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Watch Us Crack
A gripping and tense standalone YA thriller following two teens from rival schools who are each accused of a brutal murder and must identify the real culprit—even if it means destroying their budding romance.
Sadie Morelli and Cason Tano were friends in middle school, back before Cason’s mom died and Sadie transferred to a new school. When they meet again as high school juniors at the local ice rink where Sadie waitresses and Cason’s hockey team plays, what was once friendship blooms into something more. Given the intensity of the rivalry between their schools, their budding romance is a secret for them alone.
But then someone turns up dead at the local train station. Sadie and Cason were both at the station the night of the murder, and both have a reason to want to hurt the victim. With accusations flying and secrets being held close to the chest, Sadie and Cason must decide the lengths they’re willing to go to to clear their own names—and to protect each other.
Sadie Morelli and Cason Tano were friends in middle school, back before Cason’s mom died and Sadie transferred to a new school. When they meet again as high school juniors at the local ice rink where Sadie waitresses and Cason’s hockey team plays, what was once friendship blooms into something more. Given the intensity of the rivalry between their schools, their budding romance is a secret for them alone.
But then someone turns up dead at the local train station. Sadie and Cason were both at the station the night of the murder, and both have a reason to want to hurt the victim. With accusations flying and secrets being held close to the chest, Sadie and Cason must decide the lengths they’re willing to go to to clear their own names—and to protect each other.
336 pages, Hardcover
Published September 23, 2025
3 people are currently reading
4588 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 29, 2025
I had a lot of fun with this one! It’s the classic setup: a teen caught up in a crime investigation while also being a possible suspect. But what stood out to me is that—finally—we get a parent who actually cares and makes smart, realistic decisions. (Not trying to be cryptic, just avoiding spoilers!)
I’ve been really enjoying these romance/thriller mash-ups lately, and this one hit the balance perfectly. The mystery takes center stage, but the romance adds just the right amount of heart without ever feeling out of place. It also keeps things YA-appropriate—mature enough for teens but still something middle grade readers who want a challenge could totally dive into.
I’ll admit, I guessed the twist early on, but that’s pretty normal for me. Still, the author did a great job sprinkling in believable red herrings and enough hints that the final reveal felt satisfying and earned.
This book is such a cozy fall thriller pick—perfect for back-to-school season when you want something fun, fast, and suspenseful. Definitely one for teen sleuths (and mystery lovers in general) to check out.
I was fortunate to receive a complimentary eARC from Harper Collins via NetGalley, which gave me the opportunity to share my voluntary thoughts.
How I Rate
Because I mostly read ARCs, I focus on how I think fellow readers with similar tastes will respond. I sometimes round up or down based on pacing, prose, or overall impact, and I try to keep my personal preferences from weighing too heavily.
⭐️ 1 Star – Finished, but not for me; I never DNF ARCs.
⭐️⭐️ 2 Stars – Struggled due to writing, content, or editing issues.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 Stars – Decent read with untapped potential; recommend with some reservations.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 Stars – Really enjoyed it and would recommend for several reasons.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 Stars – Exceptional; lingers in my mind well after reading. A story I’d gladly revisit.
I’ve been really enjoying these romance/thriller mash-ups lately, and this one hit the balance perfectly. The mystery takes center stage, but the romance adds just the right amount of heart without ever feeling out of place. It also keeps things YA-appropriate—mature enough for teens but still something middle grade readers who want a challenge could totally dive into.
I’ll admit, I guessed the twist early on, but that’s pretty normal for me. Still, the author did a great job sprinkling in believable red herrings and enough hints that the final reveal felt satisfying and earned.
This book is such a cozy fall thriller pick—perfect for back-to-school season when you want something fun, fast, and suspenseful. Definitely one for teen sleuths (and mystery lovers in general) to check out.
I was fortunate to receive a complimentary eARC from Harper Collins via NetGalley, which gave me the opportunity to share my voluntary thoughts.
How I Rate
Because I mostly read ARCs, I focus on how I think fellow readers with similar tastes will respond. I sometimes round up or down based on pacing, prose, or overall impact, and I try to keep my personal preferences from weighing too heavily.
⭐️ 1 Star – Finished, but not for me; I never DNF ARCs.
⭐️⭐️ 2 Stars – Struggled due to writing, content, or editing issues.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 Stars – Decent read with untapped potential; recommend with some reservations.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 Stars – Really enjoyed it and would recommend for several reasons.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 Stars – Exceptional; lingers in my mind well after reading. A story I’d gladly revisit.
