They’ll Never Catch Us

They’ll Never Catch Us by Jessica Goodman is an underrated Young Adult mystery novel. I never heard anyone talk about this novel prior to purchasing it, and after reading it, I have no idea why! The story follows two sisters, Ellie and Stella, who are a year apart and have one thing in common - cross country running. Their fierce competitiveness draws more of a line between them, rather than connects them. Therefore, when the new girl on the block, Mila Keene transfers to their high school both girls see her as a threat. However, they slowly start to become close to Mila in their own way, that is until Mila goes missing. This book will have you biting your nails and waiting to see what happens next. 

This mystery novel left me with chilling goosebumps every time I picked it up. The creepy nature and history of the town Ellie and Stella reside in adds to the ominous setting and tone of the book and left me feeling like danger was lurking around the corner and was waiting to strike at any moment. I also enjoyed how Goodman developed the character of both sisters. This was not a story about two girls with simple lives and untainted backgrounds, but one of twisted history. In my opinion, this added to the novel and made it even better because the reader knows of the underlying thoughts of selfishness and greed each sister has, especially Stella. In this story it is revealed that they may be capable of doing something dangerous and leaves the reader wary of them from page one. 

At the end of the novel, I thought the plot twist was somewhat expected, but did not completely take away from my overall enjoyment of the book. I felt that Goodman tried to lead the reader down a certain path and hit them with shock value at the end, however I found it semi-predictable. It is undoubtedly better when you read a mystery novel and are playing detective simultaneously only to find out you were wrong about who the killer was. Although the plot twist was good, I do not believe Goodman was able to deliver a huge adrenalin rush as it did not catch me by surprise. 

If you are in search of a new mystery book, They’ll Never Catch Us, is a great recommendation.