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21 Days of Fear: One Day, One Letter
A teen is offered the chance to reunite with his missing sister in this heart-wrenching young adult thriller told in an advent calendar format, with chapter-a-day reading perfectly paced for amping up the chilling suspense!
What would you do to bring your sister back from the dead?
After Lucas’s sister mysteriously disappeared right under his nose ten years ago, his family was torn apart. His mother has been lost in a deep depression, his father unable to speak of what happened, and Lucas trapped in his guilt…until he receives a note that changes everything. He has twenty-one days to find out the truth. Twenty-one days to save his sister…if she really is still alive. Twenty-one days to figure out if he can sacrifice everything to bring her home.
Every action is watched, every choice counted. Can he save his sister without losing himself again?
With this book’s unique advent calendar format, each of the twenty-one chapters is sealed by its own perforated enclosure that readers can gently tear open—by hand or with the help of a ruler—to move through Lucas’s story with him.
What would you do to bring your sister back from the dead?
After Lucas’s sister mysteriously disappeared right under his nose ten years ago, his family was torn apart. His mother has been lost in a deep depression, his father unable to speak of what happened, and Lucas trapped in his guilt…until he receives a note that changes everything. He has twenty-one days to find out the truth. Twenty-one days to save his sister…if she really is still alive. Twenty-one days to figure out if he can sacrifice everything to bring her home.
Every action is watched, every choice counted. Can he save his sister without losing himself again?
With this book’s unique advent calendar format, each of the twenty-one chapters is sealed by its own perforated enclosure that readers can gently tear open—by hand or with the help of a ruler—to move through Lucas’s story with him.
424 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 5, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 908 reviews
August 27, 2026
It was so naive from the very beginning, but honestly, this book ceased to exist for me the moment the dog was killed, especially with how unnecessarily graphic the whole scene was.
I finished it, though.
The only good thing I can say about this book is that it looks beautiful. It’s beautifully made. That’s it.
The plot holes, inconsistencies, questionable motivations, and the MC’s apparent superpower of avoiding any responsibility for his actions completely killed it for me. It’s bad and sloppy, but it still would’ve been more enjoyable without the animal violence.
You could’ve honestly killed off every single character for all I care, but graphic animal torture is where it ends for me. It was disgusting and completely unnecessary.
I genuinely wish I’d never read this book. I wish I hadn’t seen all the buzz around how cool and interesting it looks and had just gone on with my life, blissfully unaware that it even existed.
I finished it, though.
The only good thing I can say about this book is that it looks beautiful. It’s beautifully made. That’s it.
The plot holes, inconsistencies, questionable motivations, and the MC’s apparent superpower of avoiding any responsibility for his actions completely killed it for me. It’s bad and sloppy, but it still would’ve been more enjoyable without the animal violence.
You could’ve honestly killed off every single character for all I care, but graphic animal torture is where it ends for me. It was disgusting and completely unnecessary.
I genuinely wish I’d never read this book. I wish I hadn’t seen all the buzz around how cool and interesting it looks and had just gone on with my life, blissfully unaware that it even existed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 9, 2026
This sucked so much. It was so bad that I couldn't even bring myself to read one chapter a day, I ended up reading multiple chapters a day because I couldn't keep this book in my life for a full 21 days.
August 4, 2026
"truth is often a case of more or less."
A story told in letters, envelopes wrapping each chapter so you can read and then reclose them. I love advent style books and I always love when we get them for more than just Christmas.
This is a mystery of a missing sister, a brother that has looked for years and has finally decided at 20 that it's time for him to move on and live his life. He moves to London and is instantly given a letter that upends his new life. This was an interesting mystery - although you do have to suspend a lot of disbelief. The twists were interesting and definitely kept me guessing. The conclusion does wrap it all up and completely tell the reader how it was all done.
If you enjoy reading for an interesting experience and a twisty mystery, than you just might enjoy this one too. I did!
** Trigger Warning - Chapter 8 has violence to an animal. If this is upsetting or not what you want to read, you can fully skip Chapter 8 and Chapter 9 will start with bringing you fully up to speed without having read it.
A story told in letters, envelopes wrapping each chapter so you can read and then reclose them. I love advent style books and I always love when we get them for more than just Christmas.
