I really liked Chevy Steven’s book Still Missing, and I was excited to read another book by her. That Night did not disappoint! “As a teenager, Toni Murphy had a life full of typical adolescent complications: a boyfriend she adored, a younger sister she couldn’t relate to, a strained relationship with her parents, and classmates who seemed hell-bent on making her life miserable. Things weren’t easy, but Toni could never have predicted how horrific they would become until her younger sister was brutally murdered one summer night. Toni and her boyfriend, Ryan, were convicted of the murder and sent to prison. Now thirty-four, Toni is out on parole and back in her hometown, struggling to adjust to a new life on the outside. Prison changed her, hardened her, and she’s doing everything in her power to avoid violating her parole and going back. This means having absolutely no contact with Ryan, avoiding fellow parolees looking to pick fights, and steering clear of trouble in all its forms. But nothing is making that easy–not Ryan, who is convinced he can figure out the truth; not her mother, who doubts Toni’s innocence; and certainly not the group of women who made Toni’s life hell in high school and may have darker secrets than anyone realizes. No matter how hard she tries, ignoring her old life to start a new one is impossible. Before Toni can truly move on, she must risk everything to find out what really happened that night.
But in That Night by Chevy Stevens, the truth might be the most terrifying thing of all.” This story is told from Toni’s point of view, both in the present and when she was in high school and the summer following, as well as her time in jail. The fact that Toni was imprisoned for a crime she did not commit was scary, and the fact is that this happens to people more often than we might think. It is so sad that a group of mean girls in high school hated Toni so much that they were able to lie at her trial and effect her entire future. I was surprised that there was not more of a twist in the ending, but at the same time, I did not predict the circumstances that led to Toni’s sisters death, nor to the discovery of how it happened. In the end, I was happy with the way the book ended, and I enjoyed reading it.
What have you been reading lately?