"Because that's what no one wants to talk about. That at some point, every little girl grows up and gets ruined." 
 At its core, Little Monsters by Kara Thomas is a dark, twisted, murder mystery. The thing that makes the story extra special is it's in depth exploration of obsession, toxic friendships, and the effect they have on a teenage girl. The undercurrent of deception makes the twists even darker and the crimes ever deadlier. There's so much I want to talk about and it's going to be so difficult to review this without giving away any spoilers! I usually love spoilers but I feel like giving anything away would be a disservice to ruin such a compelling mystery. I'm just going to stick to central themes and not name any names. I apologize in advance if I accidently let something slip. 
 Let's start off talking about the toxic friendships I mentioned earlier. From very early on you get the sense that "something is rotten in the state of Denmark." There are so many lies being told in this that it's hard to figure out what the actual truth is. The one thing that's apparent is that nothing is as it seems. On the surface everything looks like normal girlfriends having some rebellious teenage fun. But under the surface is a tempestuous sea of derision and contempt. Combine this with the small town setting and the secrets and rumors spread like wildfire. The truth becomes so twisted and motivations are constantly unclear so it makes finding someone to trust all the more difficult. There is an inherent anger in being a teenage girl and when surrounded by the wrong influences it's very easy to become a monster. 
 To put things simply: the conclusion was intense. Holy shit! Like.... Woah! This was always dark but Kara Thomas found a way to make it even darker. This was basically me when the killer was revealed: 
 I really could not figure out who the killer was. I couldn't really even come up with a good suspect because none of the clues ever really pointed to anyone in particular. So when the killer is finally revealed I was flabbergasted to say the least. It's even crazier when you find out the reasons why! It was so dark and twisted and I LOVED IT! The only spoiler I'm willing to give is to say that there isn't a happily ever after in Little Monsters. It's an "ending" and there's an "after" but you don't see the good guys get out unscathed and happy either. And the final two sentences were absolutely chilling. 
 I really enjoyed Little Monsters and was fascinated by its darkness. It was written in a way that made the teenagers in the story feel authentic. They spoke and behaved like normal rebellious teenagers would. It's just that in this particular setting that everything was able to spiral so completely out of control. The driving sense of obsession and obfuscation makes the story particularly chilling. This is a great read if you're a fan of YA and twisted mysteries like Gone Girl.