A review by librarianryan
You're So Dead by Ash Parsons

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

2.0

 
It is very obvious from the beginning that this is a parody of the Fyre festival that didn’t happen. The Fyre festival was supposed to be this big party on an island reminiscent of things like Coachella. However for this book they’ve turned it in to a murder mystery. Oh my god is this book boring and predictable. The first 130 pages are all about Plum. She feels inferior to her 10 years older influencer sister, and she wants a chance to just do something crazy. She steals her sister’s Pyre Festival ticket, turns it in for two business class tickets so she can take her friends with her to this party. However, from the minute they get on the boat the reader can tell something is wrong. None of the influencers are big influencers. They are people never heard of of by other characters. Then when they get to the island things are already odd. And it just goes on and on. The author tries to put in a love story between Plum and her friend but this reader was so sick of it by the time the first person died. I really wanted one of the girls to be the first to die. This book had potential it’s just not been met. The book spends so much time trying to set a scene, trying to set a murder, and trying to set a feeling, that none of it works. As an older reader, this screams of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. And by the middle of the book a character even says that this is that story. I really wanted this book to work it just didn’t. Am I glad I didn’t DNF it, however will this book be around in 20 years? No. I doubt it’s around in five years. If you really want a good mystery read the original. If you might want a horror novel try Clown in the Cornfield, or anything by Karen McManus to get a little horror and a lot of whodunit thrills.