You'll Be The Death of Me by Karen M. McManus

Content Tags: Murder, Drugs, Stress, Violence

Description from Storygraph:

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?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This is my second read of this book and it still is excellent. Even knowing what's going to happen, I still found myself having to actively look for the clues. Karen M. McManus is so great at dropping hints that don't feel like hints even when you know they are hints.

I really, really, really want a sequel. I requested it after my first read and am requesting it again after this read. And in the sequel I want more Daniel, Mateo's mom and grandma, and Emily. They're all such fantastic side-characters that I want to know and see more from.

This "review" doesn't seem thorough enough, but I love Karen M. McManus and this book is no exception. If you love a good whodunit with some YA goodness included, Karen M. McManus is a great author to read.

Book Reflection Wrap-up:

Did the characters seem believable to you? Did they remind you of anyone?

Absolutely. That's one of the things I appreciate the most about Karen M. McManus's stories is that she doesn't make the characters too outlandish. There's a lot of thought and care put into the characters.

If you were to write fanfic about this book, what kind of story would you want to tell?

If I thought I could do any justice to it, the fanfic I would write would be the sequel I want so desperately.

December Book Club Book (1/2)

Finished 12/10/2023