April 25, 2025
Gabriella Lepore absolutely nails it with “Let us Crack”. This book had me hooked right away. The chapters are the perfect length and kept me wanting to read more and more. The suspense was absolutely fantastic and everything a thriller should be. Without giving anything away, the twist absolutely blew me away!
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!
June 17, 2025
Thank you Netgalley and Storytide for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Gabriella Lepore’s “Watch Us Crack” is a gripping YA thriller that is centered around a slow-burning murder mystery, which is complicated by high school drama and forbidden romance. With its Romeo and Juliet-style premise set against the backdrop of a long-standing rivalry between two schools and, more specifically, their hockey teams the book offers a suspenseful and emotionally charged story that will keep you hooked.
At the center are Sadie and Cason, two teens who reconnect after years apart and begin a secret romance despite attending enemy schools. Their budding relationship is complicated not only by the social fallout of crossing school lines but also by a murder investigation that pulls them both into the spotlight. When a body turns up near Sadie’s house—at a train station they both visited the night before—suspicion quickly falls on the pair, leaving readers questioning their innocence and motives.
Lepore crafts the mystery with clever pacing and a mix of narrative tools, including police interviews, podcast transcripts, and text messages. These multimedia elements add a modern, immersive edge to the story, drawing you deeper into the investigation and the messy world of teenage secrets as you consider different perspectives around the mystery, gaining clues and suspects with each new addition to the story. While some twists are more surprising than others, the final reveal is both shocking and satisfying, with one last twist that’s subtly foreshadowed but still impactful.
However, the book isn’t without its flaws. The high school drama, particularly the intense fixation on hockey, can feel over-the-top at times, and while the rivalry is realistic in its dramatization of teenage stakes, it occasionally overshadows deeper character development. Sadie and Cason's romance, though sweet and slow-burn in nature, feels slightly underdeveloped given its one-month timeline. More emotional groundwork could have enriched their connection and heightened the stakes of their secrecy.
Another element that felt slightly underutilized was a subplot involving a hit-and-run, which plays a critical role in the final twist but is sparsely developed earlier in the story. With more emphasis, this plotline could have added a compelling layer to the mystery.
Still, “Watch Us Crack” delivers where it counts. It’s fast-paced, emotionally engaging, and packed with enough suspense and twists to satisfy fans of YA thrillers. For those who enjoy secrets, shifting alliances, and the adrenaline rush of a good whodunit, this book is a compelling choice.
Gabriella Lepore’s “Watch Us Crack” is a gripping YA thriller that is centered around a slow-burning murder mystery, which is complicated by high school drama and forbidden romance. With its Romeo and Juliet-style premise set against the backdrop of a long-standing rivalry between two schools and, more specifically, their hockey teams the book offers a suspenseful and emotionally charged story that will keep you hooked.
At the center are Sadie and Cason, two teens who reconnect after years apart and begin a secret romance despite attending enemy schools. Their budding relationship is complicated not only by the social fallout of crossing school lines but also by a murder investigation that pulls them both into the spotlight. When a body turns up near Sadie’s house—at a train station they both visited the night before—suspicion quickly falls on the pair, leaving readers questioning their innocence and motives.
Lepore crafts the mystery with clever pacing and a mix of narrative tools, including police interviews, podcast transcripts, and text messages. These multimedia elements add a modern, immersive edge to the story, drawing you deeper into the investigation and the messy world of teenage secrets as you consider different perspectives around the mystery, gaining clues and suspects with each new addition to the story. While some twists are more surprising than others, the final reveal is both shocking and satisfying, with one last twist that’s subtly foreshadowed but still impactful.
However, the book isn’t without its flaws. The high school drama, particularly the intense fixation on hockey, can feel over-the-top at times, and while the rivalry is realistic in its dramatization of teenage stakes, it occasionally overshadows deeper character development. Sadie and Cason's romance, though sweet and slow-burn in nature, feels slightly underdeveloped given its one-month timeline. More emotional groundwork could have enriched their connection and heightened the stakes of their secrecy.
Another element that felt slightly underutilized was a subplot involving a hit-and-run, which plays a critical role in the final twist but is sparsely developed earlier in the story. With more emphasis, this plotline could have added a compelling layer to the mystery.
Still, “Watch Us Crack” delivers where it counts. It’s fast-paced, emotionally engaging, and packed with enough suspense and twists to satisfy fans of YA thrillers. For those who enjoy secrets, shifting alliances, and the adrenaline rush of a good whodunit, this book is a compelling choice.
