This is fine, and absolutely what I expected, but I wish it had left me with more of an impression once I shut the pages. The writing is the kind that keeps the story moving at a good pace but doesn’t necessarily leave you thinking about it once the book is closed. They felt very- teenage! I think they were just the right level of stubborn in their determination to figure out what happened themselves. Although I never found the dead body of a classmate, I definitely struggled with academic insecurity and had friends that I would’ve loved to have reconnected with after drifting apart. I thought the characters were well-developed and pretty relatable from my own teen-years.

That’s not the only thing about this book I liked though. I can see why these books are so popular based on the ability to tell a satisfying story alone. The plot was steadily paced with twists and turns galore that kept me on my toes, and I felt like the conclusion was a really nice wrap-up of all the threads that McManus had going through the whole book. Younger Imogen who was reading adult thrillers about miserable detectives who hate their wives would’ve eaten up You’ll Be The Death Of Me. I often wish I had the books that are being published today when I was a teen, and this is no exception. Now they’re all wondering–could it be that their chance reconnection wasn’t by chance after all? They all have a connection to the dead kid. It turns out Ivy, Mateo, and Cal still have some things in common. In one chance move, their day turns from dull to deadly. Until they spot another Carlton High student skipping school–and follow him to the scene of his own murder. Except they’ve barely left the parking lot before they run out of things to say… 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.

Heartthrob Mateo is burned out–he’s been working two jobs since his family’s business failed. Type A Ivy lost a student council election to the class clown, and now she has to face the school, humiliated. Now all they have in common is Carlton High and the beginning of a very bad day. So when the opportunity to be on the blog tour came up, I jumped. Despite their popularity, I hadn’t read one of Karen McManus’ Young Adult thrillers before You’ll Be The Death Of Me*! They were always the ones I’d see getting rave reviews and think… sure, one day I’ll read one of those.

Nothing tastes as good claire hennessy