I have around 15 books pending to re-start reading 🤣😭and i remember where I left off every one of them. And Right now I'm reading palace of illusions!!

My goal this year is to read all of the murder books in my school library/lh

So far alr finished the first A Good Girls Guide to Murder book, I have the second on hold rn :3

I'm reading One of us is lying rn and I have How to survive your Murder digitally

Title: How to Survive Your Murder | Author: Danielle Valentine | Publisher: Razorbill (2022)

How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine

"It wasn't even about fear--it was about being smart. Anyone who'd ever seen a scary movie knew to skip the corn maze, just like we knew not to venture down into a basement or up into an attic, to drive past hitchhikers and heed the warnings of toothless old men at gas stations. If you watched enough horrible things happen on-screen, you could figure out how to avoid them in real life."

Year Read: 2023

Rating: 2/5

About: It's been a year since Alice's sister, Claire, was murdered in a corn maze at a party. Having witnessed the murder, Alice is forced to confront her killer in a courtroom, but before she can take the stand, she's knocked out by a Sidney Prescott lookalike. When she wakes up, it's Halloween night a year ago--the night Claire died--and Alice must stop it from happening and find the real killer before midnight. Trigger warnings: character death, gore, dismemberment, stabbing, gaslighting, divorce.

Thoughts: I'm conflicted about how to rate this because I loved the beginning and hated the end, dropping it down from a four to a two, but since the ultimate answer to the question "Did you like this book?" is no, I'm sticking with the two. But let's start with the good. This book is a full-on 90s slasher mood, from the chainsaws in the cornfield to the girl dressed like Sidney Prescott. It's a clear homage to movies like Scream (1996) only updated for the current generation, with a lot of clever narrative jokes and little nods to the classics, and I really felt like it was Valentine's love letter to the genre. It's delightfully creepy and twisty with the restarting of the cornfield murders and Alice's race to figure out who's really behind it if she was wrong about her sister's murderer.

Alice's character is mostly made up of the absence of her sister. Claire was prettier, more popular, more charming, and Alice is almost entirely consumed by grief, nor does she seem to really know who she is past it. While I wouldn't consider her love interest to be a Billy Loomis level of sexy bad boy, their interactions do a fair job of walking the line between attraction and doubt (because it's always the boyfriend, right?). The novel builds up well to the first twist. I could see it coming but in a good way, and I like the way Valentine pulled it off. The second twist, however, is utter nonsense. Not only is there no basis for it in the rest of the book, it leaves the ending utterly flat, with no sense of closure. It just about ruined the whole thing for me.

'My entire body goes board-stiff, and for a second, I'm seriously concerned about the possibility that I might pee my pants. Is that a thing? Do people pee their pants a little bit when someone kisses them? Horror-movie sex scenes have not prepared me for this.'

- Alice Lawrence, How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine

Review and Spoiler - #9

How To Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine

Holy pregnant cow! This thriller, horror fiction, and time travel fiction book kept me hooked and on the edge of my seat the entire time! Even R.L. Stine blurbed it as "Great nasty fun!", and he's the king of nasty horror.

While reading this book I thought that the plot twists were going to be basic, and predicted them confidently, only to be blown away with an entirely different world kind of twist. Overall, it's fantastically written and has some of the best plot twists and suspense I've ever seen.

Spoiler: It's always who you least expect...

How to Survive Your Murder - Danielle Valentine

Alice Lawrence is the sole witness in her sister’s murder trial. And in the year since Claire’s death, Alice’s life has completely fallen apart. Her parents have gotten divorced, she’s moved into an apartment that smells like bologna, and she is being forced to face her sister’s killer and a courtroom full of people who doubt what she saw in the corn maze a year prior. Claire was an all-American girl, beautiful and bubbly, and a theater star. Alice was a nerd who dreamed of becoming a forensic pathologist and would rather stay at home to watch her favorite horror movies than party. Despite their differences, they were bonded by sisterhood and were each other’s best friends. Until Claire was taken away from her. On the first day of the murder trial, as Alice prepares to give her testimony, she is knocked out by a Sidney Prescott look-alike in the courthouse bathroom. When she wakes up, it is Halloween morning a year earlier, the same day Claire was murdered. Alice has until midnight to save her sister and find the real killer before he claims another victim.

just finished how to survive your murder by danielle valentine and that was actually great. i had very little expectations going in but i couldn't stop reading and once i figured it out the twist i kept thinking there was no way a ya mystery would do that but it actually happened, it was insane but it made sense.

How to Survive your Murder by Danielle Valentine [book review]

This is probably one of my favorite books so far this year!

Book: How to survive your Murder By: Danielle Valentine Published: Razorbill Published: August 30, 2022 Pages: 299 Genre: YA Horror/Thriller Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. What this means is that if you purchase anything through the link I have provided for you then I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Please consider supporting my…

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Title: How to Survive Your Murder

Author: Danielle Valentine

Series or standalone: standalone

Publication year: 2022

Genres: fiction, horror, thriller, mystery, crime

Blurb: Alice Lawrence is the sole witness in her sister’s murder trial...and in the year since Claire’s death, Alice’s life has completely fallen apart. Her parents have gotten divorced, she’s moved into an apartment that smells like bologna, and she’s being forced to face her sister’s killer and a courtroom full of people who doubt what she saw in the corn maze a year prior. Claire was an all-American girl, beautiful and bubbly, and a theatre star; Alice was a nerd who dreamed of becoming a forensic pathologist, and would rather stay at home to watch her favourite horror movies than party. Despite their differences, they were bonded by sisterhood and were each other’s best friends...until Claire was taken away from her. On the first day of the murder trial, as Alice prepares to give her testimony, she is knocked out by a Sidney Prescott lookalike in the courthouse bathroom. When she wakes up, it’s Halloween morning a year earlier, the same day Claire was murdered. Alice has until midnight to save her sister and find the real killer before he claims another victim.

CHILDREN OF BHAAL

I adore the vibe of redeemed durge your sister killed your mind and took your place - it was the greatest gift she ever gave you

Seems very reasonable to me🤷🏻‍♀️

Im still think abt How to Survive your Murder

the chills I got were def there but the ending was just (under the tag)

Claire showing up as the serial killer in the trial out of nowhere and just smiling like I did it byebye and Owen (who got framed w everything she did in this timeline) and just ends??

but like how the fuck did she post the manifesto initially if she was dead in the first timeline and Wes was never in on it and its just so???

and the bonus chapter doesnt explain anything?? like most i thought was Wes being dead and that was that so does he testify or???

Gahhh I hate downer endings sm

thinking about the scene in book!tbosas where teslee (district three female) was being attacked by the horrifying snakes and she nonverbally pleaded with mizzen (district four male) for help. and he only shook his head, not moving to help her - but the book specifically stated that this was more out of stunned fear/horror than any kind of menace or glee at teslee's imminent death.

and he wasn't even from her district too. they were not in an alliance. she literally had no reason to expect any assistance from him, but district divisions & sectionalism didn't matter when she was scared and in pain. none of these divisions of districts one, two, three, four, five through twelve matter!!! not when children are suffering and dying as penance for a just war that ended several years ago! it's as if the narrative is trying to tell you there is no difference between a suffering/dying child from one district or another.

you know the scene in orv where a character is confronted with what their younger self did in the subway and can’t handle the guilt that comes with it so they almost stab their broken blade through their own neck—

am I talking about kim namwoon or kim dokja here

'I'm still thinking about Freddy Krueger, and it takes me a second to process what she's just said. "Wait... what?" '

- Alice Lawrence, How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine