an eye apart from Ivy. With the help of her close-knit group of friends, the Nerd Herd Club, Ivy starts to search--eventually unveiling the truth behind her sister's deceptively strong facade. What Ivy doesn't know is that the clock is ticking, and while Autumn's body lies broken and hostage, her spirit has been trying to communicate with Ivy. The narrative alternates between Autumn's violent story and Ivy's determined search in a story about two sisters that blends the mundane with the supernatural. The ill effects of rape culture and the systemic lack of support for survivors are deftly explored, but the novel's impact is ultimately marred by a contrived resolution. The fractured tonal shift between Autumn's and Ivy's narratives is an interesting, if jarring, choice (it's hard to care about Ivy's sweet but silly love triangle when readers know Autumn could soon be dead). The two main characters are white, and the novel has well-developed nonwhite and LGBTQIA characters. Ivy is fat and confident in her size; the fat-shaming she faces at school is addressed head-on.   A thoughtful if flawed thriller. (Thriller. 14-18) - Kirkus Reviews\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41830939033674,"sku":"2529i","price":7.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/2529i_4beacc1d-28d6-4998-8352-640d48207713.jpg?v=1764460745","url":"https:\/\/www.bookexpress.nz\/products\/the-last-confession-of-autumn-casterly-by-meredith-tate-2529i","provider":"Book Express","version":"1.0","type":"link"}