by Emily Schultz

3.5 Stars

Emily Schultz pulled off a very gripping, slow-burning, “who did it?” story. It is quite the book to read, and we’ll continue speaking of that as we continue.

Emily Schultz’s Little Threats is a story of good-old teenage rebellion while living a luxurious life until it meets its limits. A sixteen-year-old girl in 1993, Kennedy Wynn, is suspected of murdering her close friend in the woods, named Haley Mae Kimberson. This gets her trapped in prison for fifteen years, and she is released at the age of thirty-one in 2008. This drives the story into a new plot, where things aren’t as simple as they seem, and anyone in this Virginia neighbourhood could be the real culprit.

This story brings a very nostalgic feel, as it gives us a taste of 1993, the grunge era. Classic things like old cassette tapes, with grungy songs from the 90s. One cassette is “Extremities, Dirt, & Various Repressed Emotions for Kennedy”. ED&VREK has song references to classics like Creep by Radiohead or Come As You Are by Nirvana, which was a great way to remind the reader of the plot’s 1993 heritage. 

The detail put into the settings, characters, and actions were very well written and described. If you have a very imaginative mind, these details will make Emily Schultz’s Little Threats seem like a movie. 

“and now the Polaroid was the last of her. Haley, full cheeks, light freckles, white tank top, necklace at her throat, her red hair spilling from a sloppy bun, her eyes slightly closed as she laughed, red-lipsticked mouth.” 

Little Threats is overall a good read if you don’t get bored too quickly. The pacing is a bit sluggish, but the story is well-written with plenty of ups and downs, and turn arounds. It receives a 7.5 out of 10 from me.

Gabriel M.

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