From Goodreads: "Skye Thorn has given tarot card readings for years, and now her psychic visions are helping the police find the town’s missing golden girl. It’s no challenge—her readings have always been faked, but this time she has some insider knowledge. The kidnapping was supposed to be easy—no one would get hurt and she’d get the money she needs to start a new life. But a seemingly harmless prank has turned dark, and Skye realizes the people she’s involved with are willing to kill to get what they want and she must discover their true identity before it’s too late."

Thank you to HMH Books for Young Readers for providing me with a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for review! All opinions are my own.

I have such strong feelings about this book. This was one that I started and hadn't intended to finish as quickly as I did but I ended up reading it in about two hours or so. It. Was. Addicting. And I mean that in the best way possible! I was hooked in no time and found myself turning page after page because I was just so invested in the story that I didn't want to put it down until I was done. And then the ending came along.

Plot:
Skye Thorn has been giving tarot card readings for years- they're not real, but people believe what they want to believe. But when a girl goes missing, Skye uses her psychic visions to help the police find her. They're not real, of course, but the insider knowledge that Skye has is very real. It was supposed to be easy- no one was supposed to get hurt and she would get the money she needed to start her new life. But the kidnapping has turned dark, and Skye realizes that the people she's working with are willing to kill to get what they want and she must discover their true identity before it's too late.

This book was absolutely addicting. I'm not joking, once I got started, I could not stop. I loved every twist and turn that this book threw at me. I ate it all up and kept going because it was just so good! The fake psychic aspect was great, the insider knowledge was great, the kidnapping was great, the twists were great, it was all really great. There was so much good in this book that lead me to turning page after page to find out what happened next. It was twisty and exciting and I was so happy that I had found a book that I enjoyed so much.

Then the ending happened.

Why oh why did that ending have to happen? It's been days since I finished the book and I'm still ranting over the ending. Everything up until Skye's graduation was amazing. And then for some reason, things just...fell off. The ending seems to be something that a lot of other people enjoyed and that's totally great, I'm glad you loved it! But me? No. I cannot accept that ending. I won't spoil it, I won't give details, but the ending absolutely destroyed this book for me. If I could just have everything up until the ending, then I'd be completely satisfied. But for some reason, that ending just ruined everything I had read up until then. It's not realistic, it's not believable, it's almost insulting to me as a reader. The build up was fantastic. The end? Not at all. I may be the odd one out here, but I was absolutely not a fan of how this book ended.

Characters:
Unreliable characters are some of my favorite character types. You never know what's going to happen next with them or even if they're telling the reader everything, telling the truth. Skye is an unreliable narrator and she was great. When she was younger, she accidentally created a huge lie that blew up in her face and ever since, people haven't trusted anything she's said. It was actually really sad, and I could understand why she would do that, especially at such a young age. But Skye seems to keep that little lying habit well into her teenage years. She lies about her tarot readings (she's just really good at reading people and noticing the little things about them), she lies about having psychic visions, she lies about the kidnapping, she lies to her mother, and she lies to her best friend. So how can the reader believe anything she says? You can't, and that's what makes this book so much fun to read. You never know what's going to happen next and the twists hit you hard and fast, leaving your jaw on the floor and you saying, "Wait what?!" Skye is great and is probably the best part of reading this entire book because you don't know what she's going to say from page to page. I genuinely liked her character for about 97% of the book. The last 3% of the book, I just...couldn't. I explained that above, but the things her character does in the end just didn't sit well with me, unfortunately. I just couldn't believe anything that happened in the last few pages and it seriously destroyed my whole view on the book and Skye as a character. So I loved her for the first 97%, and I know readers who are fans of unreliable narrators will definitely love her, too.

Paige was also fantastic and another seriously unreliable narrator. She threw so many twists and turns at Skye and the reader and I just couldn't help but love her. I never knew what to expect when it came to Paige and that added such a great aspect of unpredictability and suspense to the book that elevated my love for it. Well, for at least the first 97% of the book, anyway.

Writing:
Eileen Cook has a gift with writing a fantastic mystery/thriller book. I didn't expect to be drawn in so quickly to The Hanging Girl, but it took literally no time at all for me to finish it without realizing how fast I was reading. She created such a fantastic suspenseful feeling with the unreliable narrators and the general creepy feeling that was on every page. I was devouring every word trying to solve the kidnapping mystery as I read through the book and every twist and turn that came at me only added to my overall enjoyment of the story. Her writing is something special and I don't think I'm going to let my feelings on the ending of this book ruin my desire to read more by this author. I love how she builds suspense and throws in twists at perfect points in the story that just make you want to read more. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for anything else Eileen Cook writes because her writing was extremely enjoyable and kept me hooked until the very end!

Please, please, please do not let my aggressive feelings towards the ending deter you from reading this book. I genuinely enjoyed the rest of the book and I feel that I am the odd man out in how I feel about how things wrapped up. The Hanging Girl is sure to be a huge hit for those that are fans of mysteries, thrillers, and unreliable narrators. It's full of twists that will take you by surprise and writing that will keep you reading from start to finish. Don't miss this fantastic thriller that is sure to be a hit, especially during the spooky Fall reading season!