May 28, 2025
Thank you Storytide and Netgalley for this eARC, these opinions are my own. This was so good I finished it in less than a day! Sadie and Cason knew each other in middle school and have begun to get reacquainted. The only problem is that they go to rival schools. Cason plays hockey and Sadie’s best friend’s boyfriend, Kai, is on her schools hockey team. Right now Kai and Quinn are also on the outs and Sadie is working hard to be there for her friend. To make things worse a month ago the two hockey teams got in a huge fight and Kai and Cason were at the center of it. So it’s safer if their relationship stays a secret. But then a body turns up at the train station a cross from Sadie’s house. A train station that her, Cason, Quinn, and Kai were all at the night before. Now Cason and Sadie are both suspects in a murder case. And they both have motive. In order to prove their innocence they may have to bring their relationship out into the open. How will their friends feel about them dating? Can they figure out whodunnit? Can they even trust each other? A fast paced thriller that had me hooked! I loved the mix of secret relationship with a whodunnit! I also liked the inclusion of the texts, interviews, tiktoks! It added to the intrigue and kept me guessing! Twists right up until the end make Gabriella Lepore’s Watch Us Crack a must read mystery!
September 19, 2025
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
I enjoyed the previous Gabriella Lepore books I’ve read, so requesting and reading the next, Watch Us Crack, was a no-brainer. And while I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the previous two, I still had decent fun with it.
I love Lepore’s engaging style, and how she makes use of multimedia to tell the story, including interstitials with social media posts and police interrogations once again to help flesh out the narrative. It adds a sense of immediacy, as if you’re watching the story unfold in front of you.
The plot is also fairly engaging and intricately woven. The fairly quick pacing, plot twists, and red herrings kept me immersed and consistently trying to figure things out.
The characters were a bit of a weak link here, as I wasn’t super-invested in them, but there is a nice dynamic between them, with them having a secret romance due to being from rival schools.
This was a fairly enjoyable read, and I’d recommend it to readers who frequently enjoy YA thrillers.
I enjoyed the previous Gabriella Lepore books I’ve read, so requesting and reading the next, Watch Us Crack, was a no-brainer. And while I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the previous two, I still had decent fun with it.
I love Lepore’s engaging style, and how she makes use of multimedia to tell the story, including interstitials with social media posts and police interrogations once again to help flesh out the narrative. It adds a sense of immediacy, as if you’re watching the story unfold in front of you.
The plot is also fairly engaging and intricately woven. The fairly quick pacing, plot twists, and red herrings kept me immersed and consistently trying to figure things out.
The characters were a bit of a weak link here, as I wasn’t super-invested in them, but there is a nice dynamic between them, with them having a secret romance due to being from rival schools.
This was a fairly enjoyable read, and I’d recommend it to readers who frequently enjoy YA thrillers.
September 2, 2025
ARC provided by NetGalley
Sadie attends Arcadia High School with her best friend, Quinn, and her star hockey-player boyfriend, Kai. One Friday night, Quinn and Kai’s on-again, off-again relationship comes to a dramatic end during a heated argument at the train station. Sadie overhears part of it, and when Quinn shows up at her house afterward, she lets her spend the night. But by morning, Quinn is gone. Then the news breaks: a teen has been found dead at the train station.
Told through alternating perspectives Sadie, Cason, police interviews, texts, and TikTok videos; the story weaves a tense, layered mystery. Readers are pulled through a series of what-if scenarios, left guessing who killed Kai and why. Was it the long-standing feud between the Arcadia and Hailing hockey teams? Or something even darker? After all, Sadie has been secretly meeting up with Cason; Hailing’s own hockey star.
Perfect for fans of April Henry and Holly Jackson, this twisty thriller doles out clues in just the right doses, keeping readers hooked until the shocking conclusion.
Sadie attends Arcadia High School with her best friend, Quinn, and her star hockey-player boyfriend, Kai. One Friday night, Quinn and Kai’s on-again, off-again relationship comes to a dramatic end during a heated argument at the train station. Sadie overhears part of it, and when Quinn shows up at her house afterward, she lets her spend the night. But by morning, Quinn is gone. Then the news breaks: a teen has been found dead at the train station.
Told through alternating perspectives Sadie, Cason, police interviews, texts, and TikTok videos; the story weaves a tense, layered mystery. Readers are pulled through a series of what-if scenarios, left guessing who killed Kai and why. Was it the long-standing feud between the Arcadia and Hailing hockey teams? Or something even darker? After all, Sadie has been secretly meeting up with Cason; Hailing’s own hockey star.