This is a mystery of a missing sister, a brother that has looked for years and has finally decided at 20 that it's time for him to move on and live his life. He moves to London and is instantly given a letter that upends his new life. This was an interesting mystery - although you do have to suspend a lot of disbelief. The twists were interesting and definitely kept me guessing. The conclusion does wrap it all up and completely tell the reader how it was all done.
If you enjoy reading for an interesting experience and a twisty mystery, than you just might enjoy this one too. I did!
** Trigger Warning - Chapter 8 has violence to an animal. If this is upsetting or not what you want to read, you can fully skip Chapter 8 and Chapter 9 will start with bringing you fully up to speed without having read it.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I absolutely adore this concept. While I didn’t get to experience it this way, seeing the format of the physical version looks like so much fun—it’s designed in an envelope style where you physically open one each day. I was thankful to receive the eARC from Simon & Schuster via NetGalley ahead of publication, and it was still an enjoyable experience in digital form.
One thing I struggled with at first was the daily chapter format, simply because I typically consume books pretty quickly. Waiting for the next chapter wasn’t my natural reading rhythm. That said, after a few days, I settled into it. The chapters felt complete enough that I never walked away frustrated or hanging on a cliffhanger, which made the slower pace easier to adjust to. That worked well for pacing, though it did lessen some of the anticipation the format seemed designed to build.
From the first page, I realized this was a translated work—something I hadn’t noticed when I requested it. I do think the writing style may be a hurdle for some younger English readers, because translated works often carry a different rhythm and delivery. There were definitely a few awkward phrasings that made me stop and reread. They were grammatically sound, just not what most English readers might be used to, which made it a little harder to fully settle into the story.
That said, overall, I had a fun time with this. It has a solid layer of creepiness, but not so much that your average non-horror reader couldn’t handle it. While this is a YA book and completely appropriate for its target age and genre, it honestly doesn’t read that way. I actually stopped to double-check the imprint because it reads much more like an adult horror-thriller that just happens to be accessible for younger readers.
I think this would be such a fun experience for families to read together—opening each chapter each day and reading along as a shared event. It feels like the kind of book that could turn into a really memorable family bonding experience.
One thing I struggled with at first was the daily chapter format, simply because I typically consume books pretty quickly. Waiting for the next chapter wasn’t my natural reading rhythm. That said, after a few days, I settled into it. The chapters felt complete enough that I never walked away frustrated or hanging on a cliffhanger, which made the slower pace easier to adjust to. That worked well for pacing, though it did lessen some of the anticipation the format seemed designed to build.
From the first page, I realized this was a translated work—something I hadn’t noticed when I requested it. I do think the writing style may be a hurdle for some younger English readers, because translated works often carry a different rhythm and delivery. There were definitely a few awkward phrasings that made me stop and reread. They were grammatically sound, just not what most English readers might be used to, which made it a little harder to fully settle into the story.
That said, overall, I had a fun time with this. It has a solid layer of creepiness, but not so much that your average non-horror reader couldn’t handle it. While this is a YA book and completely appropriate for its target age and genre, it honestly doesn’t read that way. I actually stopped to double-check the imprint because it reads much more like an adult horror-thriller that just happens to be accessible for younger readers.
I think this would be such a fun experience for families to read together—opening each chapter each day and reading along as a shared event. It feels like the kind of book that could turn into a really memorable family bonding experience.
October 11, 2026
The best thing about this book is its physical format. Loved the feel, the smell, and the envelopes.
The worst thing about this book is everything else.
The worst thing about this book is everything else.
September 22, 2026
Thanks to Simon Teen and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for this gifted copy.
A YA thriller about a boy who gets 21 days to uncover what happened to his sister after she disappeared ten years ago? The concept sounded so interesting, especially with the advent calendar format. 21 chapters in the form of letters, and the idea of opening one chapter at a time and slowly uncovering the mystery was such a fun concept. The physical book itself is also really interesting. I just wish the actual story was half as good.
