Published: 2021
Author: Kara Thomas
Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Contemporary, Suspense, Romance, Crime
Audience (Grade Levels): Young Adult; 9-12
Number of Stars: 4 Stars
Goodreads Link: That Weekend
Triggers: Death of a loved one, missing persons, domestic abuse, cancer diagnosis, murder, suicide
Review By: Karen Fenner
Publisher’s Summary:
Three best friends, a lake house, a secret trip – what could go wrong?
It was supposed to be the perfect prom weekend getaway. But it’s clear something terrible happened when Claire wakes up alone and bloodied on a hiking trail with no memory of the past forty-eight hours.
Three went up the mountain, but only one came back.
Now everyone wants answers – most of all, Claire. She remembers Friday night, but after that… nothing. And now Kat and Jesse – her best friends – are missing.
That weekend changes everything.
What happened on the mountain? And where are Kat and Jesse? Claire knows the answers are buried somewhere in her memory, but as she’s learning, everyone has secrets – even her best friends. And she’s pretty sure she’s not going to like what she remembers.
Review:
When a student raves about a book, I always want to read it. That was the case with That Weekend – a student loved it and recommended it to me. I like a book with an unreliable narrator, and this definitely has an unreliable narrator since as the result of a head injury, Claire cannot remember what happened before she woke up bloodied on a mountain trail. The two friends she was camping with are gone and she can’t help solve what may have happened to them. Claire’s struggle with trying to remember and piece together events along with the presumption that her friends are dead leads to her depression which she attempts to hide from her therapist mother. As time goes by and normal life resumes, Claire uncovers evidence about the events on the mountain and begins to unravel the mystery. The last few chapters of the book are suspenseful and gripping. For readers who like a story complicated by amnesia and containing a plot twist, this is the book for them.
Classroom & Curricular Connections:
- English Language Arts (Narrative Device & Psychological Mystery): This text provides an excellent vehicle for analyzing the “unreliable narrator” literary device. Teachers can guide students to evaluate how a protagonist’s traumatic brain injury and subsequent amnesia skew the pacing and delivery of clues, prompting deep discussion about narrative objectivity and structure in contemporary thrillers.
- Social-Emotional Learning (SEL): The book heavily explores the psychological realities of trauma, hidden mental health struggles, and depression. Claire’s internal conflict and her active attempts to mask her depression from her own therapist mother offer a realistic starting point for discussions about healthy emotional expression, vulnerability, and navigating internal isolation.
Extension Activity / Library Application:
- Student-Recommended Thriller Display: Capitalizing on the reviewer’s note that a student’s rave recommendation inspired them to read the book, the library can create a “Peer-to-Peer Mystery Picks” interactive shelf display. Students can leave mini-reviews or star-ratings for That Weekend and other high-intensity thrillers to encourage peer-driven independent reading.
Readalikes:
- The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas
- The Lying Game by Sara Shepard
- We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
