If You're Out There by Katy Loutzenhiser - Book Review!!!

Hello! 

Welcome to another post! 

Wow two posts in two days, not too bad Saph...

Today we have a book review! If You're Out There by Katy Loutzenhiser (took me a solid five minutes to type that) is a must-read book if you like mysteries and a good sprinkle (but not too much) of romance :)

Book Description:  After Zan’s best friend moves to California, she is baffled and crushed when Priya suddenly ghosts. Worse, Priya’s social media has turned into a stream of ungrammatical posts chronicling a sunny, vapid new life that doesn’t sound like her at all.

Everyone tells Zan not to be an idiot: Let Priya do her reinvention thing and move on. But until Zan hears Priya say it, she won’t be able to admit that their friendship is finished.

It’s only when she meets Logan, the compelling new guy in Spanish class, that Zan begins to open up about her sadness, her insecurity, her sense of total betrayal. And he’s just as willing as she is to throw himself into the investigation when everyone else thinks her suspicions are crazy.

Then a clue hidden in Priya’s latest selfie introduces a new, deeply disturbing possibility:

Maybe Priya isn’t just not answering Zan’s emails.

Maybe she can’t.

I absolutely had to write about this book, its one of my favourite contemporary/mystery novels, and it will most definitely make you laugh. I would probably give it 4.656 stars. I usually end up overthinking star ratings, which leaves me with the most complicated decimal number star rating a human can conjure up. 

But yeah, 4.656 out of 5 stars is pretty excellent for a picky reader like moi. 

This book will show you friendship, love, humor, and just how far a best friend (Zan) will go to save her friendship. I personally liked how the author managed to balance out the romance aspect of it with the friendship/mystery plot, instead of focusing too much on the romance. 

A notable character in this book was Logan, I mean you basically can't write a review on this book without mentioning him. Other then being Zan's dreamy love interest, he drives the investigation on what happened to Priya forward, helping Zan when no one else will. 

The fact that Zan met him in Spanish class adds to the charm, for some reason. I honestly don't know why it matters what class she met him in, but Spanish class definitely isn't the setting for your normal romance novel. 

Me being an avid reader of Shannon Messenger, I'm practically immune to plot twists by now. 

Until I read this book, that is. 

The PLOT TWISTS will make your re-think everything you know about Priya, they're so great that they have to be stated in all caps from now on. PLOT. TWISTS.

One thing I don't usually mention when I read novels is the more technical sides that I liked. The author did a fantastic job with the character development of all her characters, and I liked how Zan and Logan's relationship slowly became more trusting and, well,- developed! 

Overall, this was a riveting, great book encompassing a friendship filled to the brim with love. The romance plot with Logan was focused more on giving Zan a trusting friend when she's not in the best place, than someone she'll fall in love with, which I found very fitting for the story. 

The mystery/a teeny bit of thriller vibe adds suspense to the story and will capture readers till the very last page. The investigation was so engaging, you'll never want to put it down.

Priya and Zan's friendship is PRECIOUS, and it'll give you a glimpse at the highs and lows (but mostly highs) of a friendship!

In fact, they're practically sisters by now. 

Thanks for reading! 

- Sincerely, Saph