From the beginning, I kept thinking this book felt like a translation (and not a good one). Then I found out that it actually was translated. At one point, I tried to give the book the benefit of the doubt and thought maybe some of the essence had been lost in translation. But eventually I realized that, no, this book was just bad. This story is so ridiculous that it actually became funny. I don't even want to criticize Luca too much because he was already getting bullied in basically every letter. The letters themselves sounded like they were written by an immature bully keeping a diary. And honestly, almost everyone in this book was unlikeable. The only people I felt bad for were the bookstore employees who had to tolerate Luca for a few days.
The plot also had so many holes. The writing felt choppy and juvenile throughout, which somehow made it even funnier that these people were traveling from country to country and carefully arranging this elaborate series of letters. There were repetitive descriptions, awkward dialogue, and random pieces of information that served no purpose. The whole motive and execution were so unconvincing that I just didn't care anymore. The ending was incredibly underwhelming.
The only thing I genuinely enjoyed was opening the envelopes. Even that lost its charm after a while.
I don't want to relive this book just to write a longer review, so I'm going to leave it at that.
A YA thriller about a boy who gets 21 days to uncover what happened to his sister after she disappeared ten years ago? The concept sounded so interesting, especially with the advent calendar format. 21 chapters in the form of letters, and the idea of opening one chapter at a time and slowly uncovering the mystery was such a fun concept. The physical book itself is also really interesting. I just wish the actual story was half as good.
From the beginning, I kept thinking this book felt like a translation (and not a good one). Then I found out that it actually was translated. At one point, I tried to give the book the benefit of the doubt and thought maybe some of the essence had been lost in translation. But eventually I realized that, no, this book was just bad. This story is so ridiculous that it actually became funny. I don't even want to criticize Luca too much because he was already getting bullied in basically every letter. The letters themselves sounded like they were written by an immature bully keeping a diary. And honestly, almost everyone in this book was unlikeable. The only people I felt bad for were the bookstore employees who had to tolerate Luca for a few days.
The plot also had so many holes. The writing felt choppy and juvenile throughout, which somehow made it even funnier that these people were traveling from country to country and carefully arranging this elaborate series of letters. There were repetitive descriptions, awkward dialogue, and random pieces of information that served no purpose. The whole motive and execution were so unconvincing that I just didn't care anymore. The ending was incredibly underwhelming.
The only thing I genuinely enjoyed was opening the envelopes. Even that lost its charm after a while.
I don't want to relive this book just to write a longer review, so I'm going to leave it at that.
October 1, 2026
⭐️0.5/5
I never write reviews unless the book is terrible, which has only happened once before. I’ve only written one bad review in my entire life, with this book being the second.
This has to be the worst book I’ve ever read in my entire life. Did the editor just give up? There are so many grammatical errors it pained me to finish reading. There’s a lot of plot holes, and so many things just didn’t make sense.
When I started the book, it was an automatic one star. I genuinely struggled to get through it because the writing made it difficult to stay invested in the story. Then, 70% in, it got somewhat better to a two-star rating. I thought maybe the book was finally starting to redeem itself and that the ending might make everything worth it.
I was wrong.
The last 2 pages of the book? Deserves less than 1 star.
The ending was honestly one of the most disappointing parts of the entire book. After forcing myself through the majority of the story, I expected at least some kind of satisfying conclusion, but instead I was left wondering what I had just read.
Between the grammatical errors, plot holes, and disappointing ending, I really struggled to find anything that made the reading experience worthwhile. I genuinely wanted to like this book because of how it looks, but unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me.
I never write reviews unless the book is terrible, which has only happened once before. I’ve only written one bad review in my entire life, with this book being the second.
This has to be the worst book I’ve ever read in my entire life. Did the editor just give up? There are so many grammatical errors it pained me to finish reading. There’s a lot of plot holes, and so many things just didn’t make sense.
When I started the book, it was an automatic one star. I genuinely struggled to get through it because the writing made it difficult to stay invested in the story. Then, 70% in, it got somewhat better to a two-star rating. I thought maybe the book was finally starting to redeem itself and that the ending might make everything worth it.
I was wrong.
The last 2 pages of the book? Deserves less than 1 star.
The ending was honestly one of the most disappointing parts of the entire book. After forcing myself through the majority of the story, I expected at least some kind of satisfying conclusion, but instead I was left wondering what I had just read.
Between the grammatical errors, plot holes, and disappointing ending, I really struggled to find anything that made the reading experience worthwhile. I genuinely wanted to like this book because of how it looks, but unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me.
