A review by duckie619
You'll Be the Death of Me by Karen M. McManus

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

2.25

Vibes: Ferris Bueller's Day Off crossbred with an episode of Law and Order: SVU (because they’re kids, not because of sex crimes). 

Rating: 2.25 of 5

Recommend: Maybe, but it’s definitely the weakest offering by McManus

Favorite Character: The Charming and Totally Loveable Lacrosse Coach 

Least Favorite Character: Cal

Favorite Scene: When the Big Reveal happens and the mystery comes together. It didn’t really make sense but at least it meant the book was almost finished. 

Least Favorite Scene: When Ivy spills her dark and dirty secret to Mateo - really cemented this as a book written for fans of Riverdale who eat up absurd out-of-left-field type drama.

My take: I guess I am too old now to be the target audience of young adult mystery novels because this book was such a letdown. I’ve read everything else McManus has written and even though the reveals are always a little nutty, You’ll Be the Death of Me takes the cake. It seems like the author was more focused on the relationship between the 3 teens instead of building up the rest of the plot, so the reveal really didn’t make much sense to me and trying to tie all the different outside characters together in the end was a bit forced. The storyline was pulled in too many directions and ended up a scrambled mess, especially the ending, which was clearly a set up for a sequel. 

I do think McManus is a good writer in the technical sense - the story is easy to read and flows well so it was a pretty quick read. But that’s really all it has going for it. The reveal of the student/teacher relationship was off putting and while it’s essential to the plot I just don’t think it was handled correctly. The darker elements of the story just get thrown at you which makes them more jarring than if there had been more of a build up. 

Overall I don’t have much to say about it except that it was very meh. If you really like everything else she’s written then maybe you’ll like this too, but it’s definitely geared towards a teen audience in my opinion.
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