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You’ll Be the Death of Me by Karen M. McManus – #TheWriteReads #UltimateBlogTour Book Review
About the Book
From the author of One of Us Is Lying comes a brand new addictive thriller.
Ivy, Mateo and Cal used to be close – best friends back in middle school.
Now all they have in common is a bad day. So for old time’s sake they skip school together – one last time.
But when the trio spot Brian ‘Boney’ Mahoney ditching class too, they follow him – right into a murder scene.
They all have a connection to the victim. And they’re ALL hiding something.
When their day of freedom turns deadly, it’s only a matter of time before the truth comes out . . .
It’s Ferris Bueller’s Day Off with murder, perfect for fans of One Of Us Is Lying and A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder. This explosive new thriller is impossible to put down.
About the Author
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. For more information, visit www.karenmcmanus.com or @writerkmc on Twitter and Instagram.
What I Thought
Karen M. McManus certainly knows how to write a thriller. I love the film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and her previous books so was excited to join the tour to see how they combined in You’ll Be the Death of Me.
It’s told from the points of view of the three protagonists, Ivy, Mateo and Cal who used to be friends when they were younger. We also have have a few sections from their school’s YouTube news channel for an external report on events.
Trying to recreate their Greatest Day ever the three skip school and it isn’t long before sh*t happens. Adding a deadline for solving the case was genius because it ramped up the tension. Will they work out what happened to “Boney” and get Ivy to her mum’s award ceremony in time? That is if they all manage to evade the police.
Re-igniting old crushes, rivalries and wounds this plot was so action packed. Each character has plenty of secrets they want to keep hidden, but does that make one of them a murderer?
🤐 You will have to read to find out.
Thanks to Dave at The Write Reads and Penguin Platform for the gifted e copy for the purposes of an honest review. Check out the rest of the tour stops by following the hashtags #YoullBeTheDeathOfMe #TheWriteReads #UltimateBlogTour.
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Wicked Little Deeds by Kat Ellis – #TheWriteReads #UltimateBlogTour Book Review
About the Book
*THE BRAND NEW TERRIFYING THRILLER FROM KAT ELLIS*
‘Riverdale meets The Haunting of Hill House’ – Amy McCaw, author of Mina and the Undead
‘Kat Ellis wields an oppressive atmosphere like a sharply honed blade‘ – Sera Milano, author of This Can Never Not Be Real
‘Horrifyingly good fun!‘ Kathryn Foxfield, author of Good Girls Die First
From its creepy town mascot to the story of its cursed waterfall, Burden Falls is a small town dripping with superstition. Ava Thorn knows this well – since the horrific accident she witnessed a year ago, she’s been plagued by nightmares.
But when her school nemesis is brutally murdered and Ava is the primary suspect, she starts to wonder if the legends surrounding the town are more fact than fiction.
Whatever secrets Burden Falls is hiding, there’s a killer on the loose, and they have a vendetta against the Thorns…
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55600867-wicked-little-deeds
About the Author
Kat Ellis is a young adult author whose novels include Wicked Little Deeds/Burden Falls (August 2021), Harrow Lake (July 2020), Purge (September 2016), Breaker (May 2016), and Blackfin Sky (May 2014). She is a fan of all things horror and sci-fi, and a keen explorer of ruins, castles and cemeteries – all of which are plentiful in North Wales, where Kat lives with her husband.
You can find out more about Kat at http://www.katelliswrites.com or connect with her on social media.
Email: katelliswrites@gmail.com
Website: katelliswrites.com
Facebook: facebook.com/katelliswrites
Instagram: @katelliswrites
Twitter: @el_kat
(from https://katelliswrites.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html)
What I Thought
This was so good. All gothic and horrifying, a cross between The Ring, The Grudge, Scream and I Know What your family did a few centuries back, with a dash of Romeo and Juliet thrown in.
Kat Ellis has created a truly spooky mystery thriller with lots of twists and turns. I did manage to guess who done it but literally only just before the book’s characters. I was led a merry dance with all the missteps and clever authorly suggestions too.
The Burden Falls legend of Deadeyed Sadie added a spooky layer to this murderous tale and I definitely got that horror movie heart racing vibe whilst reading this. I also loved that the manor and setting became a character in this tale too.