October 21, 2026
More like 21 days of garbage. I have to stop getting sucked into advent calendar books. The ending was especially frustrating.
October 14, 2026
absolutely terrible. executed so badly, that I couldn't follow the format of 21 days because I just wanted to finish it. it was all over the place, made no sense at times and genuinely, I think this was translated with AI.
October 11, 2026
Okay, I absolutely ATE THIS UP and freaking loved it! I was constantly wracking my brain, coming up with theories, and trying to piece together every little clue. It was driving me absolutely insane in the BEST way possible! Such a fun, addictive read that kept me guessing and had me hooked the entire time. I loved every second of it!
September 21, 2026
This one had SO much potential and unfortunately I don’t think the writing lived up to the premise. There were endless plot holes and the pacing was almost too fast for everything that was being thrown at us.
Luca was also incredibly naive which made some of his decisions frustrating. The dialogue felt really choppy at times and I struggled to fully get into the story because of it.
I did really enjoy the advent calendar style format and thought the concept was such a fun idea. Unfortunately the rushed ending left me feeling like there was no real payoff and the story ultimately fell a little flat for me.
Luca was also incredibly naive which made some of his decisions frustrating. The dialogue felt really choppy at times and I struggled to fully get into the story because of it.
I did really enjoy the advent calendar style format and thought the concept was such a fun idea. Unfortunately the rushed ending left me feeling like there was no real payoff and the story ultimately fell a little flat for me.
March 1, 2026
2,5 ⭐️ Bon, je suis mitigée ! J’ai eu du mal à rentrer dedans, mais j’ai quand même réussi à me prendre au jeu. J’ai apprécié l’idée du concept avec une lettre par jour menant à un compte à rebours, et le côté thriller avec toute l’histoire autour de la disparition de Thelma. Toutefois, j’ai trouvé ça peut être trop long, l’histoire m’a aussi fait souffler par moment (notamment le protagoniste et le franglais), mais j’ai surtout j’ai été assez déçue du final et des révélations, ça m’a vraiment laissé sur ma faim (+15/16 ans).
September 1, 2026
I really had a hard time investing in this book. It’s like a constant young adult depression reflection episode replaying. Then chapter 17-21 was random cut offs, memories and scenes. The killers at the end were very dumb and the sister he missed oh so much didn’t even say much to him and tries to stab him and that’s it? Story line was just off.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 17, 2026
This has so many spoilers‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️
Don’t waste your time.
The author did NOT pace this book right at all. The ending is extremely sloppy and ends without any sort of explanation to explain all of the plot holes. You get flashbacks of the same memories that take up half the chapter and then the story is rushed and messy from there.
The motive as well, everyone knowing the truth except for Luca… who honestly was only written to make the reader angry, I guess. His relationship with his mom was the strangest. She’s a ditzy character that honestly didn’t really do anything for the book, considering she cut every conversation short and we only learn that she killed his uncle after she’s in a coma. You get no closure with that. The book ends on the page after she’s announced awake, so you never get to hear it from her perspective.
The coworkers at the book store were written as collateral damage. Kamal just gets hit by a car and then we never hear from him again even though he very clearly knew something was up. He isn’t brought up again in the books except for the letters. Which honestly just made that whole part pointless.
Now getting to Liv. Where do I even start… she wrote letters like an elementary school bully. She gets this silicon mask of his dad and her brother wears it which we never learn where it came from. She never worked at the bar and pretended to, but those workers just saw that every time and let it slide without asking her who she was? Then Telma kills her and Viggo kills himself, so we just never get all of the details we should have as closure. On top of all of this… how did Liv and Viggo find out every secret detail about Luca and his families lives in such a short period of time?
Finally the ending. With Luca finally getting his long lost sister back only for her to freak out and try to stab him with a pair of scissors because he didn’t kill someone… after she was beaten by her “siblings” for however long. That’s how the book ends. That’s it. We don’t get to hear her side, understand how she was taken and what she went through all of those years. It’s implied the parents treated her right but how do we not get Telma’s side in the whole book?… she was the one who was kidnapped and quite frankly the book needed it to fill in every plot hole. The ONLY likable character throughout this book, in my opinion, was Joe. Who I can’t lie, I thought had to have been a part of it the whole time because, circling back to my original question, how did they get all of the information about his life without somebody who’s been there the whole time and close to him? Which I guess is just another plot hole because he had nothing to do with it and was just a great friend.
