ARC Review: Capsule

General Information

Title: Capsule
Author: Mel Torrefranca
Pages: 255 (Digital edition)
Publisher: Lost Island Press
ASIN: B094MNC89B
My rating: ★★★☆☆

Buy: Amazon

I received an arc in exchange for a review from Netgalley!

 

About: When the most hated boy and the most popular girl at Brookwood High go missing on the same day, the whole school is in turmoil. But only outsider and gamer girl Jackie will be able to find out what happened to them when a mysterious app shows up on her phone that makes Jackie the main player in a game meant to uncover the truth.

If I had to describe Capsule in one sentence, it'd be "Ya mystery meets (light) sci-fi meets high school drama". This book really doesn't fit into one genre which makes it only more interesting!

Capsule is a well written, interesting book and I always wanted to know what would happen next. It's a rather quick read and doesn't get boring once! The mystery Jackie uncovers is well constructed and holds more than a few surprises.

The main characters, Jackie, Kat, and Peter, are well developed with their own personalities. There are some clichés surrounding them that can be found in many high school characters, but all in all they are well rounded. I especially liked how different they are. Ultimately, this is also a story about friendships and I really liked the message to not judge people on first impressions because you never know their whole story.

So why only 3 stars? Unfortunately, the whole aspect with the mysterious app that starts the adventure for Jackie is never explained. I was waiting for some big reveal in the end but that never happened. The whole aspect that made me become interested in the book in the first place - a mysterious app playing with people's lives - ultimately was just a plot device used to develop the characters and I'm quite disappointed with that.

I still overall liked the book because it was well written and I also really liked the mystery and the character development, but I have to take a star away because the ending didn't satisfy me at all. I would recommend it if you're looking for a ya/high school mystery but don't expect much sci-fi stuff.