July's Flesh

July’s Flesh

As the summer at Rosebud Academy continues, Lissa is still haunted by Kyle’s disappearance. She still has no idea what happened to him. On a date with her boyfriend, Lissa and Tyler have a fight. Not feeling the need to apologize, Lissa stays at the cafe, letting Tyler leave in a huff. He eventually comes back, apologizing for being a jerk, and thinking that she’s flirting with all the guys at school. While she still tries avoiding the mirror at the wnd of the hall, it still seems to call out to her in her evening nightmares. The next day, Lissa gets a text from Logan, wanting her and her friends to attend a party at the Ripples Campground. “Bring booze and lawn chairs.” Logan said. Tyler told them that the campground was a bomb, and he didn’t want to go. But he changed his mind when Lissa decided she’s going. Once at the campground, they begin with ghost stories.

Poppy tells a story of the witch, Rosebud. She’d sacrificed animals in the lake, soaking them in the lake after killing them, turning the lake red. When one day, she’d slipped on a rock and died. Her body had disappeared. Kids would go to the lake and whisper her name six times, only to see the water turn red. If they don’t run, the witch emerges with her sacrificial knife and jumps the kids. Poppy goes on to tell them that Rosebud cries in the night, a fake cry, trying to lure the kids her way. As the night good on, Lissa begins talking to Logan, drawing Tyler’s attention. When he says it’s time to go, Lissa follows Logan’s car in to Switchback.

The next morning, Lissa meets Marlene DuPont, she’s filling in for Kolnikov as the visiting master. After class is over, Marlene asks Lissa about Karl. Marlene doesn’t believe that he’d take his own life, and Lissa agrees. Lissa’s in touch with Karl’s mother, and sees his goodbye letter, consisting of one paragraph. She’s even more convinced that Karl’s alive.

When Friday night comes, it’s time for the recital. When Tyler hear that Logan’s in the audience, he takes Lissa on stage, kisses her like a piece of meat, making the audience whoop and holler. Lissa’s furious! She plays her piano perfectly. Tyler apologizes profusely. What’s happening?? Lissa discovers she’s having feelings for Logan. Strong feelings.

While out on a walk in the morning, Lissa’s alone and doesn’t want to turn back. She finds a big rock, climbs on it, then sees the missing boat from the Academy. Running back as fast as possible, she goes to Natalie, and finds Tyler coming out of her office. They’ve all been worried about her, she’s been gone for a couple of hours. After telling them the news, Lissa tries to break up with Tyler. It’s almost as if he doesn’t hear her. So, for now, they’re “friends,” but he’s still too overbearing. She needs to break it off completely.

When an invitation for another party comes from Logan, at Ripples Campground, Tyler sees the text over Lissa’s shoulder, on her phone. She wants to go, Tyler thinks she should stay at Rosebud to practice playing. Her friends are disgusted, he quickly reverts, saying she should attend the party. But no apology. While at the party, it finally happens. Tyler seems to be delusional, but Lissa knows better. He tells her that his family funded her scholarship for her to be able to attend Rosebud. However, she’s still able to finally make the break. After a few days, he’d acted like Lissa didn’t exist.

When Lissa starts feeling more lonely than ever, she goes to the mirror. Desperate for answers about what she should do, she looks for the auburn haired girl. “Hey, you there?” She asked the mirror. But she heard no reply, and saw no auburn haired girl. As she began walking away, “Help him!” The mirror spoke. As the conversation started taking off, “He’s coming! Go!” The auburn haired girl said. Lissa ran fast, back to her room. Hearing the footsteps behind her, while trying to unlock her door, the key wouldn’t work. But as the steps grew closer, she opened the door, flung herself in, locking both locks. After EVERYTHING that’s happened now, Lissa’s decided to leave Rosebud Academy.

Will Lissa actually leave? What about finding Karl??

Another great book by Juliet Vane! Well thought out plotting, characters are the same from the first book, plus a few more. It’s highly recommended that you read the first book to get the best from the second out of the three book series.

I received a complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review.