Review. Here Lies Daniel Tate

Title. Here Lies Daniel Tate

Author. Cristin Terrill

Publisher. Simon & Schuster

Release Date. June 6^th 2017

Standalone/Series. Standalone

Genre. YA, Mystery, Thriller

Description.

A young, street-savvy runaway looking for a place to call home realizes he might have conned his way into the wrong family in this fast-paced and thrilling novel from award-winning author Cristin Terrill.

When ten-year-old Daniel Tate went missing from one of California's most elite communities, he left no trace. He simply vanished.

Six years later, when he resurfaces on a snowy street in Vancouver, he's no longer the same boy. His sandy hair is darker, the freckles are gone, and he's initially too traumatized to speak, but he's alive. His overjoyed family brings him home to a world of luxury and comfort he can barely remember. In time, they assure him, he'll recover his memories; all that matters now is they're together again. 

It's perfect. A miracle. Except for one thing.

He isn't Daniel Tate.

He's a petty con artist who accidentally stumbled into the scam of a lifetime, and he soon learns he's not the only one in the Tate household with something to hide. The family has as many secrets as they have millions in the bank, and one of them might be ready to kill to keep the worst one buried.

REVIEW.

Lately, I’ve been very much in the mood for mystery novels, and it seems there is an increasing amount of releases in this genre in YA for the last couple of months. Or maybe I notice them more ? Who knows ? Anyway, this is one of those mystery ones that called to me.

The plot seemed fascinating and original, plus there are a lot of positive reviews. Only problem with this amazing book ? It did not get that much attention, and not many people seem to know about it.. Which is a shame, because this one is incredibly good !!

EVERYTHING !!

The main character. I really loved “Danny”, even though he is not really the best of persons and has many faults, he is a very likable character. Even though this is a standalone and it is not an extremely long novel, he grows throughout the story and matures.

He was a really interesting character too, because he was trying to con everyone, he needed to keep an eye on everything and act how different people expected him to act. Which was very interesting to witness, reading how he anticipated on that. He was a great narrator for this story, even though I still don’t know if I know the truth…

The side characters. They were all really well rounded, every side character was well developed and felt almost real. It made me not only attached to Danny, but to the whole family. They were such a completely fucked up family, great !! And also, so much love for Mia !!

The plot is also a big plus. I was into it from the beginning and very curious about the truth. What happened to the real Daniel Tate ? Of course I’m not going to spoil anything.. but even though there were some clues looking back, I did not expect this conclusion.

I love it when I don’t know what is going to happen. This one kept me guessing and trying to put the pieces together for the whole picture. But I kept missing some pieces right until the end. GREAT !

I just LOVED the whole setting. Everything was so mysterious and dark. It had such an eerie vibe on the background that it got me totally hooked. Very thrilling !!

There is actually one thing. And I’m not even sure I really agree with myself on this one haha. Me and myself haven’t decided whether or not we liked it. And with it, I mean the conclusion.

The ending was kind of open, and I’m not sure it really is the end. A lot of things could be true, or maybe not… and we still don’t know everything. But that was kind of the point of this whole novel. Don’t get me wrong, there were NO plot holes, but some things were left out on purpose. And that is part of what made this novel so astonishingly good, but also left me a bit dissatisfying. Because I want to know !! But that makes it even better, because it leaves me wanting for more.. Get my dilemma ? XD

This whole novel leaves me wanting for more. I loved it ! Great characters, strong plot filled with mystery and excitement. It was near perfect. I got lost in this novel, immerging myself completely in the story and losing track of time and my surroundings. Amazing ! It was fabulously exciting and kept me on the edge of my seat the closer I got to the ending. And even now, a couple of days later, I still don’t know if it really happened the way it was told it happened, or if he lied or… It’s still on my mind !! I would recommend this novel to everyone !

Rating 5