Hope’s older brother – a selective mute with several mental handicaps – has been accused of murder. Hope knows he couldn’t have done it, but has no proof. This story is both about Hope’s struggle to uncover the truth of what happened the morning of the murder, and to deal with the emotional impact of her brother’s murder trial.

The negative first: I enjoyed this story, though I felt like it could have gone a bit more in depth with several issues. Sometimes the novel would skim over deeper issues, with one-liners about identity and that sort of thing, but for the most part, it stayed away from deeper issues altogether. Also, the mystery aspect with a bit predictable. Every character was shown in a way where they could have been the real killer. Each was given a moment for extreme bursts of anger and violence. It was a bit silly.

But that’s the end of the negatives. I really liked reading about Hope’s relationship with her brother, and about her brother in general. I liked her friends and all the characters. I liked seeing a less-than-perfect family dynamic, and some characters who didn’t have to be supportive, but were. It was an enjoyable story, and by the second half, I didn’t want to put the audiobook down, and found excuses to listen to it a lot faster than I would have normally.