A Long Stretch of Bad Days. Mindy McGinnis. 2023. [March] 368 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence: I don't mind living in a small town; I just don't want to die in one.
Premise/plot: Circumstances draw two unlikely friends together in Mindy McGinnis' new young adult thriller. Lydia Chass and Bristal Jamison are unlikely friends--complete opposites. The one thing they have in common? Well, due to the guidance counselor's negligence, both need one more credit to graduate on time. A compromise--of sorts--is reached with the [embarrassed] administration. The two will get a history credit for working [together as a team] on a podcast focusing on the town's history.
The two decide to research the "long stretch of bad days." This is how locals refer to a particularly bad week in June 1994. Tornado. Flood. Unsolved Murder. All within a matter of three or four days. Many people are happy to talk about the tornado itself--as long as you don't press too closely in on the unsavory bits. But what Bristal and Lydia WANT are an exciting podcast that will unearth [literally] secrets decades old. Be careful what you wish for.
My thoughts: This mystery-thriller is a slow-reveal. The pace is steady-even for most of it. It isn't until the last third that the pace picks up and RACES ahead into danger, danger, and more danger. I was intrigued by the mystery--a missing person's case [a foster child] AND an unsolved murder. One is completely unacknowledged by the town. It's like this foster child has NEVER existed. The other is shrugged off. No one really missed the low-life-victim, so it's no big deal that the case was never solved.
I will say that this one should have a BIG trigger warning. Something HORRIBLE and TRAGIC and AWFUL happened to ALL the dogs at the shelter during this long stretch of bad days. For those that are particularly sensitive to bad things happening to doggos, this one may not be for you.
As far as content warnings, there's curse words galore. So if you're super sensitive to that...then this one might not be a good fit to you.
© 2023 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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