The Girl in the Wall

The Girl in the Wall

Daphne Benedis-Grab

186 pages

Release: December 18, 2012

Publisher: Merit Press

Source: the publisher

★★★★☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

When I was first contacted by Merit Press about their new titles, this was the one that jumped out at me the most.  I knew I had to read it!  Sera and Ariel were best friends until something happened in Mexico that left Ariel feeling so betrayed that she turned their whole school against Sera.  When Ariel's birthday rolls around, Sera's father convinces her to attend the party despite her protests.  Then, while there, an armed group of vigilantes takes over, killing guests and demanding to know where Ariel is.  Only Sera knows where Ariel is and the question is - does their friendship still matter?

Woo boy, if you think this book sounds action packed, you would be right!  My life always gets busier in December and I hate that I couldn't sit down and read this book through, it was so great!  First, Ariel and her friends are extremely rich, so in the beginning of the book it was fun to read about the opulence of her birthday party and the famous rock star her father got for entertainment.  The tension between Sera, Ariel, and their friends is palpable.  I couldn't help but feel bad for Sera, being so ostracized from the group when she honestly felt like she never did anything wrong.  Immediately Sera became the girl that I was going to root for.  Then, when the party quickly becomes a hostage situation, the bigger question arose - when best friends have such a huge falling out, can they still trust each other?

This book was a little terrifying to me because I couldn't even begin to image what I would do if I ever found myself in a situation like that.  But I have to give all the party-goers in this novel props.  When they come up with their plan to escape, I was shocked they were able to come up with a plan at all, but I was also a little skeptical.  I won't tell you how that turns out, but wow baby, what climax to this book!

On a side note, I adored the small romances in this book, particularly that of Sera and Hudson, the rockstar.  They were so cute together and even though they had just met, they worked together extremely well in a time of crisis.  I would love to read more about these two characters in the future.

Four stars!  The Girl in the Wall was everything I hoped it would be and it sounds like Merit Press has a hit on their hands!  You're definitely going to want to check out this action-packed thriller this Christmas.  It has a December 18th release date, but it's already available on Amazon.