This book could have been great with A LOT more planning, more details and a longer storyline. I love the idea but hated the execution. I tried reading a chapter a day but it’s so frustrating to stop on each chapter when you’re just forming more questions than answers until the last three chapters of the book. It was also translated, which is fine but you can expect multiple spelling errors or English phrases that weren’t translated right. That usually doesn’t bother me but with the how the overall book was written, it just makes it more irritating.
Don’t waste your time.
The author did NOT pace this book right at all. The ending is extremely sloppy and ends without any sort of explanation to explain all of the plot holes. You get flashbacks of the same memories that take up half the chapter and then the story is rushed and messy from there.
The motive as well, everyone knowing the truth except for Luca… who honestly was only written to make the reader angry, I guess. His relationship with his mom was the strangest. She’s a ditzy character that honestly didn’t really do anything for the book, considering she cut every conversation short and we only learn that she killed his uncle after she’s in a coma. You get no closure with that. The book ends on the page after she’s announced awake, so you never get to hear it from her perspective.
The coworkers at the book store were written as collateral damage. Kamal just gets hit by a car and then we never hear from him again even though he very clearly knew something was up. He isn’t brought up again in the books except for the letters. Which honestly just made that whole part pointless.
Now getting to Liv. Where do I even start… she wrote letters like an elementary school bully. She gets this silicon mask of his dad and her brother wears it which we never learn where it came from. She never worked at the bar and pretended to, but those workers just saw that every time and let it slide without asking her who she was? Then Telma kills her and Viggo kills himself, so we just never get all of the details we should have as closure. On top of all of this… how did Liv and Viggo find out every secret detail about Luca and his families lives in such a short period of time?
Finally the ending. With Luca finally getting his long lost sister back only for her to freak out and try to stab him with a pair of scissors because he didn’t kill someone… after she was beaten by her “siblings” for however long. That’s how the book ends. That’s it. We don’t get to hear her side, understand how she was taken and what she went through all of those years. It’s implied the parents treated her right but how do we not get Telma’s side in the whole book?… she was the one who was kidnapped and quite frankly the book needed it to fill in every plot hole. The ONLY likable character throughout this book, in my opinion, was Joe. Who I can’t lie, I thought had to have been a part of it the whole time because, circling back to my original question, how did they get all of the information about his life without somebody who’s been there the whole time and close to him? Which I guess is just another plot hole because he had nothing to do with it and was just a great friend.
This book could have been great with A LOT more planning, more details and a longer storyline. I love the idea but hated the execution. I tried reading a chapter a day but it’s so frustrating to stop on each chapter when you’re just forming more questions than answers until the last three chapters of the book. It was also translated, which is fine but you can expect multiple spelling errors or English phrases that weren’t translated right. That usually doesn’t bother me but with the how the overall book was written, it just makes it more irritating.
October 20, 2026
That was a waste of 400 pages
October 1, 2026
4.5 ⭐️
I was hooked from the beginning. The transition from beginning of the book to middle of the book felt a little drawn out but by the end of the book it all made sense. Unfortunately, I guessed the plot twist but I didn’t guess why which was shocking. The ending of the book felt rushed which is why I gave it 4.5 stars instead of 5. I wish there was a different ending and an epilogue. Like we made it all this way just to not see the dynamic between the 2 characters. I don’t wanna say too much so I don’t spoil for Isabella and Rachel but maybe you guys will like this ending 🤷♀️ Isabella will.
I was hooked from the beginning. The transition from beginning of the book to middle of the book felt a little drawn out but by the end of the book it all made sense. Unfortunately, I guessed the plot twist but I didn’t guess why which was shocking. The ending of the book felt rushed which is why I gave it 4.5 stars instead of 5. I wish there was a different ending and an epilogue. Like we made it all this way just to not see the dynamic between the 2 characters. I don’t wanna say too much so I don’t spoil for Isabella and Rachel but maybe you guys will like this ending 🤷♀️ Isabella will.
