Natalie Richards 1

I've had this author in my Amazon cart for months and finally got the urge to buy one of her books. This is the one I chose, and then I got two Paperback Swap credits that I turned into another two. After finishing this book, I ended up ordering another handful from Amazon. They're pretty cheap and they had their 3 for 2 promo going on. I'm always a sucker for that. 

Anyway, now that I've finished two of these books, I can say that they remind me of the old 90s Point Horror, but longer and less cheesy. They're not the best things ever, but they're fun. 

Gone Too Far is about Piper, the school photographer, who finds a notebook on the steps leading into her high school. The notebook contains all sorts of dirty little secrets about the students. Later the same day, popular girl Stella is being harassed by three of the popular boys. Sounds like something about a sex tape. Piper's locker is near Stella's so she overhears. Not long after, that said video ends up on the school website. Next thing we know, Stella is dead. She walked out in front of a train. On purpose? Maybe. It's never cleared up. 

At Stella's funeral, Piper begins getting texts from a mystery person who wants to get revenge on the bad kids in school. This person pressures Piper into giving them a name and she names the worst of the popular boys who teased Stella. A greatest asshole hits video of him ends up showing on the school TVs, leading him to lose sports privileges. The mean girl shoplifter ends up covered in her own stolen clothing at an assembly. A cheating scandal is outed. 

Piper starts to feel more threatened by the mystery vigilante and tries to back out, but the person threatens to reveal a secret of her father's, then ends up going after another girl in her friend circle. 

It's a fun book with Piper trying to figure out just who the vigilante is. Couple red herrings thrown in. Typical mystery. 

One Was Lost ups the ante quite a bit. On a senior school hiking/camping trip, the group of students is separated trying to cross a river during a sudden storm. Two girls and the new agey female teacher remain on the original side of the river. On the farther side are the protagonist (Sera), a quiet girl (Emily), a rich musician (Jude), the school bad boy (Lucas), and their teacher, who knows the most about camping. 

They go to sleep in their tents, figuring they'd come up with a solution the next day, but they wake up feeling the aftereffects of being drugged and soon find all their belongings destroyed. The teacher is laid up far sicker than any of the kids and they begin to try to solve the mystery of what's happening to them. They begin by realizing someone wrote words on their arms. Sera is Darling, Lucas Dangerous, Emily Damaged, and Jude Deceptive.  

Things escalate pretty quickly once the severed finger of the female teacher is found and there is no sign of the two girls across the river. The students struggle with hunger, dehydration, and mostly with each other, as they're all very different people. 

I really liked this one. The cast is more likeable than the first book and the situation is far more interesting than some jumped up high school drama. I'd recommend it over Gone Too Far.