I received an eARC of this book for my participation in the Blog Tour hosted by The Write Reads Tours.
Thank you to Dave, Penguin and Karen M. McManus. This hasn’t influenced my review in any way, my review is honest and unbiased.
Title: You’ll be the death of me
Author: Karen M. McManus
Published: December 2nd 2021
Publisher: Penguin
Genre: Mystery
Age Range: YA
Length: 400 pages
Source: Blog Tour: The Write Reads
Buy links:* Hardcover || Paperback Blackwells
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From the author of One of Us Is Lying comes a brand new pulse-pounding thriller. When three old friends re-live an epic ditch day, it goes horribly-and deadly-wrong.
Ivy, Mateo, and Cal used to be close. Back in middle school they were best friends. 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 school and go into the city. Just the three of them, like old times. Why did they stop hanging out, anyway?
As soon as they pull out of the parking lot Cal knows why. Ivy’s already freaking out about missing class, and heartthrob Mateo is asleep in the backseat, too cool to even pretend like he wants to be there. The truth is they have nothing in common anymore.
At least they don’t until they run into the fourth student ditching school that day. Brian “Boney” Mahoney is supposed to be accepting his newly won office of class president. Which is why Ivy follows him into an empty building, only to walk into the middle of a murder scene. Cal, Ivy, and Mateo all know the person lying on the ground of that building, and now they need to come clean. They’re all hiding something. And maybe their chance reconnection wasn’t by chance after all.
Reasons to read You’ll be the death of me:
- Chaos
- Intriguing characters
- Fast pace that keeps you turning the pages
I’ve read (and loved) one other book by Karen M. McManus and really enjoyed how fast-paced, intriguing and yet so easy to read it was. And she delivers again with You’ll be the death of me. Actually, I might even like this one a smidge more than I did The Cousins (which says a lot).
It perfectly fit my mood and was just what I needed after some tiring days at work. To get lost in the pages of a book that had me turning the pages without even knowing, glued to the pages. I flew through it and loved every moment of it.
Ivy, Cal and Mateo are all so different from each other and yet, they kind of compliment each other. Even though they haven’t really talked a lot in a few years and are both very close through their past friendship and also distant through the secrets they each keep. It was always easy to tell which chapter I was in as they have all very distinct voices. Their personalities really shine through. Ivy with her self-doubt and wanting to prove to herself and everyone else that she isn’t less than her talented younger brother. I loved her little trivia facts that she sends randomly (and at weird hours of the night). Cal with his relationship problems, his talent for making comics and his struggles to find real friends. And Mateo, who has two jobs to help his ill mother, his love for his family and his calm but also distant demeanor.
I loved the dynamic between these three and how it shifted from time to time. Every one of them has their own problems to deal with that influence their behaviour in this chaotic situation. I loved exploring their past, their current situation at home and with their family just as much as them trying to solve the murder. They all went through some character growth throughout this whole adventure and I really appreciated that.
When you mix three teenagers who used to be friends, with a spontaneous trip for olds sake time and a dead classmate you get chaos, secrets, twists, misunderstandings and betrayal. And just everything you need to not think about your own world for a while.
Would recommend to:
Everyone in search for a fast-paced mystery that has lots of little twists and keeps you guessing. With well developed characters that make mistakes but also grow throughout the story.
Karen M. McManus is the #1 New York Times and international bestselling author of young adult thriller/mystery novels, including One of Us Is Lying, One of Us Is Next, Two Can Keep a Secret, and The Cousins. You’ll Be the Death of Me will be her next novel, publishing December 2021. Her work has been translated into more than 40 languages worldwide. Karen lives in Massachusetts and holds a master’s degree in Journalism from Northeastern University, which she mostly uses to draft fake news stories for her novels.
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