- Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller, YA
- Published by: Sourcebooks Fire
- Publish date: September 3, 2024
- Number of pages: 368 pages
- Author’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ravenaguron/
- Support local! Buy the book on BookShop!
I’ll make it clear from the start: I did not kill Hugh Henry Van Boren. I didn’t even help…Well, not intentionally.
All Jess Choudhary wants is to keep her head down, do her work, and make it through high school without any problems. As a scholarship student—and one of only two students of Indian heritage—her future at the elite school depends on her ability to keep a low profile and spotless record. But when one of the most popular and richest kids in the school ends up dead in the exact same way as a character in a short story she wrote, Jess unintentionally finds herself at the center of the investigation.
And then Jess receives an anonymous text thanking her for the inspiration.
As rumors run rampant about who the murderer could be, Jess knows if she doesn’t solve this mystery herself, she’ll finally have something in common with she’ll be dead too.
My husband was being goofy where any time I’d pick up this book he’d say “Careful! That book is dangerous!” because “this book kills”.
Rating: 4/5
I recommend this book if you like YA thrillers such as A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson and more specifically, YA Dark Academia Thrillers like How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao and Ace of Spades and Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé.
The author does a great job of creating the setting fairly quickly. We get to know the main characters, key side characters, and the hierarchy that exists at this elite boarding school called Honeybuckle including this secret society known as the Regia Club. Although, I was frustrated with the main character, I realized it’s because she’s an honest depiction of a young girl especially a young girl who is a minority. Many times we have an MC that is a spitfire and isn’t afraid, but that isn’t initially the case with Jess. She keeps her head down and stays out of trouble because she is a scholarship kid who cannot risk losing it. I did not expect to like the character development of Jess as much as I did the mystery! We love a girl who finds her voice especially when it’s to prove who murdered her classmate!
Set at a boarding school and full of red herrings plus many suspects that will keep you puzzled, this story is perfect for those looking for a Dark Academia thriller for fall.
Have you read this book? What are your thoughts? I’d love to know!
I received a gifted Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book from Colored Pages Book Tour and Sourcebooks Fire. This has not impacted my rating and this review is voluntary.
Musings by Michelle 