A review by darquedreamer
How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine

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

1.5

I really wanted to love this one. I was promised Happy Death Day and Scream vibes, and what I got was a mash up of name dropping, movie references, and overused clichés, tropes, etc. I feel like the author tried too hard to make the story "a self aware horror/comedy", "woke", and socially acceptable, while keeping up with modern social norms, issues, etc., and lost sight of the story itself. The purposeful misdirections felt copied, forced, and overused, and the ending was too open ended and most definitely not satisfying. Now, don't get me wrong, there were some real "one line" bangers in there, like, "But real people are never just one thing. Life's a lot more complicated than that," but, there weren't enough of them to cover up the flat characters and the problems within the story. 
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