Do you live in a town that loves sports? That identifies heavily with their sport mascot? Then you’ll love Rest in Peaches. But if you also love a story that is invested in wondering who we are without the mask, then you’ll also enjoy this one! Keep reading this book review of Rest in Peaches for my full thoughts.
Summary
When someone sabotages the legendary Peaches costume at the Homecoming Game, Quinn’s left unmasked and humiliated. After all, Peaches’ identity was a closely guarded secret and a point of pride for nearly everyone at Olivia Newton-John High. As if that wasn’t enough, Little Peaches, a new, real parrot that the PTA got to enhance the Peaches Experience, is kidnapped right after Quinn’s unmasking.
Determined to uncover the culprit, Quinn publicly unravels the lives of everyone in her path―including Tessa Banks, the most popular girl in school―in a no-holds-barred conspiracy-fueled investigation. But when a killer starts going after the people implicated in Quinn’s mascot disaster, she must race to uncover the truth behind her feathery faux-pas―before the truth kills her, too.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Rest in Peaches is a thrilling investigative story about ambition and revenge. While it’s easy to get sucked into the mystery and action, what I appreciated is the exploration of the theme of masks. For Quinn, she’s made being Peaches her entire personality. She identifies with Peaches and the persona it gives her. When she’s Peaches, she feels a sense of being larger than herself and so when she’s exposed, it’s incredibly traumatic for her. Who is she without Peaches? And this theme continues to be discussed in Rest in Peaches. Who are all the faces behind the masks and what motivations do we have to don a mask?
Throughout Rest in Peaches, we witness the different characters who have interacted with Peaches. They feel like Peaches is a part of their identity. And as someone who used to go to a school where the school sports mascot and school sports were incredibly important, I could relate to the ways the community reacts. They act betrayed that there’s someone beneath Peaches, when they know full well it’s a person. But they all have these careful illusions they rely upon. So when their illusions are shattered, they feel betrayed. Their reactions reflect rage and sadness.
In Rest in Peaches Quinn and Tessa’s story becomes not only about solving a murder, but about unraveling the past. Because the story illustrates how the past never can be forgotten. Even more important, when the mask is removed, what remains? Find Rest in Peaches on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.
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