That Weekend is everything you can want in a YA thriller. I feel this novel encapsulates what the thriller genre is and is a great representation of a good book. This is a hit because you don't know where the storyline is going to go or what is truly going on. Now, that is a good thing because the protagonist themselves does not know what is going on and as you read the story through their eyes, neither should you.

Claire has no insight into how her friends went missing. She doesn't know how she ended up battered and alone. But, most importantly she doesn't know how she survived whilst her friends didn't. The whole purpose of this novel is to uncover those answers, the question is - do you?

There are red herrings, misleading moments due to protagonist bias, contains a protagonist worth rooting for, and with a crazy ending solidifies this as a solid thriller and is why That Weekend is worth reading.

That Weekend by Kara Thomas revolves around one weekend. The weekend for Claire starts with her waking up battered, bruised, and having just been found by a hiker alone on a mountain. The two friends she went on vacation with are missing and for the life of her, she cannot remember the past 48 hours or any moment leading up to her friends disappearance. That Weekend follows what happens after that day and Claire's determination to remember and hopefully uncover the truth of what really happened.

With a slightly above-average plot, the story is unexpected and the last couple of chapters create a crazy ride to end the story with a bang.

The characters are average and help move the story forward in a fluid motion. Claire is a standard eighteen year-old, maybe nineteen towards the end, teenager who skips prom weekend because she just broke up with her boyfriend instead electing to join her two best friends on a weekend getaway.

She has common traits of jealousy at seeing her two best friends date, frustration at not knowing her future, sadness at being broken up, and then anger when she wakes up in the woods only to discover her friends aren't with her. Claire drives the story and is a decent protagonist, nothing too flashy but combined with the plot creates a novel with drive.

With many twists and turns, the ending is 100% one you will enjoy. I personally anticipated only one twist and seriously thought I had it all figured out, I did not and it made the novel even more enjoyable. That Weekend is an enjoyable thriller with a great story and ending worth an hour of your time.

I initially thought That Weekend was going to be a cringy read but it ended up being fun. Once the novel jumped from the hospital to six month later, I went - oh, we are just moving on from that weekend are we and immediately the novel was transformed from a weekend thriller to a detective thriller as Claire attempted to figure out what happened. I like that Claire never recovered her memory, that is how our brains protect themselves not to mention she got slammed into a tree; it is for that reason only that I thought it was okay the story switched to Kat's point of view as without it, there is no way as a reader you could have known what happened without exhausting dialogue. Certain novels that contain a snippet of another character at the end ruin the novel, That Weekend didn't contain that and it ended up suiting the story.

I guessed Kat and Jess had run away but I couldn't figure out why Claire had been abandoned on the mountain. At the end, I found myself agreeing with the explanation as to why and honestly, Claire would have been killed if it had been only Amos. Also, please let me know in the comments if you knew Jess was going to be Kat's half-brother? Um, what?!? Are you kidding?

And then at the end when I realised Jess still wanted to stay with her regardless, are you kidding but in a gross way? No incest. Thanks. That was a major twist I did not see coming and one I liked. It transformed the novel from a disappearance to escape abuse into a really creepy relationship and as I write this now, I am no longer sure what to think about Jess. He knew he was dating his half-sister. He ran away with her and wanted to start a life with her and that is creepy. Please, I'd love to hear your thoughts on that revelation!

When Claire killed Amos, I wasn't upset or surprised. These people left her in the woods to die and then left her to emotionally suffer for six months. Claire was ruined because of them and she turned the tables and was able to regain her sense of self again. I do think it is an interesting point to make that in three years, Jess and Kat will be fine. Most likely not emotionally but definitely financially. Money moves things and they'll continue and I think Claire will have a bigger struggle as her friends tainted her memories and forced her to kill someone for survival. I liked Claire and I am glad she survived and became a boss detective. I hope her and Ben have some fun together and bye bye toxic Kat and Jess. That Weekend was a fun novel and I cannot wait to hear your thoughts!