I really enjoyed the first book in the series and was excited to see how the big reveal at the end would play out in this book. Follow Me was a decent read but by the end I was realizing that this series will likely drag on for way too many (sure to be overly convoluted) books a la Pretty Little Liars. I liked it fine, but likely won’t be continuing with the series.

YA mysteries have gotten more and more popular in recent years, and Sara Shepard is probably the most known YA mystery writer. Frankly, I’m over it.

Follow Me is the second book in The Amateurs series. I have not read the first, nor do I plan to. I definitely think this book would have been better if I read the first in the series, but it was fine reading it before the other. It seems like the first novel would have been way better because you figured out who the killer was at the end of the first novel, but in this sequel, we knew who the killer was from the second chapter.

As a rule, I think mysteries are better to be solved in one book. Otherwise, it just gets boring. Granted, this book had a killer in plain sight vibe, which was honestly the only good part. The romance was very mild in fact, I would have preferred there be no romance at all. Maybe it was cuter in the first novel, but in this one I was just OVER it.

The main characters were interesting and if I had read the first book, I think I would have been more into them. Once I finished, I was just mad. The story just wasn’t intriguing. It was infuriating. That being said, I could totally get how someone could adore this series, but personally it wasn’t for me.

I'm all in at this point with THE AMATEURS. While certain aspects of the characters' personalities annoy me at times, overall, I'm invested and have connected with this small group who are determined to capture a serial killer. By book two, the reader is aware that this is personal, especially for Seneca and Aerin -- both girls have lost someone they love to the killer. FOLLOW ME picks up shortly after book one and brings the group back together as the killer takes another young girl. Is she dead? Is he holding her captive? There are a lot of questions.

For me, the action and pace was strong. I had empathy for the group, and cheered them on with their small victories, but I also knew that something would go dreadfully wrong. And of course it did. There are ample twists and turns in this book, and while the main mystery of missing Chelsea is solved, the reader is left on a HUGE cliffhanger. I wasn't surprised that the book ended this way, because I knew it was a trilogy and this is where it has all been heading all along.

I'm ready to dive into book three.

Thank you to Disney Hyperion for sending me a physical ARC in exchange for my honest review.


MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ AMATEURS

Follow me starts off a few months after Amateur ended. Seneca, Maddox, Aerin, and Madison have all gone their separate ways, but are still affected by what happened in the first book and are constantly on the lookout for Brett.


Aerin is off in Europe trying to forget everything that happened. Seneca is back in Maryland is working for the Parking Authority. Maddox is still running and preparing for college, and Madison is still Madison.

All of them are brought back together when Maddox gets a letter detailing information only the killer would know from Amateurs and when he also posts a tip on Case Not Closed involving information from a missing person case that has just happened.

The crew meets back up at the Jersey Shore in order to find Brett and the missing woman.


This book is even more of a whirlwind than the Amateurs was. Seneca, Maddox, Aerin, and Madison have no real idea where to start things, but they know they have to find Brett before he hurts Chelsea like he has all of his past victims. With Brett taunting all of them at every chance he can which leaves them shaken up. It's hard to figure out who he has morphed himself into now and how exactly he is staying hidden in plain sight.
They obviously can't go to the police, because they have no real physical evidence and no idea who he is now.
With them being on their own and in a town where they don't know anyone it's hard to get information from anyone besides Chelsea ex-boyfriend, who wants to clear his name and find her.
I loved this book even more than the first one and found myself falling for all of Brett's tricks just like the others were. I'm now so invested in all of these characters and don't want to see anything bad happen to them. Well besides Brett, but he is a type of evil genius that I never want to meet.

That ending I was not expecting that, and OMG! I need the next book now, how can you just end it like that.

P.S.
If any of Shepards novels are going to be made into a tv show can this one please be it!


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Eerie, thrilling and rather unnerving at times, Follow Me is a brilliantly crafted murder mystery that will make you want to sleep with one eye open.

Brilliantly matched together, the characters all have a distinct and individual voice allowing one to hear from all their perspectives. Shepard differentiates and transitions between all the characters seamlessly, providing individual voices and not like copy-and-pasted people. As characters they are realistic and determined, they have realistic emotions one would expect and as the reader you feel rather connected to them, making you feel like you are on this journey with them.

