ya mystery

Book Review of You’ll Be the Death of Me by Karen M McManus

/ Dani Hoots Author / Leave a comment

91vaushjn3l

Title: You’ll Be The Death of Me

Author: Karen M McManus

Review by: Dani Hoots

Genre: YA Thriller/Mystery/Dark Academia
 

Rating: 5/5

Buy Here

Back cover:

Ivy, Mateo, and Cal used to be close. Now all they have in common is Carlton High and the beginning of a very bad day. Type A Ivy lost a student council election to the class clown, and now she has to face the school, humiliated. Heartthrob Mateo is burned out from working two jobs since his family’s business failed. And outsider Cal just got stood up . . . again. 

So when the three unexpectedly run into each other, they decide to avoid their problems by ditching. Just the three of them, like old times. Except they’ve barely left the parking lot before they run out of things to say. . . 

. . . until they spot another Carlton High student skipping school—and follow him to the scene of his own murder. In one chance move, their day turns from dull to deadly. And it’s about to get worse. It turns out Ivy, Mateo, and Cal still have some things in common…like a connection to the dead kid. And they’re all hiding something. 

Could it be that their chance reconnection wasn’t by chance after all? 

Karen M McManus has become one of my favorite authors in the past year. She can bring her characters to life in ways that makes me very jealous. She does a great job making you think a character is going to be a stereotype and then weaves in secrets and has the characters grow in ways you don’t expect. This is the second book of hers that I have read and I can’t wait to pick up her other books.

This book starts out a lot like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which is always a great call back. It definitely takes a different turn when they witness a fellow classmate’s murder. Realizing they had been spotted, they know they need to clear their names. But what secrets would be revealed as they search for clues?

I don’t want to giveaway any of the secrets, so it’s hard to write what I liked about this book. I did like how Karen addressed some issues that teens face every day and brings them to light in her writing. All in all, I highly recommend this book if you like thrillers, mysteries, and young adult books!

~Dani

 

Book Review of The Counselors by Jessica Goodman

/ Dani Hoots Author / Leave a comment

9119opqmazl

Title: The Counselors

Author: Jessica Goodman

Review by: Dani Hoots

Genre: YA Thriller/Mystery
 

Rating: 4/5

Buy Here

Back cover:

From New York Times bestselling author Jessica Goodman comes a twisty new thriller about three best friends, one elite summer camp, and the dark secrets that lead to a body in the lake.

Camp Alpine Lake is the only place where Goldie Easton feels safe.
 
She’s always had a special connection to the place, even before she was old enough to attend. The camp is the lifeline of Roxwood, the small town she lives in. Alpine Lake provides jobs, money and prestige to the region. Few Roxwood locals, though, get to reap the rewards of living so close to the glam summer that camp, with its five-figure tuition and rich kids who have been dumped there for eight weeks by their powerful parents. Goldie’s one of them.
 
Even with her “townie” background, Goldie has never felt more at home at camp and now she’s back as a counselor, desperate for summer to start and her best friends, Ava and Imogen, to arrive. Because Goldie has a terrible dark secret she’s been keeping and she is more in need of the comfort than ever.
 
But Goldie’s not the only person at camp who has been lying. When a teen turns up dead in the lake late one night, she knows that the death couldn’t have been an accident. She also knows that Ava was at the lake that same night.
 
What did Ava see and what does she know? Why hasn’t she said anything to Goldie about the death? Worse—what did Ava do?
 
But asking questions offers no answers, only broken bonds of lifelong friendship, with hidden danger and betrayals deeper than Goldie ever imagined.

YA Thriller/Dark Academia and sci-fi westerns are definitely my favorite genres, so I had to pick up this book! It was a great book to read to bring the summer to a close. It was full of emotions, mystery, and friendship.

Although I enjoyed the book a lot, I had a couple of issues. One, it was said no one knew about the accident, but there was something Goldie had to sign written up by either a lawyer or the father of her ex, but later it was mentioned that the father didn’t know the truth of the accident. Then what did the paper say? And I feel the ex would have told his father to help him get all the legal stuff straight. I also felt the book was a bit predictable on who the killer was. There was also some things that weren’t sorted out, but I don’t want to spoil the ending. Goldie was a very relatable character that was in love and made the wrong choices. I feel we all can relate to that.

All in all though, it was a great book and I enjoyed it and recommend it to people who love thrillers or mysteries. It had a great summer camp feel and it left you wanting to read more. 

~Dani

 

Book Review of How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao

/ Dani Hoots Author / Leave a comment

81lnsa095ss

Title: How We Fall Apart

Author: Katie Zhao

Review by: Dani Hoots

Genre: YA Thriller/Mystery/Dark Academia
 

Rating: 5/5

Buy Here

Back cover:

In a YA thriller that is Crazy Rich Asians meets One of Us is Lying, students at an elite prep school are forced to confront their secrets when their ex-best friend turns up dead.

Nancy Luo is shocked when her former best friend, Jamie Ruan, top-ranked junior at Sinclair Prep, goes missing, and then is found dead. Nancy is even more shocked when word starts to spread that she and her friends–Krystal, Akil, and Alexander–are the prime suspects, thanks to “the Proctor,” someone anonymously incriminating them via the school’s social media app.

They all used to be Jamie’s closest friends, and she knew each of their deepest, darkest secrets. Now, somehow the Proctor knows them, too. The four must uncover the true killer before The Proctor exposes more than they can bear and costs them more than they can afford, like Nancy’s full scholarship. Soon, Nancy suspects that her friends may be keeping secrets from her, too.

Katie Zhao’s YA debut is an edge-of-your-seat drama set in the pressure-cooker world of academics and image at Sinclair Prep, where the past threatens the future these teens have carefully crafted for themselves. How We Fall Apart is the irresistible, addicting, Asian-American recast of Gossip Girl that we’ve all been waiting for.

I am a big fan of dark academia, so Katie Zhao’s HOW WE FALL APART was a wonderful addition to my collection! I loved getting to learn more about the main character and her secrets as time passed in the book instead of it all being dumped on at once. It was suspenseful and such a great read.

Some people say they thought it was a lot like ONE OF US IS LYING by Karen McManus, but I didn’t feel that was the case. Although some stuff is similar, like the fact it’s at a high school and is a mystery, the twists and turns weren’t predictable at all. It was very well written and different compared to other dark academia due to the fact it deals with issues that some, if not many, Asian Americans face. I love that more diverse books are getting published and will always keep supporting those books.

All in all, if you love dark academia, be sure to check out this book! Katie Zhao has another book coming this year and I cannot wait to devour it like I did this one!

~Dani

 

Book Review of Go Hunt Me by Kelly DeVos

/ Dani Hoots Author / Leave a comment

 

91rwymqnx5l

Title: Go Hunt Me

Author: Kelly DeVos

Review by: Dani Hoots

Genre: YA Thriller/Mystery/Dark Academia
 

Rating: 5/5

Buy Here

Back cover:

Alex Rush is ready for the trip of a lifetime.
 
She and her friends have made some creepily awesome films together throughout high school, so with only a few months left before they go their separate ways for college, they’re determined to make the best one yet: an epic short film that reimagines the story of Dracula, filmed on location at a remote castle in Romania.
 
But when they get there, it’s not quite the majestic setting they planned for. Menacing weapons line the walls, the twisted halls are easy to get lost in, and with no connection to the outside world, the group is unexpectedly off the grid. After just a few hours spent under its roof, Alex and her friends have no trouble imagining how this dark, terrifying castle inspired one of the most enduring horror novels of all time.
 
Only soon they no longer have to use their imaginations to understand the location’s terrifying history—just as they get the film’s first shot rolling, one of Alex’s friends disappears, and she’s nearly certain she saw a cloaked stranger lurking in the shadows. As more members of the group begin to meet an untimely demise, Alex is desperate to stop the bloodshed, even if it means facing a monster she never thought would be let loose.

GO HUNT ME by Kelly DeVos was one of those books that I read almost all in one sitting (and then couldn’t sleep after). It is eerie, scary, and will keep you on the edge of your seat. I loved the setting, which was partially in Phoenix (where I live) and Vlad Dracul’s castle in Romania. The stormy weather was also a great aspect, as I could feel the stress of the characters wanting to run by couldn’t.

 

The story is told by the main character as she is telling it to the police. The story is about a group of students who get to shoot their movie in a Romanian castle. As they get there, they notice something is off as a storm shuts off the power and there is something lurking in the shadows. I loved how it was all in one POV and you get to feel the storyteller’s reactions, along with the police officer after she tells a bit of each section of the story.

This story wasn’t exactly what I expected, as I was expecting more paranormal, but that is okay! I loved a lot and Kelly is a great storyteller. If you haven’t be sure to check out her books!

~Dani

 

Book Review of In the Hall with the Knife by Diana Peterfreund

/ Dani Hoots Author / Leave a comment

513icd7zknl._sx336_bo1204203200_

Title: In the Hall with the Knife

Author: Diana Peterfreund

Review by: Dani Hoots

Genre: YA Thriller/Mystery/Dark Academia
 

Rating: 4/5

Buy Here

Back cover:

Scarlet. Mustard. Green. Peacock. Plum. Orchid.

One storm will change their lives forever…if they survive the night.

When a killer storm strikes at Blackbrook Academy, an elite prep school nestled in the woods of Maine, a motley crew of students are left stranded at the aristocratic mansion on campus. House later, his lifeless body is discovered in a pool of blood.

Based on the classic board game CLUE, IN THE HALL WITH THE KNIFE kicks off a trilogy of young adult mysteries in which nothing is what it seems, and everyone has a motive for murder.

The Game is On. No One is Safe.

 

IN THE HALL WITH THE KNIFE by Diana Peterfreund is a YA novel based on the board game CLUE. I love the game and, of course, the movie. The cover caught my eye, and the fact that it was based on CLUE. All of the characters are colors, naturally, and it takes place during a story. Everyone is trapped inside the mansion, which is a dorm at their school, and they are stranded. I thought that was a creative twist, along with Mr. Body being the principal, and Mrs. White the dorm caretaker.

giphy-2

I enjoyed the mystery and how it was in multiple POVs. All of the POVs had different secrets, which is always fun to discover. My only problem is that some of the characters didn’t feel they had much depth; however, since it was a bit of a take on the boardgame, it was still well written and intriguing. It was spooky and I feared for all the characters and what might happen.

inbornjointarrowworm-size_restricted

The book does leave on cliffhanger, and I can’t wait to read the next book! It was definitely a cliffhanger that made me want to know what happens next. I highly recommend to anyone who loves CLUE and YA books!

~Dani

 

Book Review of One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

/ Dani Hoots Author / Leave a comment

5153x42wa9l._sx329_bo1204203200_

Title: One of Us is Lying

Author: Karen M. McManus

Review by: Dani Hoots

Genre: YA Thriller/Mystery/Dark Academia
 

Rating: 5/5

Buy Here

Back cover:

Pay close attention and you might solve this.
On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.
    Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.
    Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.
    Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.
    Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.
    And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app.
 
Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon’s dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose?

Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.

ONE OF US IS LYING by Karen M. McManus is a great murder mystery that left me wanting more. At first, I wasn’t sure how much I would love some of the characters, but found that I loved each and every one of them. There were a lot of secrets revealed for all the characters that kept me reading until late at night. It was a lot like BREAKFAST CLUB, but with a murder.

giphy

The first chapter begins the whirlwind with the murder. It was a really messed up way to kill that actually freaked me out. It was clever and realize later why it was so clever. Then from then on you see what happens to each of the characters and POVs of how they are dealing with being investigated for the murder. Each of them have different motives, and each have different resources, along with their own secrets that are being dug up. It was non-stop action!

giphy-1

My favorite character was Nate, but they were all amazing. Each one of them had a lot of layers, a lot character development, and I was rooting for each and every one of them. The story brings up a lot of issues high schoolers face, and I liked that there were a lot information provided for anyone that is suffering with the issues these characters faced. I can’t wait to read more from this author! If you love murder mysteries and young adult novels, I highly recommend!

~Dani

PS, I just found out while googling the cover image to put in, that it will also be a series on Peacock! Not sure how close it will be to the book, but check it out here.