Blog Tour: You’ll Be The Death of Me

Today, I’m very excited to be a part of the blog tour for You’ll Be The Death of Me by Karen McManus. Thank you so much to The Write Reads and Penguin for inviting me to take part.

Ivy, Mateo, and Cal used to be close – best friends back in middle school. So, when Cal pulls into campus late for class, and runs into Ivy and Mateo, they decide to ditch school. Just like old times.

But they’re not the only ones skipping school that day. When the trio spot classmate Brian ‘Boney’ Mahoney acting suspiciously downtown they follow him into an empty building, and walk straight into a murder scene.

Brian’s not the only one keeping secrets, and when their day of freedom turns deadly it’s only a matter of time before the truth comes out.

Publication Date: 2nd December

TW: murder, death, violence, drugs, grooming, predatory behaviour, infidelity

Goodreads | Waterstones

My Thoughts:

You’ll Be The Death of Me is a fierce, creative and fascinating mystery from a queen of YA murder mysteries. Yet again, McManus just has that magic touch.

I fell in love with McManus’ concept of Ferris Bueller with a dash of murder. This book more than lives up to that premise, with a thrilling plot packed full of brilliantly executed twists and turns.

There are so many layers to what initially seems a simplistic story, with a great discussion of the lengths we will go to in order to protect our family and avenge perceived wrongs. As always, the pacing is impeccable, balancing that character work with the unrelenting pace of the mystery unfolding. Even at the final page, there is still more room for another story to be told, with a fascinatingly open element being played out. You have a sense of where it is headed, but it’s like McManus passes over the story to be continued in the reader’s imagination.

The whole roadtrip format and use of three narrative voices really allows us to connect with the characters. I loved how Ivy, Mateo and Cal all really stood out and felt like three-dimensional, realistic characters. They all have layers to them and secrets from their past that are now coming to light.

McManus gives you time to really get to know them, while also developing the tangled web of secrets and lies that colours the book. For me, the central concept was this idea of reconnecting their friendship and possibly restarting hints of a romance, but then all the murder and hijinks comes in.

You’ll Be The Death of Me shows that yet again, McManus has smashed it out of the water with plenty of devious twists and turns.