Blog Tour + Review – You’ll Be The Death Of Me by Karen M. McManus

Hello everyone,

The release of a new young adult thriller from Karen M. McManus always brings great anticipation, so it goes without saying that I was beyond thrilled to find out that the Write Reads were organising a blog tour for You’ll Be The Death Of Me. I wasted no time at all in signing up, and I am delighted to be sharing my thoughts on it today!

I have read all four of McManus’ previous books, and she had developed quite the reputation for plot twists. This unpredictability and sense that an unexpected revelation could always be just around the corner is something I love, as it always keeps me guessing – and this one was no different!

Thank you so much to Dave, the master puppeteer behind the Write Reads operation, for my place on the tour. Also to the author and Penguin books for helping to provide me with a free electronic copy, and as always to the supremely talented Noly for creating such a brilliant artful tour banner.

Pages: 400
Published: 30th November 2021
Genre: Young Adult Thriller/Mystery
Trigger warnings: Drugs, child death

Ivy, Mateo, and Cal used to be close. Back in middle school they were best friends. So, when Cal pulls into campus late for class, and runs into Ivy and Mateo, it seems like the perfect opportunity to turn a bad day around. They’ll ditch school and go into the city. Just the three of them, like old times. Why did they stop hanging out, anyway?

As soon as they pull out of the parking lot Cal knows why. Ivy’s already freaking out about missing class, and heartthrob Mateo is asleep in the backseat, too cool to even pretend like he wants to be there. The truth is they have nothing in common anymore.

At least they don’t until they run into the fourth student ditching school that day. Brian “Boney” Mahoney is supposed to be accepting his newly won office of class president. Which is why Ivy follows him into an empty building, only to walk into the middle of a murder scene. Cal, Ivy, and Mateo all know the person lying on the ground of that building, and now they need to come clean. They are all hiding something. And maybe their chance reconnection wasn’t by chance after all.

This is an incident-packed and absorbing story where almost all of the action takes place over the course of one very long, dramatic day. A plot containing a multitude of revelations and no shortage of teenage angst provides every reason to keep on reading for the thrill of discovering what will happen next, and true to form, this author makes that delightfully difficult to predict at every opportunity.

The pace gradually increases and with that comes growing tension as an intricate yet well executed mystery takes several intriguing directions, with three main protagonists who are all developed strongly and come across as really authentic. As a young adult thriller, it most certainly hits the right notes and moreover, makes for a genuinely exciting read.

It is the day after Ivy Sterling-Shepard lost the high school council election to Brian ‘Boney’ Mahoney, and she has not taken it well. She is dreading the prospect of having to attend the formal ceremony, but when she meets her estranged friends Mateo and Cal outside the school gates, they mutually decide to truant and try to relive a glorious day they spent together a few years previously.

At first they cannot decide where to go, until Cal eventually drives them to an art studio. There, they unexpectedly run into someone they know and he ends up dead in mysterious circumstances, so they flee the scene of the crime all while trying to work out what actually happened. It is the beginning of a chain of events that creates a media storm and puts their lives in severe danger.

Meanwhile, all three of them are hiding massive secrets from one another, which threaten to tear their friendships apart. Ivy feels overshadowed by her precocious brother Daniel and has long harboured romantic feelings for Mateo, who is having to work several jobs after a lawsuit and a medical condition ruined his mother’s livelihood. As for Cal, he is desperately trying to fit in, but has many surprises of his own.

If anything, the start is actually quite low-key as it introduces the three main characters and they initially wonder around rather aimlessly, but once they arrive at the art studio and the murder takes place, the story totally bursts into life. From there, the mystery just opens out into something with a whole world of possibilities and becomes something wholly gripping, with twists never far away.

Although the romance sub-plot involving Ivy and Mateo follows a very predictable trajectory, the balance that is struck between each character’s storyline and the central mystery is more or less perfect. It really does keep you guessing, not least because of some intelligent red herrings that are scattered along the way, and in the final reckoning it all reaches a satisfying conclusion.

The book is told in the first person, mostly alternating between the perspectives of Ivy, Mateo, and Cal with events taking place very much as they happen. This technique adds a genuine sense of urgency to proceedings and allow the individual personalities of each one of the trio to come to the fore. Some chapters end with a transcript of a podcast or video recorded by some of their classmates with updates and speculation on the case, containing a number of laugh out loud moments.

There are times when each of the main characters are likeable or frustrating or both, such are their flaws, yet it is this that makes them so well written. Ivy is kind hearted, determined, and an excellent problem solver, but is guilty of taking herself much too seriously. As for Mateo, he is far more impulsive, though his circumstances make him quite easy to empathise with.

Cal is perhaps the most complex one of the three, and the least likeable. His desire to be liked leads him to make foolish decisions, and the most irritating aspect of his character is the way he is always very quick to point the faults of other people while being acutely aware of his own. All the same, McManus does a brilliant job of capturing his teenage naivety.

There are lots of other characters and the chances are that you have suspicions about most of them at some point along the way. Lara is extremely calculated beneath her breezy exterior; never to be underestimated. Daniel is portrayed as arrogant and demeaning, always intent on getting one over on Ivy. I liked Autumn and the dynamic between Cal’s dads, and anyone would love to have to friend like Emily.

The writing lacks a little bit of sophistication at times, especially with how the school never seemed overly worried about the death of one of its students, although that can be forgiven as it is such an exciting read. Even when everything appears to be said and done, McManus often provides one final twist and she does not disappoint again here. It is one that catches you slightly off guard and leads to a fascinating, uncertain ending.

Overall, this is a thriller which delivers a handful of good mysteries rolled up into one, and never makes you feel as if the whole puzzle is categorically solved. The characters are full of depth and the execution is so accomplished that there is nothing that feels overly contrived or out of place, making it a compulsive ride almost from start to finish.

Definitely one of my favourite books by Karen M. McManus to date. An enthralling read with a mystery that never ceased to hold my attention.

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

*I received a free electronic copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is one huge blog tour – be sure to check out the other posts!

Happy reading 🙂