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A review by tencutepuppies
Killing November by Adriana Mather
4.0
(4/5) This book was quick to finish as it constantly kept me wanting more until the very end. I’d definitely recommend it for people who enjoy boarding school tropes, murder mysteries and the intrigue of many manipulative people put together under one roof. I know I like all three of those, so that’s what called to me.
My interest was held the entire time. It seemed like every chapter there was some new horrifying revelation or another facet in the mystery that didn’t make sense with what the characters thought they knew before. I was very into it. The political machinations of the school, the shifting loyalties of the students were the best part of this book. It made the setting a very, very dangerous place to even just exist, especially for a newcomer like November.
The characters were another thing that really stood out to me. They were all so lethal, cutthroat and terrible and I loved it. Except for November, which is perhaps why I didn’t click with her very much. Lol. More on that later. But characters like Layla, Ash, Aarya, the Headmistress, Matteo, and even Nyx, were so interesting. I think it was their manipulative, secretive nature that just kept me wanting more every single time they were on the page. Any time I thought I had them pinned down, every time I thought I could predict their next actions, they surprised me.
Okay. So now for November. (Spoilers ahead)
I don’t know exactly where she went wrong for me. And that’s kind of a string statement for me, as I didn’t dislike her at all, I did like her. But only because she was the main character, you feel me? She came into the story knowing absolutely nothing and was constantly fumbling around despite trying her best to not review anything to the others. She was basically what any of us normal people would be in a situation like that. But then as time went on, she started showing these special skills that her father covertly taught her in her childhood, which were a cool reveal. However, by the end of the book, I kind of got the sense that she was too special. There was that whole mom and dad’s true identities being the two most powerful Strategia ever reveal. Like okay. And she turns out to be nearly as genius as them just through the puzzle games she and her father played when she was younger. I don’t know. I don’t think it’s like the most unbelievable thing of all time, but it does give me Super Special Protagonist Who Is Not Like Anyone Else vibes. I also couldn’t decide if I liked her sense of humor consistently or not. There were a lot of times where she was funny, but then there would be one joke of hers that was a little immature and kind of cringe given the grittiness of the school and the other students’ sophistication.
The romance too. Not bad but also didn’t make me need to hold back a scream. So. They were just kind of fast to get together, I think, even if it did happen at the very end. And I wanted to see more of the side of himself that Ash hides, since that would make him more three-dimensional. It was cute and there were some good one-liners, but I won’t be thinking of their relationship after I finish this series. It’s very possible that I’m biased though, because I generally don’t like relationships that give everything juicy up in the first book anyway because I live for the tension. (There was some moments of good tension in this book, just not enough.)
So yeah. Those were essentially all my thoughts. Everything aside from November’s reveal near the end was phenomenal. Anyone who’s reading this review should go read this book for the setting/vibe alone.
My interest was held the entire time. It seemed like every chapter there was some new horrifying revelation or another facet in the mystery that didn’t make sense with what the characters thought they knew before. I was very into it. The political machinations of the school, the shifting loyalties of the students were the best part of this book. It made the setting a very, very dangerous place to even just exist, especially for a newcomer like November.
The characters were another thing that really stood out to me. They were all so lethal, cutthroat and terrible and I loved it. Except for November, which is perhaps why I didn’t click with her very much. Lol. More on that later. But characters like Layla, Ash, Aarya, the Headmistress, Matteo, and even Nyx, were so interesting. I think it was their manipulative, secretive nature that just kept me wanting more every single time they were on the page. Any time I thought I had them pinned down, every time I thought I could predict their next actions, they surprised me.
Okay. So now for November. (Spoilers ahead)
I don’t know exactly where she went wrong for me. And that’s kind of a string statement for me, as I didn’t dislike her at all, I did like her. But only because she was the main character, you feel me? She came into the story knowing absolutely nothing and was constantly fumbling around despite trying her best to not review anything to the others. She was basically what any of us normal people would be in a situation like that. But then as time went on, she started showing these special skills that her father covertly taught her in her childhood, which were a cool reveal. However, by the end of the book, I kind of got the sense that she was too special. There was that whole mom and dad’s true identities being the two most powerful Strategia ever reveal. Like okay. And she turns out to be nearly as genius as them just through the puzzle games she and her father played when she was younger. I don’t know. I don’t think it’s like the most unbelievable thing of all time, but it does give me Super Special Protagonist Who Is Not Like Anyone Else vibes. I also couldn’t decide if I liked her sense of humor consistently or not. There were a lot of times where she was funny, but then there would be one joke of hers that was a little immature and kind of cringe given the grittiness of the school and the other students’ sophistication.
The romance too. Not bad but also didn’t make me need to hold back a scream. So. They were just kind of fast to get together, I think, even if it did happen at the very end. And I wanted to see more of the side of himself that Ash hides, since that would make him more three-dimensional. It was cute and there were some good one-liners, but I won’t be thinking of their relationship after I finish this series. It’s very possible that I’m biased though, because I generally don’t like relationships that give everything juicy up in the first book anyway because I live for the tension. (There was some moments of good tension in this book, just not enough.)
So yeah. Those were essentially all my thoughts. Everything aside from November’s reveal near the end was phenomenal. Anyone who’s reading this review should go read this book for the setting/vibe alone.