“I think we regular people may have forgotten a basic truth—we don’t really have the right to judge anyone else.” – 5/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: deceit, bunny purses, swimming pools, blood tests, devious plans, pain, science fairs, homework, pushy teachers, depression, and incredible monologues.

Her pupils killed her daughter.
Now, she will have her revenge.

After calling off her engagement in wake of a tragic revelation, Yuko Moriguchi had nothing to live for except her only child, four-year-old Manami. Now, following an accident on the grounds of the middle school where she teaches, Yuko has given up and tendered her resignation.

But first she has one last lecture to deliver. She tells a story that upends everything her students ever thought they knew about two of their peers, and sets in motion a maniacal plot for revenge.

Narrated in alternating voices, with twists you’ll never see coming, Confessions explores the limits of punishment, despair, and tragic love, culminating in a harrowing confrontation between teacher and student that will place the occupants of an entire school in danger. You’ll never look at a classroom the same way again.

Wow, what was that?! I’m so impressed with this thriller.

I found out about this book a few months ago and I immediately added it to my TBR list because it sounded incredible. But since I couldn’t get it out of my head and my curiosity was killing me, I started reading it shortly after adding it – I swear I could feel my other TBR books judging me from a distance. And boy oh boy, what a book this is!

So if you don’t know what this is about, it’s about a middle school teacher getting revenge for her daughter who was murdered by her students. Sounds like a crazy plot, right?! Oh, it gets worse, wait until you find out how she planned on doing that! Better yet, the book starts with her telling the entire class what happened and who was responsible… and what she did to get her revenge. It was SO twisted… but I couldn’t blame her, to be honest.

The writing was really interesting, and I believe I have never read something like this before. As I mentioned before, the book’s narrative starts with a monologue from the teacher telling what happened to the students and who was responsible, but it’s written as narrative prose without direct dialogue. It’s very bizarre, but I loved it! She is talking to her students and registering her reactions and responses, but not in a direct dialogue. Very cool! Also, you get different POVs from different characters and different writing formats throughout the book to tell the story of what happened. So essentially, confessions from different characters and POVs.

I’m in awe of this book. The fact that it was super shocking and devious made this book very different from other thrillers in my eyes. I seriously couldn’t put it down, and when I did it was because I had to! Can’t recommend this enough!