September 8, 2026
This was a no for me. It was all over the place and just a hot mess… and what was with the ending! More research needed to be done. Concept for the book was there it just didn’t meet the mark for me.
October 31, 2026
Worst book I read in a long time instead of 21 days it should of been 7 days of pure reading torture .
Did Not Finish
November 1, 2026I am not the right audience for this book. DNF 41% and I could not read chapter 8 where something terrible happened to the dog. So I just stopped.
October 6, 2026
This was shockingly disturbing. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this. It kept my attention, but I don’t know if I’d recommend it to many people. The letter by letter concept was my favorite part.
March 8, 2026
Ma note : 4/5 ✨
On ne devait lire qu’une seule lettre par jour ? Je n’ai tout simplement pas pu m’arrêter de lire !
Ce roman est tellement addictif… dès la première lettre j’ai su que je ne pourrai pas attendre le lendemain pour connaître la suite !
J’avais besoin d’en savoir plus et de percer à jour tous ces mystères 👀
J’ai adoré le format du livre avec ces lettres à ouvrir et même le travail de mise en forme du texte était vraiment génial et immersif !
Le côté thriller de ce roman était, lui aussi, vraiment chouette car on avait le mystère et le côté sombre qu’il fallait ! J’ai trouvé que toutes les révélations étaient vraiment bien amenées et nous tenaient vraiment en haleine. J’ai adoré qu’il y ait tant de rebondissements et ces plot twist… je dois avouer que je me suis bien faite mener en bateau ! Je me suis mise à la place du personnage principal et je dois dire que j’étais aussi perdue que lui. 🤯
J’ai adoré la fin et le fait que tout ne soit pas tout rose !
En revanche, je crois que j’aurais encore plus apprécié le fait que les personnages (surtout le personnage principal) soit un peu plus vieux car je trouve que certaines actions ne collaient pas vraiment avec son âge et le côté YA.
A lire si tu aimes :
- les romans avec des enquêtes et du mystère !
- les thrillers YA
On ne devait lire qu’une seule lettre par jour ? Je n’ai tout simplement pas pu m’arrêter de lire !
Ce roman est tellement addictif… dès la première lettre j’ai su que je ne pourrai pas attendre le lendemain pour connaître la suite !
J’avais besoin d’en savoir plus et de percer à jour tous ces mystères 👀
J’ai adoré le format du livre avec ces lettres à ouvrir et même le travail de mise en forme du texte était vraiment génial et immersif !
Le côté thriller de ce roman était, lui aussi, vraiment chouette car on avait le mystère et le côté sombre qu’il fallait ! J’ai trouvé que toutes les révélations étaient vraiment bien amenées et nous tenaient vraiment en haleine. J’ai adoré qu’il y ait tant de rebondissements et ces plot twist… je dois avouer que je me suis bien faite mener en bateau ! Je me suis mise à la place du personnage principal et je dois dire que j’étais aussi perdue que lui. 🤯
J’ai adoré la fin et le fait que tout ne soit pas tout rose !
En revanche, je crois que j’aurais encore plus apprécié le fait que les personnages (surtout le personnage principal) soit un peu plus vieux car je trouve que certaines actions ne collaient pas vraiment avec son âge et le côté YA.
A lire si tu aimes :
- les romans avec des enquêtes et du mystère !
- les thrillers YA
November 2, 2026
I enjoyed the novelty of opening an envelope for each chapter, but that’s about where my enjoyment ended. The translation wasn’t great, there were too many unnecessary plotlines, a lot of suspension of disbelief required and an anticlimactic ending. The deliberate dog death was also a massive no from me.
Probably would’ve DNF’d if it weren’t for the buddy read. Overall.. eh.
Probably would’ve DNF’d if it weren’t for the buddy read. Overall.. eh.
October 30, 2026
The writing was bad. I couldn't tell if it was present day or in the past. I really struggled to read it because I loved the idea of opening an "envelope a day" and watching the story unravel. I wish it was executed better.
October 27, 2026
I literally never write reviews but I feel compelled to warn all those who think they want to read this book. If I could rate it lower I would. The format is annoying as hell with the envelope concept that you have to read a letter a day, and when I got to the point that had animal cruelty I was done. Totally unnecessary, very graphic and awful. Also, the translation from French to English was not great. Overall, stay away from this God-awful trash.
