Here Lies Daniel Tate: Book Review

When ten-year-old Daniel Tate went missing from one of California’s most elite communities, he left no trace. He simply vanished.

Six years later, when he resurfaces on a snowy street in Vancouver, he’s no longer the same boy. His sandy hair is darker, the freckles are gone, and he’s initially too traumatized to speak, but he’s alive. His overjoyed family brings him home to a world of luxury and comfort he can barely remember. In time, they assure him, he’ll recover his memories; all that matters now is that they’re together again.

It’s perfect. A miracle. Except for one thing.

He isn’t Daniel Tate.

He’s a petty con artist who accidentally stumbled upon the scam of a lifetime, and he soon learns he’s not the only one in the Tate household with something to hide. The family has as many secrets as they have millions in the bank, and one of them might be ready to kill to keep the worst one buried.

I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THIS BOOK.

Here Lies Daniel Tate was nothing I expected. I went into it thinking I had a pretty good grasp on how things were going to turn out in the end, but let me tell you: I couldn’t have been more wrong. In a lot of ways, this book exceeded my expectations, and if you’re looking for a good mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat, then this is definitely the book for you.

One of the things that stood out from the moment I started reading was that the main character isn’t as reliable as main characters would normally be, meaning that you never know whether he’s lying or telling the truth, and here’s the fun part: You never find out his real name. That’s right.,you’ll just have to fill in the blanks yourself, (trust me, there are a lot of them).

The characters were SUPER easy to fall in love with, and honestly, I could talk about them all day long. Each one was so unique and carefully crafted that at times they seemed to come off the page in a way a lot of writers can’t pull off. I have a lot of appreciation for Cristin Terrill’s writing after reading this book, and a lot of it is because of the characters she created.

I want to go into why I loved each of the characters and their story lines, but I’m worried delving too deep into them would reveal a lot of spoilers, and honestly, this is one mystery I’d rather keep to myself. I will talk about a couple of characters, though, because some things are just too good to ignore.

“Daniel Tate”: I use quotation marks, because like I mentioned, his name is never revealed throughout the entire book. This character intrigued me more than almost any YA character ever has, simply because there was never a moment when I was 100% convinced that what he was saying was true, yet simultaneously, there was never a moment when I was 100% sure he was lying. This juxtaposition was what kept me engrossed in the novel from beginning to end, and honestly, I couldn’t love Danny more. He has spent so long building up walls, yet there are these moments when he lets them down and readers are allowed to see what might be the real “Danny Tate.” No matter how much I wanted to, I could never bring myself to hate him.

(Honestly, I just want to take a moment to talk about how well Cristin Terrill creates characters. Like she seriously created the most horrible character, someone readers would typically hate, and she just makes you fall in love with him. How is that even possible?!?!)

Nicholas Tate: Another character I wanted to hate was Nicholas Tate, but honestly, I fell in love with him as well. He was the most closed off of the Tates, and as the story progressed, I didn’t think I was going to like him, but I fell in love with the minuscule things about his personality and life: things like his quiet, sarcastic laughter and the way he interacted with his siblings and especially Danny. Nicholas will pull at your heartstrings in the most subtle, quiet, adorable ways, and creep into your heart before you realize it’s happening. Trust me.

A lot of things about this book strayed from typical YA books, and I admire that for a lot of reasons. When I bought this book, I was looking for something new and fresh, I was beyond tired of the typical YA romance books, all with the same story line.

The good news was I found this book. The bad news was I found this book.

For one, it doesn’t have chapters. I kept waiting for them, but it was just one continuous story with no sections, which I found interesting and oddly refreshing. It made the story feel more authentic, because there are no breaks in real life – only a beginning, end, and a bunch of stuff in the middle.

I was also obsessed with the fact that as wild and suspenseful as the story was, some elements were real and on a variety of levels, everyone could relate to it. It was real like complicated families with tons of secrets; real like longing for acceptance and accepting what you think you deserve; real like laughter and tears, hope and regret, and all of the things that make life both beautiful and scary. How Terrill could paint so many pictures in one story is beyond me, but it was well done.

Overall, I thought the story was told well, and in a more original way than I ever could have imagined. I recommend it to anyone who likes a good mystery and anyone who is tired of mundane YA novels. 4 out of 5 stars from me! Would have been 5, but I guess you’ll have to read it to find out why it wasn’t.