ARC Review: No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale

Publisher: Harper Teen
Publishing Date: January 7th, 2014
Genre: YA, Mystery
Pages: 384 pgs
ISBN: 9780062211194
Source: Received for review from Edelweiss and Harper Teen



Summary from Goodreads:

Small towns are nothing if not friendly. Friendship, Wisconsin (population: 688) is no different. Around here, everyone wears a smile. And no one ever locks their doors. Until, that is, high school sweetheart Ruth Fried is found murdered. Strung up like a scarecrow in the middle of a cornfield.

Unfortunately, Friendship’s police are more adept at looking for lost pets than catching killers. So Ruth’s best friend, Kippy Bushman, armed with only her tenacious Midwestern spirit and Ruth’s secret diary (which Ruth’s mother had asked her to read in order to redact any, you know, sex parts), sets out to find the murderer. But in a quiet town like Friendship—where no one is a suspect—anyone could be the killer.

My Review:  

I have to say this book has been getting a lot of hype thus far and I was excited to be able to download this for review from Edelweiss. I have to admit that the hype is warranted for many reasons. I really liked the main character Kippy a lot.  She is reeling from the murder of her best friend Ruth. She wants to try to find out who exactly is responsible for this brutal act. While she is on the hunt she gets herself into the most ridiculous situations.  So while this book is about something dark and twisted, it is also quite funny.  Kippy says exactly what is on her mind at all times.  She is quirky and I loved everything about her. I have to admit that there were some things that made this book a 3.5/5 for me rather than a 5.  I felt like some of the things that happened in this novel are a little far fetched which made things a little less believable. That being said the shenanigans are what make this book funny. I also think that the mystery part of this novel is slightly obvious.  I had the murderer figured out within the first few chapters.  I think this may have something to do with the fact that I often read adult mystery novels which tend to be a little more complex.

Let's for a minute look at the cover appeal of this book.  I love the sweater with the hanging moose.  It fits the book so well and I think that many will pick up this book on cover appeal alone.  It's gorgeous and I know that I may have first been attracted to this book based on the cover.  

Overall this is a well written book with a fun and unique character that I loved. It is definitely worth a read.