An Aurora YA Review: Out of Order by Casey Lawrence

Rating:  5 out of 5 stars

Corinna “Corey” Nguyen’s life seems perfectly average for a closeted bisexual whiz kid with her eyes on college and a budding romance with her friend Kate. Sixteen and navigating senior year with her tight-knit group of best friends through crushes, breakups, and pregnancy scares, Corey mistakenly believes that running for valedictorian and choosing the right college are the worst of her worries. That is, until prom night, when she’s left alone and in shock, hiding inside a diner restroom, the only witness to a multiple homicide.

With graduation looming, the pressure is on for Corey to identify the killer and ensure that the crime that has changed her life forever will not go unpunished.

I love mysteries, and I love books that really make you think, and this book does both in a masterful way. There are so few books that I’ve read that are pure mysteries or thrillers that are also YA books. In fact as I sat down to write this review, I thought for a good five minutes about any books similar to this one, and I could only think of one that I had read or even seen. I always love to read books like this, and this book was not only a standout simply for the subject matter, but it was just well written. From the larger scale parts of the book that involved the murder, which were fascinating, to the plots that involved Corey simply living life as a teenager, every part of the book was really interesting to read. In general it was just very exciting, and it kept me very engaged from beginning to end.

I love characters and the way they’re developed, I make no secret of it. And this book did not disappoint as far as character. Most notably, Corey was absolutely wonderfully written. She was endearing, I loved her, and I wanted to see her come out on top. She seemed like a real teenager without seeming like she was a stereotype. She was very interesting while, again, seeming very much like a real teenager who was simply put in an extraordinary situation, which is one of my favorite things to see in any form of entertainment. I really, thoroughly enjoyed this book and it was a very fun read. It kept me engaged the entire time, and I really liked the characters and writing style.

Aaron Anderson is the cover artist. Definitely just based on seeing the cover in a store or online, I would have picked up this book because the cover is very intriguing. It makes me wonder what the book is about and is very well put together. I think that the fact that it doesn’t feature anyone’s face is actually very smart. It doesn’t assign an image to any of the characters for the reader before they read the book, but it still makes the reader interested and still does a good job of showing what the book is about.

Sales Links:  Harmony Ink Press  –  All Romance (ARe) – Amazon   Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 180 pages, and in paperback
Published March 21st 2015 by Harmony Ink Press
ISBN139781634760126
edition languageEnglish
url http://www.harmonyinkpress.com
A YA Imprint of Dreamspinner Press