Review: White Rabbit by Caleb Roehrig

Author: Caleb Roehrig
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Number of Pages: 320
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Synopsis:

"Rufus Holt is having the worst night of his life. It begins with the reappearance of his ex-boyfriend, Sebastian—the guy who stomped his heart out like a spent cigarette. Just as Rufus is getting ready to move on, Sebastian turns up out of the blue, saying they need to "talk." Things couldn’t get much worse, right?
But then Rufus gets a call from his sister April, begging for help. And then he and Sebastian find her, drenched in blood and holding a knife, beside the dead body of her boyfriend, Fox Whitney.
April swears she didn’t kill Fox—but Rufus knows her too well to believe she’s telling him the whole truth. April has something he needs, though, and her price is his help. Now, with no one to trust but the boy he wants to hate yet can’t stop loving, Rufus has one night to prove his sister’s innocence…or die trying."

I have been such a sucker for thrillers lately that this came to me at the most perfect time. I think this book was mentioned by the Hey YA! podcast by Book Riot but other than that I hadn't heard much but the synopsis had me hooked.

The main character, Rufus, is really shrewd in his sleuthing skills and he was such a fun character to follow. I loved being able to take a look into his memories with the flashbacks. It was executed really well.

Sebastian and Rufus's relationship was a really cute and I loved that it didn't take away from the overall story. The romance was subtle and didn't overshadow the fact that they were in the middle of a murder mystery. There was the addition of homophobia which might be triggering for some but it also added some interesting character development and drama. 

The only thing that really bothered me about this book was Rufus's self-esteem. He only seemed to find validation or self-worth when Sebastian was with him. I don't agree with any of the people who completely dismissed the book due to that character flaw. To be honest, I've only been out of high school for two years and I can attest to the fact that there are a lot of teens out there who feel less because they aren't in a relationship or haven't been. So hating the book due to a realistic character trait doesn't make sense. I was hoping that eventually Rufus would realize this flaw and try to fix it but that didn't happen. 

If you are a fan of thrillers then I would highly recommend getting your hands on this novel!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars!!