Review: Come Out and Play by Amber Lynn Natusch

Kylene Danners nearly escaped death for the second time since she returned to Jasperville, Ohio. Another person she trusted betrayed her, leading Kylene to question everything and everyone around her. She’s nowhere closer to discovering the identity of Advocatus Diaboli, also known as the AD. But what she is certain of: many people in Jasperville are compromised, maybe even some of her dad’s former FBI colleagues.

Kylene also faces the fact that she has absolutely no money to pay for college. So when her best friends Tabby and Garrett suggest Kylene enter the town pageant to win some money, Kylene thinks they’re insane. Kylene is a tomboy…not a pageant girl. But when the pageant becomes linked to the AD, Kylene is ready to join to figure out the next town scandal. Besides, having a scholarship can’t hurt.

As Kylene gets closer and closer to solving this mystery once and for all, she has to face the consequences of becoming a teenage detective. One that could hurt herself and everyone around her. But Kylene isn’t the type of girl to go down without a fight.

The third book of The Hometown Antihero series was our favorite so far. While we loved Dare You to Lie and Don’t Say a Word, we found Come Out and Play to have the most intriguing plot.

Since we’re three books into the series now, we’ve had time to get to know Kylene, Garret, Tabby, AJ and Dawson. We’ve decided we’re firmly team Dawson. While AJ is a nice guy and we don’t have any problems with him, he feels like Kylene’s past. Dawson understands the person she has become.

Garrett and Tabby are also amazing friends, which was seen when they supported Kylene through the pageant. They both had romantic storylines in this book, which made us excited because they deserve it.

Kylene is still Kylene: the badass detective with a strong sense of justice. But we got to experience more character growth. She still gets into trouble, but she doesn’t react quite as quickly. She tries to think through her next moves to protect everyone she loves. She also plans for the future more and realizes what she wants out of life.

As for the plot, Natusch delivered another exciting YA thriller. Since we found there’s going to be a book 4, not everything got resolved :(. But we know it will only get darker and more dangerous from here. Kylene definitely got out of her comfort zone. We think it helped her with her theories though to get different perspectives. What we do know: the AD had a personal vendetta against her and her father.

All we know now is that we need book 4 ASAP. Seriously, the waiting is too much. This series is perfect for fans of YA thrillers with a ton of suspense. Do yourself a favor and pick up this underrated YA series right now. You won’t regret it!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