October 18, 2026
It took me awhile to get into this book, but once I did I wanted to keep reading to figure out who was messing with Luca. I had crossed the perpetrator out in my mind trying to figure it out, only to be surprised when that person was actually the one I should’ve been focused on. I hated the ending. I feel like it ended so abruptly and I still have so many questions about the Dad, Uncle, Mom, Telma, & the perpetrator & their family. I wish the author would have done a chapter a year in the future so we could have gotten Telma’s POV.
October 22, 2026
I feel like the ending was all over the place and didnt give closure but HOLY MOLY i was so captivated
I feel so bad for telma; her brother became a complete monster while trying to save her
I feel so bad for telma; her brother became a complete monster while trying to save her
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 24, 2026
Half a star due to the fact the book itself, is well designed. I enjoyed the concept of a chapter a day and How each chapter was in an envelope you open. How there were hand written letters and blood drops of the pages, looked good and kept me intrigued.
The story however, was absolutely crap, sorry not sorry. I had no idea what was happening, we would jump from present to past. The MMC was an absolute idiot and the murderer WTF. I ended up just reading the rest of the book from Day 17 to get it over and done with.
The story however, was absolutely crap, sorry not sorry. I had no idea what was happening, we would jump from present to past. The MMC was an absolute idiot and the murderer WTF. I ended up just reading the rest of the book from Day 17 to get it over and done with.
October 27, 2026
This book is not worth £20.
🗓️✉️ When I saw this book, I thought it would be the perfect countdown to Halloween. The concept of reading a letter a day sounded right up my street, and I was excited to read my first Callander book. Unfortunately, it just didn’t deliver.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some fantastic YA books out there, but this wasn’t one of them. Luca felt like a very flat character, the plot jumped around so much that I found myself having to reread pages to figure out what was going on, and parts of the story just didn’t make sense. The story arc also became repetitive, with certain scenarios playing out in very similar ways. On top of that, there were numerous grammatical errors, awkward wording and typos that made it difficult to get fully immersed in the story.
This could have been a really good mystery thriller. The story had plenty of potential, but the execution let it down. The characters were difficult to like and the rushed, unsatisfying ending only added to my disappointment.
My only question is whether the author was high while writing this or deliberately planned to finish on page 420. 😂🌿
🗓️✉️ When I saw this book, I thought it would be the perfect countdown to Halloween. The concept of reading a letter a day sounded right up my street, and I was excited to read my first Callander book. Unfortunately, it just didn’t deliver.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some fantastic YA books out there, but this wasn’t one of them. Luca felt like a very flat character, the plot jumped around so much that I found myself having to reread pages to figure out what was going on, and parts of the story just didn’t make sense. The story arc also became repetitive, with certain scenarios playing out in very similar ways. On top of that, there were numerous grammatical errors, awkward wording and typos that made it difficult to get fully immersed in the story.
This could have been a really good mystery thriller. The story had plenty of potential, but the execution let it down. The characters were difficult to like and the rushed, unsatisfying ending only added to my disappointment.
My only question is whether the author was high while writing this or deliberately planned to finish on page 420. 😂🌿
October 21, 2026
I would give zero stars if I could.
These advent style books have such potential….but never seem to follow through. This book starts with a letter. We get current POV, flashbacks, and zero character development. I couldn’t even like Luca. He was angry, selfish, and stupid.
Allowing an anonymous letter writer to dictate his life for three weeks? Allowing himself to be manipulated?
You can’t tell me that he couldn’t have discussed this with the police at some point? All the things he chose to do to be hated.
These advent style books have such potential….but never seem to follow through. This book starts with a letter. We get current POV, flashbacks, and zero character development. I couldn’t even like Luca. He was angry, selfish, and stupid.
Allowing an anonymous letter writer to dictate his life for three weeks? Allowing himself to be manipulated?
You can’t tell me that he couldn’t have discussed this with the police at some point? All the things he chose to do to be hated.
October 22, 2026
Grammatical errors, horrible decisions, rushed, plot that made absolutely no sense, no continuity on how this entire story could have happened, unnecessary cliffhangers at the end of every day, graphic imagery of a dog losing its life with ABSOLUTELY NO TRIGGER WARNING. Do better.
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