What I found really put this sequel above the first novel is that we get to read from Brett's perspective, which made for an interesting sequel and having finished the first novel, I was incredibly intrigued as to how Shepard was going to write this; spoiler ahead if you have not read the first book yet, but I was most intrigued by this sequel due to the fact that at the end of the first novel the reader and characters find out that Brett is the killer. He is an incredibly chilling and disturbing character, yet intriguing. You get to see his point of view on everything as this sequel also tackle some serious topics, in particular Brett's intense misogyny. This is a serious talking point in the novel, for Brett believes these women should be punished for the things they have done like cheating, going against societies prejudice expectations, but also the fact that he believes a women should not love nor be confident about themselves and show it to others. Brett believes this is wrong and that women who display these characteristics are simply being self-absorbed, even though male characters throughout also exhibit the same characteristics he hates so much in women. I am really intrigued to see how this is explored and tackled further in the sequel.

The plot was terrifying and chilling. Shepard is one of my favourite writers for mysteries. She writes them perfectly and every time it is something new, she never follows a similar pattern; I am always left shocked, surprised and holding on to the edge of my seat. The plot was fast pace, with never a dull moment. I love how you are sort of reading from all of their perspectives at the same time, as this really amplifies the imagery in this novel making you truly feel like you are right there beside them. Now, having read many horror and thriller novels, I am now not very easily unnerved nor scared when reading this genre anymore. Yet one particular scene in this sequel left a lasting impression. Shepard is just an amazing writer of murder mystery that I was left rather unnerved and disjointed after reading this.

How this sequel was wrapped up, was perfect. I knew from the beginning there was going to be a third novel, and so this did make me nervous as to how Shepard would play out the ending to this, but it really did surpass my exceptions. I never saw the last ten percent coming and was so pleased with this, as I was left shocked and grasping for more! I am incredibly excited for the sequel.

Once again, Shepard has surpassed my expectations and left me itching for more.

*Received in exchange for an honest review*

Put simply, this was equal parts fun and filler. While it’s a fun mystery in and of itself, it didn’t quite pack the punch of the first novel and felt like a stepping stone on the way to Brett’s big showdown.

Follow Me picks up after the events of The Amateurs, with our titular gang still on the hunt for Brett. The disappearance of an Instagram-famous girl from a seaside holiday town sparks their interest, and the Amateurs roll into town to see if Brett might be responsible for the disappearance of the girl who looks remaaaaarkably similar to Helena and Seneca’s mother.

If you enjoyed the television show Revenge (in its first season, at least) you’ll enjoy this. It’s a fun, trashy teen thriller and a solid effort for Sara Shepard - though don’t expect any crazy big showdown and climax. It’s clearly a stepping stone on the way to a big showdown with Brett, but provides enough enjoyment as a mystery in and of itself.

Shepard’s writing style goes down like butter as per usual, and you’ll fly through this in the better part of three hours (I just happen to look like I spent weeks reading it due to an epic reading slump!) The seaside town setting was delightful, and a much needed change from Shepard's usual setting of small-idyllic-upper-class-town-somewhere-in-the-vicinity-of-Connecticut.

I'm enjoying this series and the mystery has me hooked enough to keep reading - so long as we don't get strung along for 8 books!

A really easy read, but that’s not always a good thing. I got this book in a mystery box collection, and hadn’t read the first in the series but didn’t need to. Average writing, ridiculous plot (the main characters have met the killer in the first book, and come face to face with him in the second but don’t recognize him because his hair is different and he has sunglasses on?!)
Won’t be reading the last book and this has put me off reading pretty little liars too.

"The Amateurs - Wenn drei sich streiten" von Sara Shepard ist der zweite Band einer Reihe. Der erste Teil war echt toll, er war spannend und konnte mich fesseln und es war auf einer Weise auch etwas besonderes. Der zweite Teil war ganz okay. Es war auch gut und spannend, jedoch habe ich mich an manchen Stellen etwas gelangweilt und ich habe Angst, dass die nächsten Teile auch langweiliger werden, da es irgendwie immer das gleiche ist. Da wir nun dank dem Ende des ersten Bandes wissen wer der Mörder ist, ist das ganze nicht mehr so spannend und das Buch besteht eigentlich nur aus einer Verfolgungsjagd. Ob ich die anderen Teile noch lesen werde, muss ich mal schauen. Das Buch hat von mir 3 von 5 Sternen bekommen.