I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
To Right the Wrongs by Sheryl Scarborough Series: Erin Blake #2
Published by Tor Teen on February 27, 2018
Pages: 320
Format: Hardcover
Source: the publisher
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Barely three weeks after catching the killer of Erin's mother and their biology teacher, Erin and her crew are back, up to their elbows in forensics projects. But this time it's with the full approval of their parents.
With Uncle Victor at the helm, Erin and her best friends, Spam and Lysa, are prepping a new classroom for CSI summer camp, where they will serve as camp counselors. Meanwhile, Erin's super-hot new boyfriend, Journey, is graduating, just in time for him to take a position as Victor's intern in the new CSI lab on campus. Journey and Victor are going to take another look at the evidence in the murder trial that sent Journey's father to prison. The girls are under strict orders not to meddle with the murder case, but that's easier said than done...
I’m torn between giving this book 3.5 stars or 4 stars. When I finished book one, To Catch a Killer, I REALLY wanted a sequel. I do love that To Right the Wrongs tied up some loose ends, but it also left a few things dangling. It makes me wonder if there will be a book three – and I’m totally okay with that! Despite some hiccups with this book, it was still really enjoyable and the ending had me like WHOA!! But also… totally called it!
I’ve never been a huge fan of Erin. I love the forensic sleuth side of her, but otherwise she’s just.. childish and selfish. I understood her reasoning for her behavior, but that didn’t make it okay. I was disappointed with the way she treated Journey in this book. It felt like their relationship took a backseat to everything else. Part of that was definitely Journey’s fault – he was very distant with Erin, behaving as if he didn’t trust her and he should have. I still 100% shipped them, but I really wanted MORE from them as a couple, and I’m disappointed we didn’t get that MORE.
Also, side-note: I had MAJOR Rob (1-800-WHERE-R-U) vibes from Journey.. Anyone else read those books and notice that? Just me?
I liked Lysa and Spam a LOT more in this book than I did in book one. In book one, they kept oscillating between acting like loyal friends, and acting as if Erin was purposefully leaving them out of things. But in To Right the Wrongs, they worked WITH Erin, and they both definitely had a lot of character growth because of that shift in attitude.
I really didn’t trust ANYONE in this book. Like, it would be faster to list the people I DID trust 100%. But as I got further into the book, I started looking at each suspicious character in a more critical way. And then I was able to narrow down who I thought was TRULY suspicious, and who seemed like they were suspicious just to throw readers off the mark. In the end, my instincts regarding the person I was MOST suspicious about turned out to be correct. And when the big reveal happened, I was just like “I KNEW IT!!!!!!!”
There are several characters I’d like to mention by name, and discuss in greater detail, but that would end up being super spoilery and I’m trying to keep this review to a spoiler minimum. But let’s just say: I despised Blankenship until the end; I didn’t trust Arletta Stone or the coach, and was shocked by the way their stories ended; I loved Lyman, though we were clearly supposed to be suspicious of him; and I was indifferent to Clay but had this weird gut feeling…
Anyway, that’s all on that subject, lest I spoil everything with my vague descriptions.
Overall, this book definitely started out slow. And I honestly enjoyed To Catch a Killer a LOT more. However, To Right the Wrongs was still very intriguing. It kept me on the edge of my seat, trying to guess who the killer was and how things would end. The characters all experienced a lot of character growth, and the book definitely tied up a lot of loose ends. I’m anxious to see if there will be a third book in this series, because I love the forensics and Nancy Drew/Veronica Mars feels. Also, the “90s/00s feels – by that I mean, as stated in my review of To Catch a Killer, “It completely reminded me of a 90s/00s teen novel, and I LOVED IT!”
So if you love books about forensics, Nancy Drew, Veronica Mars, or thrillers in general, I HIGHLY recommend you pick this series up! It’s definitely a wild ride and, slow bits aside, will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page.