Book Review: The Hanging Girl by Eileen Cook

Publish Date: October 3, 2017
320 pages [Kindle edition]
HMH Books for Young Readers

Synopsis:
Skye Thorn has given tarot card readings for years, and now her psychic visions are helping the police find the town’s missing golden girl. It’s no challenge—her readings have always been faked, but this time she has some insider knowledge. The kidnapping was supposed to be easy—no one would get hurt and she’d get the money she needs to start a new life. But a seemingly harmless prank has turned dark, and Skye realizes the people she’s involved with are willing to kill to get what they want and she must discover their true identity before it’s too late.

My Thoughts:
I was gifted this book via Netgalley.
I have been very interested in crime-like stories lately and was pretty pumped when I was approved to read this novel because it sounded similar to the tv show Psych's version of a psychic. I am always happy to read about another Shawn Spencer! This story starts out with teen psychic Skye Thorn giving someone a tarot card read. Skye is a very easy perspective to read from and I really liked her voice. She comes from a single parent home and her mom is kind of one of those spaced out moms who wants to be friends rather than a parent to their child. The story continues where Paige Bonnet has gone missing. Paige is the daughter of a judge who wants to run for Senate and a popular girl in the school that Skye never really spoke to. 

I enjoyed the storyline very much, but I had problems with how characters were introduced and it seemed like they would get fleshed out, but it never actually happened. Some characters were more insignificant and didn't add anything to the story so it was confusing to get random bits of detail about people who weren't really part of the story. I was surprised by the twists and really liked them, but then the ending was very odd to me. I don't really understand why Skye chose to continue her future with the person she did. Overall, the plot was great (minus the ending), the characters were meh, and there were bits and pieces I had issues with throughout the story...like the random pop culture references that were out of place and talking about washboard abs even though there was literally no romance in the book.