Review: Even If We Break by Marieke Nijkamp

 You know shit's about to go down when five teenagers head off to a cabin in the woods for the weekend. The question is: what, and how?

For Finn, Ever, Carter, Liva, and Maddy, disparate in their everyday lives but bound together by their love of LARPing, this weekend represents a chance of redemption and to mend the fractures between them. Ever, creator of the game, is the most emotionally invested due to their bleak short term prospects compared to the rest of the group. Liva, the rich girl in all typical ways except her unlikely love of the game, gifts the use of the cabin for the weekend - it's a perfect setting and truly an escape. Finn, who was attacked a few weeks back due to homophobia, never wanted to come but wanted to do it for Ever. Maddy, a girl with Autism and PTSD from a car accident, is there because she wants to be but it's more effort for her than everyone else. And Carter, obligated to prove himself to his family, sees it as a welcome escape from his burdens. 

However, as we can guess from the genre, things begin to unravel quickly. Liva had already told them about ghost stories from the mountains, involving bloody hands, a music box, and tiny figurines left behind, and these signs soon present themselves along with others. The fire blazes out of control. Doors lock automatically, with no way of unlocking or smashing them. Notes pertaining to everyone's dark secrets present themselves. And, before long, it escalates to murder. 

Members of the group are picked off one by one. Liva, whose character dies in the game, goes missing. Maddy is tempted by her darkest vice. Carter is picked off in the dark by a familiar voice. And then this someone comes for Finn and Ever. 

Marieke Nijkamp pulls no punches in her prose. From page one, things begin to fall apart figuratively and literally within the group. The mountain setting, though typical, is used to good effect. The use of the game is a particularly interesting and clever device as the actions of the game's characters mirror and magnify the tensions between the real life group members. 

The only thing I was left confused by was the reveal. The person responsible makes sense, but their motives seem a bit disproportionate, but perhaps a second read will help me make more sense of it. 

All in all, this is a cracking thriller read with a dash of good old-fashioned fantasy thrown in within the context of the game.