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A review by diaryofdifference
This Book Kills by Ravena Guron
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
5.0
I could not recommend it enough! “This Book Kills” deserves all the hype in the world!
I can’t remember the last time I was so immersed in a book, that I spent a full all-nighter finishing it, gasped at every hint and literally jumped (all the while dropping the book in excitement) when I correctly guessed who’d done it!
The most popular and rich kid in Heybuckle School, Hugh Henry Van Boren, has been found dead. And as soon as the new arrive, the student body is very keen to find the murderer. Our main character, Jess, is a student in this school. Not being rich, she is working hard to keep her grades good and her record clean so she doesn’t lose her scholarship.
However, she finds herself at the centre of the investigation when it’s revealed that Hugh died in the exact same way as a character in a short story that she wrote. On top of this, Jess receives an anonymous tip, thanking her for the inspiration, and sending a threat her way.
Jess needs to solve this murder urgently, as time is running out. She may not only lose her scholarship, but she may end up also losing her life!
I greatly enjoyed “This Book Kills” and rooted for Jess from the very beginning.
We are instantly introduced to this posh high-school, where Jess feels an instant disadvantage being “the scholarship girl”. We can feel this through her interactions with the other students and teachers.
It also doesn’t help that the school has an anonymous secret club called the Regia Club, where students are asked to pull dangerous pranks on each other. And the adults know this is happening and yet decide to not act upon it, due to reputation.
“Just because things are easy for you, doesn’t mean they’re easy. Just because people are good to you, doesn’t mean they’re good. You can’t close your eyes and then claim ignorance – people who let bad stuff happen are just as bad as the people who do bad stuff.”
I wouldn’t say this is the deadliest thriller of 2023, but it’s for sure the most intriguing YA thriller I have read so far. It kept me on the edge of my seat; the clues, the drama, the plot twists just kept coming. I ended up predicting the culprit, but I don’t think it was very predictable. I loved the fact that the book stops at a certain point and tells you to make a prediction, because a reveal is about to happen. As soon as I got the reveal, I was beyond happy that I guessed it right. This interaction with the book made me completely forget whether my prediction was predictable or not.
I am certain that this book will take the reader community by storm in the new year. Jess is a heroine that we will want to be friends with, although we’d rather not be in her shoes. If you’re about to pick any YA thriller in the new year, let it be this one. As This Book Kills.
I can’t remember the last time I was so immersed in a book, that I spent a full all-nighter finishing it, gasped at every hint and literally jumped (all the while dropping the book in excitement) when I correctly guessed who’d done it!
The most popular and rich kid in Heybuckle School, Hugh Henry Van Boren, has been found dead. And as soon as the new arrive, the student body is very keen to find the murderer. Our main character, Jess, is a student in this school. Not being rich, she is working hard to keep her grades good and her record clean so she doesn’t lose her scholarship.
However, she finds herself at the centre of the investigation when it’s revealed that Hugh died in the exact same way as a character in a short story that she wrote. On top of this, Jess receives an anonymous tip, thanking her for the inspiration, and sending a threat her way.
Jess needs to solve this murder urgently, as time is running out. She may not only lose her scholarship, but she may end up also losing her life!
I greatly enjoyed “This Book Kills” and rooted for Jess from the very beginning.
We are instantly introduced to this posh high-school, where Jess feels an instant disadvantage being “the scholarship girl”. We can feel this through her interactions with the other students and teachers.
It also doesn’t help that the school has an anonymous secret club called the Regia Club, where students are asked to pull dangerous pranks on each other. And the adults know this is happening and yet decide to not act upon it, due to reputation.
“Just because things are easy for you, doesn’t mean they’re easy. Just because people are good to you, doesn’t mean they’re good. You can’t close your eyes and then claim ignorance – people who let bad stuff happen are just as bad as the people who do bad stuff.”
I wouldn’t say this is the deadliest thriller of 2023, but it’s for sure the most intriguing YA thriller I have read so far. It kept me on the edge of my seat; the clues, the drama, the plot twists just kept coming. I ended up predicting the culprit, but I don’t think it was very predictable. I loved the fact that the book stops at a certain point and tells you to make a prediction, because a reveal is about to happen. As soon as I got the reveal, I was beyond happy that I guessed it right. This interaction with the book made me completely forget whether my prediction was predictable or not.
I am certain that this book will take the reader community by storm in the new year. Jess is a heroine that we will want to be friends with, although we’d rather not be in her shoes. If you’re about to pick any YA thriller in the new year, let it be this one. As This Book Kills.