Horn Book (Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2017)

When the football team mascot leaps off a bridge, friends Benny and Virginia are determined to figure out why. They may be outcasts at Atlanta's prestigious Winship Academy, but that status gives them a unique perspective for their detective work. This dark look at high school life has plenty of twists and turns, but the culprit's motives and methods are far from believable.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

This convoluted first book in the Strange Truth series follows teenage outcasts Benny Flax and Virginia Leeds, the sole members of Winship Academy-s Mystery Club, as they investigate the suspicious death of a classmate, Brittany Montague. When a school-mascot-costume-clad Brittany flees the Friday night football game, runs into the woods, and plunges off a bridge into a ravine, everyone assumes that it-s a suicide. Benny and Virginia are dubious, though, and while the police search Atlanta-s Chattahoochee River for a corpse, the detecting duo unearths evidence suggesting that Brittany was murdered. There-s a lot more going on at Winship Academy than meets the eye, and Benny and Virginia soon realize that unless they catch the killer, no one is safe. Thrash (Honor Girl) squanders an intriguing setup with cartoonish characters, preposterous plot twists, and an unsatisfying conclusion. Any warmth or depth conferred by Benny and Virginia-s unlikely friendship is undermined by the flippancy with which Thrash tackles such topics as stalking, rape, death, and child pornography. Ages 14-up. Agent: Stephen Barr, Writers House. (Oct.)

ALA Booklist (Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2016)

In the middle of a football game at an Atlanta boarding school, the mascot runs off the field and into the woods and jumps off a high bridge into a raging river. Why would Brittany, who seemingly had everything going for her, kill herself? The entirety of the school's mystery club (dweeby club president Benny and reformed gossip Virginia) set out to solve the puzzle. The misfit duo reveal a twisty and twisted mystery where everything e motive, the method, even the victim not what (or who) it appears to be. Encompassing the innocent antics (an embarrassing pep rally dance) and troubling realities (sexual predation) of the potential high-school experience, and marked by a dark, biting sense of humor, this first novel by the author of the graphic memoir Honor Girl (2015) will be popular with new adult and older teen readers; however, selectors should know that some problematic stereotyping detracts from what is otherwise an engagingly salacious whodunit.

Voice of Youth Advocates

During half-time at the Winship Academy football game, one of the cheerleaders, beautiful and popular Brittany Montague, dressed in the grotesque wildcat mascot costume, throws herself off a bridge into the surging Chattahoochee River. Only nerdy day-student Benny Flax and impulsive boarder Virginia Leeds, the sole members of the school's Mystery Club, seem to want to find out why. The unlikely duo discovers that snobby Winship Academy and its eccentric student body is a hotbed of secrets that many people would prefer to keep buried. Benny and Virginia also learn that things are not always what they seem and school mascots are, in reality, more than a little creepy.Thrash offers her readers a complicated and twisty tale that blends noir mystery, gothic romance, and dark humor. Readers may have frequently encountered mismatched amateur detective pairs in the mystery genre, but surely they have never met any crime solvers like Benny and Virginia, two complex and wholly sympathetic characters who manage to make even teen angst seem fresh and new. Secondary characters, like sophisticated and studious Zaire (seemingly in possession of strange powers) and spacy exchange student Gottfried (staying much longer at Winship than his allotted time) are equally vivid and memorable. Suggest this intricate "whodunit" to sophisticated readers who prefer convoluted mysteries with slightly weird characters.Jamie Hansen.

School Library Journal (Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 CDT 2016)

Gr 9 Up-A fast-paced, sassy, and sultry whodunit. Mystery Club team members Benny and Virginia witness Brittany Montague in her school mascot costume jumping off a bridge and into the river while an odd figure just stands by and watches. Strangely enough, while all of this is happening, the entire Winship football team and all of the cheerleaders seem to be deranged and are running around wild in the woods. Plenty of drinking, dancing, and flirting go along with the unraveling of the case of the bridge-jumping mascot. The two gumshoes have to go up against the beautiful Zaire, one of Virginia's housemates; the awkwardly strange Gerard, who likes to dress up like Patrick Swayze; and the goofy yet insanely adorable German foreign exchange student Gottfried. The dynamic duo team "Beninia" may have their differences, but they also have respect for each other, as well as a deep mutual attraction. Dealing with run-ins with the police, encounters with long-haired jazz weirdos, and the strange behaviors that the popular kids have been exhibiting, they actually do a fairly good job of finding meaningful clues. VERDICT This work is a fine mix of teen angst and high school drama with a smooth twist of mystery and intrigue. Kimberli Buckley, Concord Public Library, CA