What Happened to Cass McBride?

[Alisha Marie]

I read What Happened to Cass McBride? about a month and a half ago and definitely think it is worthy of being in the mystery folder. This is the summary that Goodreads has for it:

"The setting is claustrophobic, the characters are complex and the story will keep readers on the edge of their seats," KLIATT raved of this vivid, fast-paced psychological thriller in a starred review. Kyle Kirby has planned a cruel and unusual revenge on Cass McBride, the most popular girl in school, for the death of his brother David. He digs a hole. Kidnaps Cass. Puts her in a box--underground. He buries her alive. But lying in the deepest dark, Cass finds a weapon: she uses the power of words to keep her nemesis talking--and herself breathing--during the most harrowing 48 hours of her life.

I read this for the YA challenge for a task that told me to pick three YA books and post your favorite of them. And it took me a long (LONG!) while to figure out which one was my favorite (it was between this and Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac). So, I ended up picking this one because it was a great edge-of-your-seat thriller. I ended up reading it in about an hour and a half, but kept thinking about it long afterwards.

I was surprised at how good this was actually. I'm a huge fan of mysteries, but have never found one a great YA one, so I was ecstatic when I ended up loving this one. I've also read Shattering Glass by Gail Giles and while not as good as What Happened to Cass McBride?, it was still pretty damn good.