Title: What Happen on Hicks Road
Author: Hannah Jayne
Publication: August 29, 2023
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Genre: Teens, YA Fiction, Mystery
Pages: 320
SYNOPSIS: (From Goodreads)
Sadie Oliver is loving her new life in California. For the first time, she has friends and a normal teenage life filled with parties and pranks. But when one of those pranks goes horribly wrong, Sadie hits someone with her car on a dark, winding road. Or at least… she thinks she did.
Though her friends are quick to convince her that they didn’t see anything, Sadie can’t shake the vision of the girl in the headlights: bloody hair, wide, terrified eyes, lips parted in a scream. When she goes out to investigate, there’s a slight dent in the car, but that’s it: no body, no blood.
Sadie wants to go to the police—but how can she? She shouldn’t have been driving, and as her friends remind her, there’s nothing to tell. But when a note that says FIND ME is slipped through Sadie’s window, she fears that she’s either onto something big… or slipping deeper into the illness that took her mother.
REVIEW:
**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
I have read many books by Hannah Jayne before and quite enjoyed them. They are twisty and dark and a great YA Fiction Mystery read. I was expecting more of that vibe from What Happened on Hicks Road. Unfortunately, if I am being truthful, I did not enjoy this book. I didn’t even finish it. I rarely DNF books, but I made it 43% in and just couldn’t keep going.
The book follows Sadie as she has moved to a new school and is making new friends, but then she suspects she hit someone one night on a dark road, but none of her friends saw. She keeps getting hints she thinks are telling her she really did it.
My first flag in this book was the repetitiveness. It was said on multiple occasions the striking blonde hair and blue eyes of the “victim” stood out to Sadie. That description was thrown around so much I got annoyed with it. I also felt like the story did not progress. It was 43% of Sadie wondering if she did it, and no progression in the story at all. Sadie’s personality was high-strung and annoying. Jayne definitely had me guessing about Sadie’s sanity the entire time I was reading, but not in a good way. I didn’t really care what actually happened, but rather that if Sadie was going to get her stuff together or not.
With a story that flows so slowly and no real build-up as the story progresses, I really struggled with continuing to read. Even after I had wanted to quit reading, I pushed forward. Finally, it became too much and I did not finish. Maybe one day I will try again, and I will always encourage others to try it out. Just because a book is not for me does not mean it’s not for someone else. Check it out and tell me your own thoughts on this novel. I will definitely check out Jayne’s next one because I’ve loved her stories in the past.
