Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

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

21 reviews

beckyremillard's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Ivy, Mateo, and Cal used to be best friends. Several years later they find themselves skipping school together and it’s a lot more than they bargained for. 

I was immediately hooked by this book, through the perspective of all three friends. There was a bit where I was a bit annoyed at their choices, but they are high schoolers and aren’t expected to make smart decisions all the time. 

I didn’t expect this story to primarily  take place in one day, but I thought it added to the story that there was kind of a “deadline” at the end of the day. 

I thought it was going to wrap up vaguely neatly; not perfectly but most ducks in a row. However, after finishing it I’m really hoping for a sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Kidnapping

quillify_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

As always, McManus's books are phenomenal. Can always rely on them to pull me out of a reading slump. I adored the main trio of characters. Their struggles and secrets and character development made this story all the more interesting. The pacing of this was phenomenal (better than OoUiL, sorryyy), which explains why I finished this in mere hours. Ivy and her overachieving struggles, her fear of rejection really resonated with me. Also appreciate how the book touched upon the topic of female predators and how they are let off easier than their male counterparts. I am so glad that Cal is doing better by the end and is finally happy. Same goes for Mateo; his sense of duty, streak of stubbornness and fear of failure also struck a chord. Excellent book honestly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Adult/minor relationship, and Chronic illness

froggybooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Gun violence, Drug use, Drug abuse, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, and Chronic illness

Minor: Car accident

frantically's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

An interesting enough story but one that sadly just didn't grip me enough. After not liking "The Cousins" too, I'm thinking this will be it for me and McManus.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Chronic illness, Classism, and Car accident

Minor: Alcohol

max_nico's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Chronic illness, Kidnapping, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Gun violence

bookedandbusy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this book so much! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, and Vomit

Also somewhat graphic depictions of drowning

mayaweaver's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

 📖Review: You’ll Be the Death of Me📖 

By: Karen M McManus 

Genre: YA mystery 

Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️•✨/ 5 

[TW: murder, violence, adult (teacher)/minor (student) relationship, drug use, drug dealing, chronic illness, parental abandonment] 

 

🟢 What I liked: 

↪️ Simplistic: the writing was very simplistic, making this excellent read for younger YA audiences, such as people between 11-14. The book does not require any deep thinking and is fairly straightforward 

 

🔴 What I didn’t like: 

↪️ Generic: I loved One of Us Is Lying and Two Can Keep a Secret, however with McManus’s later books, I am finding them to be extremely generic – a handful of teenagers somehow get involved in a murder that they have to solve within a certain time range (that would be highly impossible for even trained police and detectives) while also overcoming all their little secrets from years back. It’s just not as engaging anymore – I want to read a unique YA mystery with unique characters, and this book wasn’t it 

↪️ Suspense: it just wasn’t there. I read the book quickly because it was a straightforward text, however I wasn’t ever on the edge of my seat needing to know what would happen next 

↪️ Conclusion: due to the lack of suspense, I wasn’t intrigued by the conclusion, which was written as a cliffhanger for McManus’s next release, which I assume will be the next in the series. It felt rushed and extremely far-fetched, with many things left (most likely to be revealed in the next book), but it hasn’t meant that I’m desperate for the next book (I’m actually considering not reading it) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Chronic illness, Drug use, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcohol

anniereads221's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Chronic illness, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Violence

Minor: Car accident

wondernaut55's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A simple young-teen true crime. Ferris Bueller (so self aware there was a cheeky reference thrown in) meets S1 Riverdale. Takes place in one day and is a quick read with a heavy focus on character relationships, and less so on the crime that attempts to be interwoven through the world our author sets up. The three main characters are fun, but peripheral characters weren’t fleshed out enough to get me excited to read about them in any follow-up sequels, such as close recommendation “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder”. Overall, I enjoyed reading this casually over a few sittings, and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a sleuth-y, but not too dark read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug use, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Minor: Vomit

sri228's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Drug abuse

Minor: Blood and Chronic illness