You'll Be the Death of Me

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Author(s)

Karen M. McManus

Publisher

Delacorte Press

Genre(s)

Age Range

14+

Release Date

November 30, 2021

ISBN

978-0593175866

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 from working two jobs since his family’s business failed. And outsider Cal just got stood up . . . again.

So when the three unexpectedly run into each other, they decide to avoid their problems by ditching. 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...like a connection to the dead kid. And they’re all hiding something.

Could it be that their chance reconnection wasn’t by chance after all?

Editor reviews

2 reviews

Book and Audio Review

December 04, 2021

Overall rating

5.0

Plot

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Characters

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Writing Style

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I am happy to report that I loved this book. To be honest, I was a little worried going in because McManus’ other books haven’t had an impact on me like One of Us Is Next did. However, this book reminded me why I loved McManus’ debut so much. The characters are introduced right in the beginning in their own chapters to establish the dynamic of each. Then begins an attempt to recreate The Best Day Ever. And as one can assume, that didn’t happen. Events begin to unravel fast and the trio needs to figure out what’s going on so they don’t get blamed for it. I finished this book in a day because I could not put it down. It was engaging and fast with details about each character revealing themselves as the plot thickened. I was able to guess about half of what was going on and it was another amazing twist. And as always, McManus needs to get the last word in. But this time, I was able to guess what it was. The whole book is full of twists and turns with it be engaging every page turned.

I really enjoyed the characters. I think that was my issue with the other books. I didn’t enjoy our characters as much but as soon as they were introduced, I was hooked. There wasn’t one that I enjoyed more than another as they all meshed really well together. McManus created a great chemistry between all three of them and I enjoyed it immensely. Cal made some excellent remarks at the end of the book that really nailed down their relationship. Even though there wasn’t much development as the book went on, it was clear how much they have grown during their years apart. I thought this was a good approach because each character did develop, but not in a typical manner. There was not one point of view that I felt like was too much or too little. Each had their own spotlight enough.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, You’ll Be the Death of Me by Karen McManus was such a good book. I really enjoyed the characters and the plot. This book reminded me why I enjoyed McManus debut so much. The writing was so well down and the pacing was fantastic. I finished this book so fast because I just could not put it down. The characters were perfect for this story and it just fit so well that they were old friends found new. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has enjoyed McManus’ books in the past or just enjoyed thrillers and mysteries.

AUDIO REVIEW
NOTE: The narration does not affect my rating of the book
I loved this narration so much. Each character has their own narrator and it worked out perfectly. The story was easy to follow and each narrator really brought their character to life. I would absolutely recommend this audio for anyone – new or experienced.