White Rabbit by Caleb Roehrig
Review by Lauren
source: ARC from Karen at For What It’s Worth (thanks, Karen!)
Official Summary (add to Goodreads): 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.
Review: Oh, I just loved this one. White Rabbit is the second book by Roehrig (and I loved that one too – my review of Last Seen Leaving can be found here). I’m a big fan of mysteries, and it’s always exciting when there’s a YA release, because I don’t read a lot of them for this age group. Honestly, I never really guessed the ultimate culprit – I had some “maybes” as the truth was fast approaching, but overall, this one kept me wondering throughout the book.
It’s told solely through the point of view of Rufus, whose ex-boyfriend (well, secret ex-boyfriend) shows up wanting to talk…and then before he can say what’s on his mind, Rufus’ half sister April calls him. This sends Rufus and Sebastian to the party April is at, only to find nobody else there but April and her boyfriend, Fox Whitney…who is, you know, dead.
This book takes place over one really long night, and I thought it worked well. The reasoning for Rufus not calling the police right away made sense to me, and don’t worry, the police do ultimately become involved. Before this though, Rufus, Sebastian, and April set out to try and figure out just who might have killed Fox and tried to pin it on April. Oh, and Sebastian still needs to tell Rufus what’s on his mind.
I really liked Rufus and Sebastian together; it’s obvious they both really care about each other, and yes, Sebastian did some stupid stuff in the past and hurt more than just Rufus, but I could understand where he was coming from. There’s a scene later in the book, pertaining to Sebastian, that is especially emotional and lovely. I also really enjoyed the dynamics of Rufus’ family. His dad wants nothing to do with him, he has a sadistic older brother, and a younger sister (April) who seems to like him okay, but Rufus knows he can’t always count on her. It’s an interesting mix and it added a lot of intrigue to the story.
White Rabbit is full of lies, half-truths, and plenty of suspense. I’ll happily read anything Roehrig publishes at this point.
Still need to read Roehrig’s debut, Last Seen Leaving? Again, check out my review!