Full of newspaper clippings, family feuds and a hit teen version of Most Haunted this is a book to read with the lights on and 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻 A film to watch with the lights off! I just hope I don’t get nightmares like Ava 😱😬😴.
Main character Ava is a intriguing heroine, one who maybe isn’t an innocent as she seems. Is there curse on her family? And will she be the one to survive it?
Wicked Little Deeds is out now so don’t delay, read and scare yourself today!
Thanks to Dave at The WriteReads and the publisher for the gifted ecopy for the purposes of an honest review. Check out the hashtags #WickedLittleDeeds #KatEllis #TheWriteReads to see what everyone else thought.
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What Beauty There Is by Cory Anderson – @The_WriteReads #UltimateBlogTour Book Review
About the Book
When everything you love is in danger, how long can you keep running to survive?
Life can be brutal
Winter in Idaho. The sky is dark. It is cold enough to crack bones.
Jack knew it
Jack Dahl has nothing left. Except his younger brother, Matty, who he’d die for. Their mother is gone, and their funds are quickly dwindling, Jack needs to make a choice: lose his brother to foster care, or find the drug money that sent his father to prison.
So did I
Ava lives in isolation, a life of silence. For seventeen years her father, a merciless man, has controlled her fate. He has taught her to love no one.
Did I feel the flutter of wings when Jack and I met? Did I sense the coming tornado?
But now Ava wants to break the rules – to let Jack in and open her heart. Then she discovers that Jack and her father are stalking the same money, and suddenly Ava is faced with a terrible choice: remain silent or speak out and help the brothers survive.
Looking back, I think I did . . .
Perfect for fans of Patrick Ness, Meg Rosoff and Daniel Woodrell, What Beauty There Is an unforgettable debut novel that is as compulsive as it is beautiful, and unflinchingly explores the power of determination, survival and love.
‘Beautifully written and superbly constructed, Anderson pulls you onto a chilling footpath of love and loss and keeps you there until you’ve read every last word’ Ruta Sepetys, bestselling author of Between Shades of Grey
About the Author
Cory Anderson is a winner of the League of Utah Writers Young Adult Novel Award and Grand Prize in the Storymakers Conference First Chapter Contest. She lives in Utah with her family. What Beauty There Is is her debut novel.
Twitter: @coryanderwrites
Website: https://coryanderson.us/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coryanderwrites/
What I Thought
First up this book could do with one heck of a trigger warning. There wasn’t one in the ARC so I don’t know if there is one in the finished copy.
TW for suicide, addiction, violence, murder.
This book gets straight into the dark stuff and it keeps on piling although there are periods of quiet respite. It is a gritty depiction of the uglier sides of life and it feels authentic in its rawness. I can see this one winning prizes!
Each chapter starts off with Ava’s voice, speaking from the end of the story, adding weight to our foreboding, as an example the end of her part in chapter two says ‘We knew each other nine days.’
The rest of the chapters are close third person, mainly from Jack’s POV but also from the antagonist and a cop.
The three children, teenagers Jack and Ava, and Jack’s younger brother Matty are definitely victims of their circumstances – all born into families that mean they do not have a head start at life. Two quotes that struck me were:
“He lay in the dark and the blue, and he wished for a more beautiful world than there was.”
“You can’t just tell people they’re the master of their fate and let them believe it. They’ll think they’ve done something wrong their entire life.”
Those reflect how much this book makes your heart bleed for these characters. But they do find beauty in each other and it’s their relationships – the tender love between the brothers, the youngest looking to the eldest for protection; and the blossoming feelings between Ava and Jack. There is a hint of instant attraction between them but it is the kindness they show each other that has you rooting for this pair of starcrossed lovers. There are definite echoes of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in their tale, which swaps Verona for Idaho.
The wintery snowy landscape adds to the atmosphere of the story – with the constrast between its barrenness and beauty reflecting the characters’ experiences.
Anderson’s prose is beautiful. This book has a very lyrical feel which plays against the brutality in the story.
This book will shatter you. According to goodreads a book two is planned and some healing is definitely needed. I’m certainly not ready to let these characters go.
Thanks you to @TheWriteReads and the publisher for the gifted ARC for the purposes of an honest review. I have to admit preferring the cover of the ARC as I think it better reflects the story inside. Below are the UK and US finished covers.
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