Four teens try to piece together a 35-year-old mystery. In Canterstown in the present day, four close friends--Liam, Elayah, Marcie, and Jorja--dig up a time capsule that their parents buried decades ago and find, among a few harmless keepsakes, a bloodied knife and a note that reads, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to kill anyone." Not long after, Elayah is attacked in her own home and almost dies. Though Liam's dad is the sheriff and he says he's on the case, the four friends begin harboring suspicions against their own parents when their excuses and backstories just don't add up. Meanwhile, in 1986, the stories of Dean, Jay, and twins Marcus and Antoine unfurl, chronicling the lead-up to the burial of the capsule (and its murder weapon). As the contemporary amateur sleuths try to find answers, they risk endangering themselves further for a truth they might not want to hear. Though the novel is a bit bloated with its long list of characters and hefty page count, the central mystery and various twists will keep readers turning pages .

Lyga does an excellent job of portraying a racially and sexually diverse cast, not shying away from the realities of having a marginalized identity but rather braiding those elements into the plot itself. A twisty thriller that asks: How much do you really know about your parents? -- Kirkus.