Book Review: I Killed Zoe Spanos by Kit Frick

Publisher’s description

For fans of Sadie and Serial, this gripping thriller follows two teens whose lives become inextricably linked when one confesses to murder and the other becomes determined to uncover the real truth no matter the cost.

What happened to Zoe won’t stay buried…

When Anna Cicconi arrives to the small Hamptons village of Herron Mills for a summer nanny gig, she has high hopes for a fresh start. What she finds instead is a community on edge after the disappearance of Zoe Spanos, a local girl who has been missing since New Year’s Eve. Anna bears an eerie resemblance to Zoe, and her mere presence in town stirs up still-raw feelings about the unsolved case. As Anna delves deeper into the mystery, stepping further and further into Zoe’s life, she becomes increasingly convinced that she and Zoe are connected—and that she knows what happened to her.

Two months later, Zoe’s body is found in a nearby lake, and Anna is charged with manslaughter. But Anna’s confession is riddled with holes, and Martina Green, teen host of the Missing Zoe podcast, isn’t satisfied. Did Anna really kill Zoe? And if not, can Martina’s podcast uncover the truth?

Inspired by Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, Kit Frick weaves a thrilling story of psychological suspense that twists and turns until the final page.

Amanda’s thoughts

I’m a very impatient person, so it’s no surprise I’m an impatient reader. I sometimes have a hard time with mysteries or thrillers where we’re reading to find out who did something. I know the whole entire point of the book is to keep us guessing, but I have to fight the urge to be like “JUST TELL US!” and skip ahead to the end. My point is that, for me, I’m probably not going to stick with it or not skim to get to the end faster if it’s not a completely compelling and unpredictable story. That said, I read every word of this book, didn’t skip to the end, and didn’t know who actually did what until it was revealed.

If you’re a fan of unreliable narrators—or of unreliable characters, period—you will enjoy this book. We toggle back in forth in time to the summer Anna spends as a nanny and to a later point, after she has confessed to killing Zoe Spanos. Except, did she? She has trouble remembering details. Some things feel like a dream. Is she just being led by what police are saying happened? We see her spend an entire summer forgetting things, talking about blacking out, feeling an eerie sense of memories that she can’t possibly have. Or can she? Everything that seems true or false is up for debate. So many of her sentences are punctuated with “I guess,” or “maybe,” or “I don’t remember.” With her history of ditching school, drinking to the point of blacking out, being brought home by cops, and stealing her moms medicine, maybe she did kill Zoe and just can’t remember. Or maybe that’s what someone wants her to think.

Interspersed with Anna’s story are transcripts from a podcast by a local teen who is trying to figure out just what happened to Zoe. Other secondary characters provide bits and pieces of their relationships with Zoe and it seems like many other people could be suspects. When an autopsy report throws Anna’s story into question, she finally begins to question if she actually did kill Zoe, but it’s hard to piece together the truth when your own brain is being so foggy and unreliable.

Full of lies, manipulation, half-truths, secrets, twists, and SO MUCH tension, this mystery will easily rope in readers as we, along with all of the characters, try to figure out just who killed Zoe Spanos.

Review copy (ARC) courtesy of the publisher

ISBN-13: 9781534449701
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication date: 06/30/2020
Age Range: 14 – 18 Years

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