This Book Kills: the bestselling new YA thriller of 2023

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I guess I can't be too hard on this book, bc it is a ya/childrens book. The way it was written, made it clear that it's for the younger ppl that read ya (12&13), which is alright in itself, but my expectations are a bit higher than that I was really into this story initially, I found the writing of the first few chapters extremely engaging and I was intrigued. I noticed from the offset that there was a very dry and witty sense of humour underpinning the story which always works for me. I liked the somewhat sarcastic tone the book had, it ,ade it feel a bit lighter and easier to get through given the bleak vibes of the plot. Sassy. Smart. And funny? What more could a girl want? - S.M. Wilson, author of The Extinction Trials It's been a couple of days now since I finished This Book Kills... I definitely needed that time to gather my thoughts... Because... Its been such a long time since I read a murder mystery where I haven't outrightly correctly predicted the murderer. There were times where I suspected but always said in my head "no, it can't be" and so here I am! Reading the little author's note at the end shed some light on the writing style and why Ravena Guron chose to write with an Agatha Christie esque YA murder mystery. I think the best part was the scene where Jes figured out who the murderer was. Even though bits of it didn't make sense and it was way too much information at once, it was a surprise and I definitely did not have this person on my radar.

Author Guy Bass introduces SCRAP, about one robot who tried to protect the humans on his planet against an army of robots. Now the humans need his... With time running out, Jess knows if she doesn’t solve this mystery she’ll finally have something in common with Hugh Henry.The story is laced with twist and turns and touches on life as a scholarship student who is under the strict instructions to not get in to any trouble, contrasted with the life of those with money who can try to make anything go away with it. Will they this time? Miren, cuando es una historia en que el malo puede estar confiado porque, no sé, tiene al héroe en su cueva mística en la que nadie más puede entrar o ya de paso es la única persona que queda viva, contar tu historia y planes villanos está bien. Tonto, pero bien. Pero, cuando estas en una escuela llena de niños que pueden pasar por donde estás en cualquier momento, tu victima puede gritar super fuerte o puede correr a donde haya más personas, no te quedas narrando tu existencia mientras esa persona encuentra una forma de deshacerte de ti o sucede lo inevitable: alguien más pasa por el lugar. I liked the writing. It was easy to follow the story and Jess‘ narrative was entertaining throughout the whole story. I actually liked the MC which in most cases is very rare. I think what made the book so great is that most of the important(!) characters were all fully „developed“. They had their own personality and all. Except for tommy. I didn’t directly dislike him but imo he was just the classical „mc needs a love interest and it’s the nice guy that helps her throughout the story“-trope. He was just nice. I can’t think of any other words to describe this character. Even Hugh (who‘s dead since the first chapters) has more personality than tommy. Anyway I had somewhat predicted the ending or suspected who the murderer would be but the ending was still not too obvious. In total: 4.5

Well this was a blast. The premise was pretty ridiculous - teenage girl who's on the outs at school because she's a poor scholarship student at an elite boarding school writes a story for class. Said story features murder. Someone steals her story and uses the exact mode of death to murder their richest and most popular classmate, then texts to thank her for the inspiration. Jess va preguntando y acosando por ahí a todo el que mira extraño. También va contando sus hipótesis y descubrimientos en voz alta a donde quiera que va, sabiendo que el asesino se encuentra entre los estudiantes y que puede estar escuchando lo que dice. Pero eh, que es ella la que sabe. A Millie le encanta hacer rabietas donde todo el mundo la vea, a Clem le gusta ir actuando como una tonta sin cerebro, pero de buen corazón, por todas partes. Hugh Van Boren se siente triste y ofendido porque le dijeron Hugh Van Boring, como si el peor de los insultos se tratase. Los chicos son todos simps, incluso los que no tienen razones para ser simps, además de tontos que no pueden pensar por sí mismos o hacer cosas sin ayuda femenina. Los que son adultos y pueden valerse por su cuenta están tirados a desaparecidos, incompetentes o padres a quienes sus hijos odian. Jess, a student under strict instructions to keep her record clean or risk losing her scholarship, finds herself at the centre of the investigation when it's revealed that Hugh died in the exact same way as a character in a short story she wrote.I liked it. I didn’t love it but I still liked it enough to still rate it highly. I could see myself still recommending this book to a lot of people What I loved about the characters, was that each character was unique and that a friend group of completely different people was formed. I mean, there's a character called Clementine-Tangerine, because her parents own a fruit company. This isn't a dour, serious book at all!

I also really liked Summer, fellow Scholarship student and Tommy, Jess’s longtime crush and the deceased Hugh’s best friend. And I admit, given how sweet their interactions were I was wholeheartedly rooting for Jess and Tommy to become more that friends. I didn’t even help. Well, not intentionally.”When Hugh Henry Van Boren, one of the most popular and richest kids in Jess Choudhary’s school, is found dead, the student body is left reeling and wondering who the murderer could be… Jess, a student under strict instructions to keep her record clean or risk losing her scholarship, finds herself at the centre of the investigation when it’s revealed that Hugh died in the exact same way as a character in a short story she wrote. The Hating Game meets Mission: Impossible in Stars and Smoke, a smoldering new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu about a superstar tapped to become a secret agent and the reluctant young spy assigned to be his partner. I loved everything about this book! I would re-read it and would highly recommend it to you, your family and your cat! This was a very entertaining and well paced murder mystery. Like Agatha Christie for young adult readers.

And then Jess receives an anonymous text thanking her for the inspiration… With her scholarship on the line Jess must now uncover the identity of the murderer before she becomes their next victim. I loved that a map of the school was included at the beginning of the book. This gives the reader a feel of the setting. Set at a boarding school with a secret society is already a recipe for success, but add mystery and tension, and the story takes on a whole new level.

Loved that right before we get to know who the murderer was and what the motive behind it was there would have been space to write down notes and well investigate on my own if I wanted. Buuutt I was clueless, yes I did have a hunch but I was like "no it can't be".Jess is telling us this story from the present, after it's all over. So there are touches that bring us out of the immediacy of the murders and remind us that the narrator already knows the solution, and often does this with humour.