That Night by Cyn Balog || Review

Some things are better left buried.

This book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review by the publisher, via Netgalley. My thanks to both Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire. 

Name: That Night 

Author: Cyn Balog

Rating: 4 Stars

Pages: 320

Publisher: SOURCEBOOKS Fire

Published: June 4th 2019

^Please note: This is a trigger warning for suicide

A year ago, Declan killed himself in his family's shed with a gun. And Hailey's life fell apart. Her love, her forever, gone. No explanation, no hint, no nothing. Declan was the light of her life, the happiest person she knew and then he was gone. After spending time in an institution and several reckless activities later, the one year anniversary of his death is coming up and something isn't right. When Hailey is given a box of Declan's things, including a mysterious photograph with "This ends now," written on it, the fog in Hailey's memory starts to clear. Growing suspicious about the circumstances of Declan's death, she turns to her best friend and Declan's stepbrother, Kane, who appears to know more than he's letting on. What is everyone hiding from her, and does she want to know? 

Deciding that she does, Hailey's fog starts to lift and she finds herself uncovering the truth about Declan, his death and even herself. 

MY DUDES. I love a good mystery book, a what happened, a whodunnit, I LOVE THEM. So when I read the blurb of this book on Netgalley, I was immediately like "I need to read this book." And I wasn't disappointed. Drawn in by the opening chapter, I found myself wanting to know more about Declan and why he did commit suicide. The character building in this book was a breath of fresh air. I have recently read a book with two dimensional characters and this book was quite literally the opposite. The characters in this book had so much depth and so much potential, and a lot of it was lived up too. I liked who I was supposed to like, I hated who I was supposed to hate, the lines got blurred, I loved everyone, I hated everyone. I loved it. 

The story is split into flashbacks before Declan kills himself and the memories that Tina has before this event, and then the days following the one year anniversary where the fog is starting to lift. Declan is presented as a saint, but I loved the whole "Some saints don't get their atonement" conversation with Nina. Nina was a character I wish we got more of in this book as I think she had a lot of potential. 

Reading this book, I found myself really buying what the author was selling for the most part. The only thing I didn't really like about this book was the lack of parental input. I would've wanted to see more of the relationships with the parents being developed further, whether that be Declan and Kane's parents or Hailey's own. I wanted to gather their input of the situation at hand and whether they suspected something further went into Declan's death than a simple, unexplained suicide. 

Overall I would really recommend this book for fans of mystery, YA and contemporary books as I think it's a good read, it has a good plot and it's easy to follow. 

As always hit me up on my socials: 

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Review: Cutter Boy

Please be aware that this book tackles the issue of self harm, if that is a trigger to you in anyway, it is the main theme of this book. Please stay safe. 

Title: Cutter Boy

Series: N/A, Stand alone (Possibly Sidestreets.)

Author: Cristy Watson

Genre: YA, Contemporary 

Publisher: Lorimer 

Publication Date: 12th February 2015

Pages: 176

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley, with thanks to Lorimer and Netgalley. 

Ignored at home. 

Bullied at school. 

Travis' only solace is found in a blade. 

It becomes his dependency to cope with how his parent's don't talk to him, how he has no friends, how his sister's live miles away. It takes away the emotional pain and replaces it with a physical pain that he can control. But every changes when he meets Chyvonne. She breaks the stereotypes of everything around her, she shines like a light, and Travis's parents seem to love her more than they love him. He even discovers a love for art that seems to relieve the urge to cut himself, and rather he cuts the paper.

But will his scars prevent something happening between them? 

Or can she help him? 

Books that tackle self harm are either a hit, or they are a miss. And in this situation, I think it was between the two. In some ways, it missed mainly in the fact it was quite short. However, the author answered a question saying that the publisher had a word count for these "Sidestreets" books at 25,000 words, so I think in the way she tackled this really tough issue in less than 200 pages in simply fantastic. 

I felt as if I was reading a full length novel. 

You immediately felt heartbroken for Travis, it's clear to why he feels so alone from the offset. His parents don't talk to him at all, they just talk to each other when he leaves the room and they seem to tiptoe around him just so they don't have to spend any time with him. His school bullies are also presented in a realistic, but incredibly brutal way. You almost can feel Travis's emotions as you're reading this book. You understand him. 

I just wanted the best for him throughout this book. 

The author arcs this book in such a way that you go up and down, you're sad, then you're happy. Then everything just seems so bleak, but then it gets happier again and towards the end, you can truly see a positive output for Travis. 

My favourite parts left me bittersweet, like when his dad lay in his bed and watched TV with him, or when Chyvonne found out about the self harm. 

My final rating is: 4 stars

If you're struggling with self harm, please don't be afraid to talk to someone about it. A teacher, a parent or a friend. There are anonymous forums and numbers you can ring to just vent about it. Please, stay safe, take care of yourself. 

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