ARC Review: That Weekend by Kara Thomas

That Weekend by Kara Thomas is an expertly plotted and gripping thriller that will take you on twists and turns you’ll never see coming. Honestly, this is one of the best books I’ve ever read and I can’t wait for you all to read it!

“You can’t go back.”

I’m a huge fan of Kara Thomas (I’m currently working on her backlist) and I’ve been anxiously awaiting her latest YA thriller since the teaser trailer was released back in September. When I won a giveaway for an annotated ARC, I think I transcended to another plane of existence. After reading it? I’m now dead. This is my ghost typing a review.

About That Weekend

Publisher: Delacorte Press  |  Release Date: June 29, 2021  |  Pages: 336
Age Range: Young Adult | Genre: Thriller | Format: Paperback |  Source: Giveaway*

Three best friends, a lake house, a secret trip – what could go wrong?

It was supposed to be the perfect prom weekend getaway. But it’s clear something terrible happened when Claire wakes up alone and bloodied on a hiking trail with no memory of the past forty-eight hours.

Three went up the mountain, but only one came back.

Now everyone wants answers – most of all, Claire. She remembers Friday night, but after that… nothing. And now Kat and Jesse – her best friends – are missing.

That weekend changes everything.

What happened on the mountain? And where are Kat and Jesse? Claire knows the answers are buried somewhere in her memory, but as she’s learning, everyone has secrets – even her best friends. And she’s pretty sure she’s not going to like what she remembers.

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Other Books by Kara Thomas

Content Warnings

death, depression, domestic abuse, doxxing, incest, loss of a loved one, memory loss, mention of suicide, PTSD, underage drinking

My Review for That Weekend

I’m a reader who tries to avoid hype because it always creates unreachable expectations, but with favorite authors it’s unavoidable. I was so hyped for this book and let me tell you that it surpassed all of my expectations.

“There is a heaviness in my limbs, my eyelids, as if I’d lived a hundred days since waking up this morning.”

To be quite honest: I have no idea how I’m supposed to review a book that’s left me speechless. Thankfully for me, this is a book you should go into as blind as possible for maximum enjoyment. All you need to know is three friends go up on a mountain, but only one comes down. Told in dual and nonlinear timelines, the reader gets to try and pick up the breadcrumbs to see how we got to the present – which is one of my favorite plot devices!

“All that matters is what happened on that mountain. The only important information is what I can’t remember.”

The writing is biting and I was gripped from the very first page to the last. I wish I could read and experience this book for the first time again. Shocking revelations. Twists and turns you won’t see coming. You can’t trust anyone and you can’t look away. All you need to know is the book is the definition of unputdownable. I’m honestly amazed at how expertly plotted it is.

“Whatever memories I have of Saturday don’t belong to me. They belong to some other girl, wandering a trail, bloodied and confused.”

Claire is a main character you can’t help but love and I want her to have the world. She also has fantastic taste in music because she was listening to American Girl by Tom Petty. (Side note: I love Tom Petty more than should be legal.) But more than that, you root for her and her friends, her memory, and her healing.

“It’s easier to live with anger at someone than to deal with the pain of missing them.”

I appreciate that the book is as much about recovery from trauma and coping with the aftermath of it as it is about the mystery of what happened on the mountain itself.  Because let’s be real here: what she experienced and the subsequent memory gaps are traumatic.

“I know how dangerous it is to fixate in one small action, one wrong decision. You eventually start to think you could have more control than you do.”

I found the narrative fast-paced and engaging and the writing captivating. The first fifth of the book is largely dedicated to Claire and getting to know the relationship with her two best friends. Some people may struggle with the relationship drama but I found it all interesting and important groundwork to the overall mystery. There are a couple of answers that I felt were missing as a result of the limiting single narrative perspective, but in the grand scheme of things it didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the book. 

Honestly, this is one of the best books I’ve ever read; it left me flabbergasted. Brain empty, mouth agape. And I can’t wait to re-read it to see what things I can pick up on!

The Verdict

Overall, That Weekend is an impressive and arresting thriller that will leave you on the edge of your seat while the mystery unravels within its pages. It’s deliciously unputdownable and will leave you speechless at the end; it took me two weeks to write a review that was more than a keyboard smash of screaming. Prepare to suffer, this is a perfect summer who-dun-it.

I received an annotated copy from an author giveaway. This does not affect neither my opinion of the book nor the content of my review. Quotations are from an uncorrected proof and are subject to change upon final publication. *I have since purchased a final copy for my collection.

I received a review copy from the publisher for my honest review. This does not affect neither my opinion of the book nor the content of my review. Quotations are from an uncorrected proof and are subject to change upon final publication.

International Pre-Order Incentive

I highly recommend reading this book, and if you submit a pre-order you can receive some camping-themed stickers and a signed bookplate! There’s a B&N Special Edition that has bonus content if that’s something you’d be interested in (ya girl just switched her pre-order!), as well as just the standard hardcover and audiobook.

Let’s Chat!

No two readers experience a book in the same way; this was mine, but what about you?

💬  Have you read That Weekend yet? If so, what are your thoughts?

💬  Did I convince you to add this book to your TBR?

💬  What are your favorite thrillers? What should I add to my TBR?

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