257. This Book Kills (January 2023) by Ravena Guron

“I’ll make it clear from the start: I did not kill Hugh Henry Van Boren. I didn’t even help. Well, not intentionally. When Hugh Henry Van Boren, one of the most popular and richest kids in Jess Choudhary’s school, is found dead, the student body is left reeling and wondering who the murderer could be… Jess, a student under strict instructions to keep her record clean or risk losing her scholarship, 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 she wrote. And then Jess receives an anonymous text thanking her for the inspiration. With time running out, Jess knows if she doesn’t solve this mystery she’ll finally have something in common with Hugh Henry. She’ll be dead too.”

⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Publication Date: January 5th 2023

Trigger Warning: murder, bullying, child death, racism

I think that it’s pretty much established by now that there is nothing more that I love than a YA thriller, and when This Book Kills was described as the deadliest of 2023, I knew I had to request it.

This Book Kills tells the story of Jess as she finds out that her work was the inspiration for the murder of her fellow classmate, Hugh Van Boren, at the boarding school that they both attend.

As we all know by now, there is nothing I love more than a YA thriller, and while they all do seem to follow the same formula, I eat them up every time, and while I like to think that I’m good at guessing who did it, I didn’t realise who it could have been until the literal page before it was revealed. Across the first half, I had all sorts of wild theories, none of which could have made any sense, but the reveal made a lot of sense. So much sense that I should have easily clicked on a lot earlier with how long I’ve been reading this genre.

I feel when I’ve guessed it so early on, it’s hard to be surprised when it is ultimately revealed; I love the feeling when you don’t guess until the last minute, or not at all even!

For a debut release, Ravena (she/her) has done an amazing job of showcasing her writing strengths in this genre, and I eagerly await reading more from her in the future!

Thank you to Usborne Publishing for the ARC!

All the love,

Jade x