Review: White Rabbit by Caleb Roehrig

Title:  White Rabbit

Author:  Caleb Roehrig 
Publisher: Feiwel Friends

Publishing Date: April 24th 

Pages: 320
Genre: YA Mystery/Thriller

Series:  STand Alone
Source: ARC

 

Rufus Holt is having the worst night of his life. It begins with the reappearance of his ex-boyfriend, Sebastian—the guy who stomped his heart out like a spent cigarette. Just as Rufus is getting ready to move on, Sebastian turns up out of the blue, saying they need to "talk." Things couldn’t get much worse, right?

But then Rufus gets a call from his sister April, begging for help. And then he and Sebastian find her, drenched in blood and holding a knife, beside the dead body of her boyfriend, Fox Whitney.

April swears she didn’t kill Fox—but Rufus knows her too well to believe she’s telling him the whole truth. April has something he needs, though, and her price is his help. Now, with no one to trust but the boy he wants to hate yet can’t stop loving, Rufus has one night to prove his sister’s innocence…or die trying.

This cover was what first caught my attention. Its pretty creepy looking and I thought this would be a great thriller. I also loved the title. I wanted to follow this story down the white rabbit hole. I was super excited to start this book. I hate to say I was a little disappointed. I loved the mystery. I loved the end when it was all figured out. The other parts of the book I wasn’t so big on. The main character left me feeling a little flat and the romance felt that it had no place in the story. I really wanted to like this book and although in parts I did, for the most I just didn’t feel it.

Rufus gets a call in the middle of a party, late at night, from his half –sister, April . She is in trouble and needs his help. Not knowing exactly where to go to find her, Rufus agrees to allow his ex-boyfriend, Sebastian, to given him a ride to April. Once they get there they find April holding a knife, drenched in blood, and her boyfriend dead. April claims she didn’t do it and she doesn’t know what happened. She woke up in the mess. She begs Rufus to figure out what happened before calling the cops. This is when April, Sebastian, and Rufus go on a wild goose chase to figure out what happened that night and clear April’s name before it’s too late. What they find is no one is telling the truth about that night and behind all the lies someone is guilty… this someone doesn’t want anyone to discover the truth and will kill to keep the true events of the night secret.

I was really wanting a great thriller. The synopsis, cover, and title all had me thinking this book would be it. There were some things I really enjoyed about the book. The mystery was well done. The pacing of the book was good for the most part. I liked some of the characters. I enjoyed the fact that Rufus was a person to help April, even against his better judgment and their past. I did like how Sebastian wouldn’t walk away leaving Rufus in danger. I loved the feel of the book… it almost had a 90’s horror feel to the read. These were the great parts of the book.

Here is where I had some issues.

I felt the book was confused if it was a coming of age book, a romance, or a mystery thriller. I do like when I have a little of all genres in my book but this one couldn’t seem to settle on a main genre. I felt it could have been a great romance or a great mystery thriller. Together it just didn’t work. I couldn’t feel the romance. It felt rushed and out of place and the story wasn’t a proper time to explore this romance. The entire book was a rush because of time restraints to clear April’s name and trying to stay alive. So I couldn’t find the romance fitting in. It just didn’t feel romantic or even sweet. Just rushed. I also feel it took away from some of the suspense. It interrupted the flow of the thrills and chills. The mystery was good but I felt I couldn’t fully appreciate it and feel it when I kept getting interrupted by a forced romance.

The characters. I did like some, but the ones I really liked were the secondary characters. I felt they were better written. They had such small parts, but the parts they had, they were fully developed for. I understood them and liked them for their part in the book…even if they weren’t very nice people. The main characters is where I fell flat. I think Rufus would have been a wonderful character to completely fall in love with if he had been slowly developed for the story he was in. I loved that he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders and cared for people’s well beings. Even when they weren’t so caring for him. I loved how he respected his mom and wanted to help her out. He seemed responsible. I just didn’t feel he was developed well for the part he played. I can’t say much about Sebastian. I think he was a nice guy…. But some of his decisions made me think maybe not… I just couldn’t connect with him enough to know. I felt April should have been more in the story. I think she was a main character but wasn’t in the book enough to tell. She was whiny and spoiled and in the end she had a quick change of heart. It didn’t seem to fit for me.

So in the end I loved the mystery, the rush to find out who and why, the way the pieces fit together. I thought the bad guys were great bad guys but the good guys could have had more substance. I think the romance would have been great in a book of its own. The story of the romance was good. The set up and timing and pacing of the romance was off for me. This in turn had me really struggling to like the book. If the mystery hadn’t had me reeled in, I would have given up on this book.

I think I could have done without this book. If you can look past what I didn’t like and in it for a great mystery the book is for you. It just wasn’t for me.

Caleb Roehrig is a writer and television producer originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Having also lived in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Helsinki, Finland, he has a chronic case of wanderlust, and can recommend the best sights to see on a shoestring budget in over thirty countries. A former actor, Roehrig has experience on both sides of the camera, with a résumé that includes appearances on film and TV—as well as seven years in the stranger-than-fiction salt mines of reality television. In the name of earning a paycheck, he has: hung around a frozen cornfield in his underwear, partied with an actual rock-star, chatted with a scandal-plagued politician, and been menaced by a disgruntled ostrich.