Absolutely thrilled (pun only slightly intended) to have the opportunity to review the latest twist-filled mystery from Karen McManus. Thank you to The Write Reads for including me in the Ultimate Blog Tour and to NetGalley and Penguin Books for the digital ARC!
Set your cell phone to Do Not Disturb and buckle up, the latest YA Thriller from Karen McManus is here to take you for a ride.
Goodreads Synopsis:
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.
Now they’re all wondering–could it be that their chance reconnection wasn’t by chance after all?
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.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review:
Much like McManus’s previous books, You’ll Be the Death of Me is as bingeable as a Netflix mini-series. Told from the points of view of estranged BFFs Ivy, Mateo, and Cal, things go from interesting to utter chaos before lunchtime. I had to keep reminding myself as I read that everything was happening in a single day! Aside from having to suspend a little disbelief about the number of events that can happen to three high schoolers in a day, I loved the fast pace and how intricately McManus wove everything together.
I wasn’t expecting to enjoy the relationships between our fearlessful trio as much as I did. I’ll admit, I have suffered from a bit of a mystery/thriller slump lately thanks to too many books with one-dimensional or paper thing characters. This book is fully the antidote to that! I felt like I got to know Ivy, Mateo, and Cal as more than just bystanders or plot devices. And I loved that.
This book also put my normally good “spoil the plot twist for myself before it happens” skills to shame. I fully fell for some early red-herrings and am excited for my re-read to see what else I missed! This book is the perfect choice for a fast, twist and character-driven read and I hope you enjoy it too!