Perfect for fans of April Henry and Holly Jackson, this twisty thriller doles out clues in just the right doses, keeping readers hooked until the shocking conclusion.
October 7, 2025
1.25/5
Honestly the best part of this book for me was the TikTok sections. I just wish there weren't so many characters in the book because at one point it just felt like it was a big cast to be a big cast, to have multiple suspects, but when the reader can't really tell if certain characters could even have a motive... it made it really hard for me to finish this book. The multiple POVS with very similar voices also didn't really help for me. I tried to keep them all apart but it was really hard. The beginning I will say was really good, but after the murder, it was just difficult to follow
Honestly the best part of this book for me was the TikTok sections. I just wish there weren't so many characters in the book because at one point it just felt like it was a big cast to be a big cast, to have multiple suspects, but when the reader can't really tell if certain characters could even have a motive... it made it really hard for me to finish this book. The multiple POVS with very similar voices also didn't really help for me. I tried to keep them all apart but it was really hard. The beginning I will say was really good, but after the murder, it was just difficult to follow
June 21, 2025
This is an emotionally charged Romeo-Juliet type of romance between two kids from rival schools. It is riveting and engaging. It must be kept in mind that this is a high school setting and highly focused on the hockey rivalry with a lack of serious character development. I enjoyed the read, though it does not top my favourites for the year.
November 28, 2025
I knew there was a set up, but the people behind the set up surprised me lol. I was right and then wrong.. after a specific interview I was right again lol. Then more secrets came to light that I completely forgot about from the beginning lol.
This was a nice read with my new book friend John. Looking forward to many more.
This was a nice read with my new book friend John. Looking forward to many more.
June 22, 2025
Ok, I definitely didn't see all the twists coming in this one!
September 13, 2025
tense, taut, YA thriller about two characters who fall in love and then both become suspected for a murder. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.
November 23, 2025
I had such a great time reading this book, loved the set up and these characters, and it was so thrilling to read!
December 15, 2025
This one will keep you guessing until the very end.
December 18, 2025
3.5 rounded down solely because I was annoyed sometimes by the characters lol.
October 10, 2025
this one was a truly entertaining ya -novel, and if i were the targeted age-group, i likely would have enjoyed this even more.
on the whole the story isn't the most unique and some of the set-up (like the rivalry between schools) felt a little forced, but everything did get gradually better towards the ending.
the ending was the best part of the book.
on the whole the story isn't the most unique and some of the set-up (like the rivalry between schools) felt a little forced, but everything did get gradually better towards the ending.
the ending was the best part of the book.
July 25, 2025
I loved this book, I've been in such a reading slump lately and this definitely helped me out of it. I loved the twist at the end I did not see it coming!
November 7, 2025
this book was a nice fun quick read i enjoyed it. the ending felt a little rushed personally and i do wish we were able to go a little more in depth with the characters but again overall this was a fun read and i found myself shocked with my jaw dropped multiple times. also shoutout to sadie and cason!!!!
November 11, 2025
The beginning of Watch Us Crack immediately drew me in as Sadie and Cason are named suspects in a murder after being at the scene just minutes before the crime. However, the story began to lose momentum as it went on with both characters withholding information from each other and Sadie barely communicating with her worried father. Despite the slower pacing, the twists were engaging as some caught me by surprise. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.
August 5, 2025
Watch Us Crack's main draw is most definitely its mystery--I was so intrigued that I read it in one sitting! While I didn't particularly feel one way or the other for the book's dual POV characters--Sadie and Cason--I did want to find out who was framing them (or if they were even being framed at all!).
I'm still not entirely sure what to think about the ending. I definitely didn't see it coming! I kinda wish there had been more hints as to who the culprit was, as I don't think there was really enough to figure everything out. Nevertheless I think I'll have to re-read before I decide how ultimately feel about it!
In the end, it was a solid mystery, and though there were aspects I felt were rushed and some characters I felt dragged the story down (i.e. the TikTok true crime influencer), I wouldn't mind re-reading!
I'm still not entirely sure what to think about the ending. I definitely didn't see it coming! I kinda wish there had been more hints as to who the culprit was, as I don't think there was really enough to figure everything out. Nevertheless I think I'll have to re-read before I decide how ultimately feel about it!
In the end, it was a solid mystery, and though there were aspects I felt were rushed and some characters I felt dragged the story down (i.e. the TikTok true crime influencer), I wouldn't mind re-reading!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews