*Spoiler free*
From the author of One of Us is Lying, You’ll be the Death of Me is a highly anticipated YA thriller.
“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--he's been working two jobs since his family's business failed. And outsider Cal just got stood up.... again.
So when Cal pulls into campus late for class and runs into Ivy and Mateo, it seems like the perfect opportunity to turn a bad day around. They'll ditch and go into the city. 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. They all have a connection to the dead kid. And they're all hiding something.
From the author of One of Us Is Lying comes a brand-new pulse-pounding thriller. It's Ferris Bueller's Day Off with murder when three old friends relive an epic ditch day, and it goes horribly--and fatally--wrong.”
Let me start by saying I was soooo excited to get this book. Counting-down-the-days excited. I checked my Amazon account regularly for tracking updates and opened the door before the delivery man even had a chance to knock.
I even worked extra hours the day before (thank you flexibility of working from home) so I could do nothing except read – and hopefully finish – the book as soon as I got it.
I loved McManus’ previous four books, so I had really high hopes.
Perhaps too high.
Maybe I wasn’t in the right headspace, but I really struggled to get into the book. I counldn’t to stay engaged and I didn’t have the urge to read on. In total it took me three days to finish; I read all her previous books in a day. It took me another three days to write this review because – for me - it was one of those books I really had to think about. Why did I not enjoy it as much as I thought? Was there something missing for me?
The answer is simple: I don’t know. And that’s okay. Sometimes you don’t really know why a book didn’t hit the mark for you and there’s nothing wrong with that (it’s not so great when you’re set to review it, though…)
Of course, McManus’ writing style is, as always, fantastic. It flows well and it’s a light read. Although it put me in a reading slump, for others it could be an easy, short read to get out of a slump. She structures the book well and keeps things moving – which is good to say that much of the book is set over the events of one day.
The three main characters were okay: Ivy, Cal, and Mateo. They all had their flaws but were genuinely good people who cared about each other. I didn’t really feel a connection with them though, as I have with previous characters. I’m not sure if they were underdeveloped, or whether they were just a bit ‘too’ YA for me to relate to/support.
Although Karen’s books all take on the same general structure - a group of teens are faced with a murder mystery, each with something to hide – it didn’t feel too predictable. It did keep me guessing. There are quite a few twists so every time I thought I knew what was going to happen or who did it, I quickly had to reassess, which I enjoy. Yet at the same time, the events seemed very far-fetched. Whereas previous books have been somewhat believable, I found myself thinking, “yeah right” at quite a few points.
In conclusion, I didn’t really enjoy the book. I gave it a 2* for the most part, but I did enjoy the concluding 40 or so pages so I’ll bump it up to a 3*. The ending was definitely neat and satisfactory, which somewhat made up for my previous lack of enjoyment.
I’m still going to buy every book she publishes though.
If you’ve read this and enjoyed it – and haven’t read any of McManus’ previous books, you should! Here’s my list of her books (1 being my favourite, 5 being my least favourite).
1. The Cousins
2. One of Us is Lying
3. Two Can Keep a Secret
4. One of Us is Next
5. You’ll be the Death of Us.
Do you agree – what order would you put her books in?
Disclaimer to say that You’ll Be The Death of Us is currently that #1 New York times bestseller – and I’m so glad. The impact that Karen McManus has had on the YA thriller genre is huge, and I’m very happy that lots of people are clearly loving her book! It wasn’t the one for me, but that’s okay. Different strokes for different folks.
Amy
Executive Writer
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