I am a huge fan of Gretchen McNeil. I feel like she is an often overlooked or not as well-known author as she should be because all of her books have blown me away! (I feel like I say that every time I read her books, so sorry if I'm repeating that too much.) So I was really excited for this next one from her, and I was not let down at all! There were twists and turns all the way through, leaving me wondering exactly who we could trust and who was in on it, and who might actually be help for Neve.

While Neve likened the “deal” with Diane to the movie Strangers on a Train, in my head, from growing up in the 80s, I likened it to the movie, Throw Momma From the Train, which I’m sure also came from that movie. While this wasn’t humorous like the movie I was thinking of it had the same basic idea. But being a YA book, this was laced with all the different things teens deal with, bullying, wanting to be popular, but also wanting to be your own person.

It had great representation of a teen questioning her own sexuality and attraction to boys or girls. And maybe discovering it could be both that she was attracted to. The final reveal was really good, had like I mentioned a twist or two I didn’t expect. In fact this story also reminded me a bit of some of the twists in the movie Scream, with her dad getting blamed or set up to take the fall.

Another good read from McNeil that I will be sharing with my high school students.

Dig Two Graves is a thriller story with a twisted plot that kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. I ended up really enjoying this book and think fellow YA thriller readers would like it as well.

"Don't ever let someone else dictate the terms of your life."

Gretchen McNeil's Dig Two Graves is twisted game of cat and mouse where the never quite knows who’s telling the truth, who’s playing games, and who is going to end up dead. Seventeen-year-old film noir fan Neve Lanier is a girl who just wants to be seen, but doesn’t really fit in anywhere. She's a quiet wall flower, uniquely different and set apart/ostracized from her peers by shyness and her peculiar wardrobe.

When Neve is betrayed by her best friend, Yasmin, at the end of the school year, she heads off to a girl’s empowerment camp, GLAM (Girls Leadership and Mentorship) feeling like no one will ever love her again. So when she grabs the attention of the beautiful, charismatic Diane. Diane, breezes in oozing money and class and notices Neve and takes her under her wing; yet her aloofness fools very few at the camp, others are watching and try to warn Neve.

Neve turns the other cheek, looks the other way. Predictably, she falls right under her spell, and may accidentally promise to murder Diane’s predatory step-brother, Javier, in exchange for Diane murdering Yasmin. But that was just a joke…right? Wrong. When Yasmin turns up dead, and Never being the cops only suspense, Diane comes calling, attempting to blackmail Neve into murdering Javier.

Things only continue to get more dire for Neve and her family as evidence continues to pile up that supports Neve's father is the murderer despite Neve knowing better. Stalling for time, Neve pretends to go along with Diane’s plan until she can find a way out that doesn't involve homicide. But as she gets to know Javier – and falls for him – she realizes that everything Diane told her is a lie.

Even worse, she discovers that Yasmin probably wasn't Diane's first victim. And unless Neve can stop her, she won't be the last. What starts out as an innocent friendship between two girls takes a dark twist with murder and intrigue around every corner, making this a thriller with twists and turns that won’t let the reader put it down for even a second.

With Neve being a crime noir lover, the story is a mixture of Strangers on a Train, One of Us Is Lying, but also with a bit of Cruel Intentions mixed in. In a lot of ways, Neve's struggles are realistic. She's into dressing like a goth girl which made her an outcast. She found a friend who later chose to up her social status by destroying her reputation. Her father is a mess, and refuses to accept that he has issues.

Her mother and grandmother are often at odds, which makes Neve accepting her grandmothers help for college to make her own way in life all that more important. Her only real happiness is finding out that she might have a talent that needs to be explored further only to be targeted by a psycho that may end up destroying her life.

If you kill for me, I kill for you...
After being betrayed by her best friend, Neve heads to GLAM, a girl's empowerment summer camp. Feeling like an outcast who will never build her reputation back up, Neve is ecstatic to have Diane's attention all to herself. While having a late night gossip session, Diane jokingly offers to murder Neve's ex-best friend and in exchange wants Neve to murder her predatory step brother. When summer ends and Neve returns home to start her Senior year of high school, she quickly realizes Diane wasn't joking after all; The whole school is torn up over the loss of Yasmin. Diane is determined to make sure Neve holds up her end of the bargain. Can Neve get herself out of this mess or will she have to follow through with her end of the deal to protect her family?
This was a fun YA thriller that was overall enjoyable! I did find that this story was slow starting and a little repetitive at times, but had a pretty interesting storyline. Along with reading the e-book, I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed the narrator, Chelsea Stephens. I will definitely be listening to more audiobooks narrated by her.
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and Edelweiss+. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Seek revenge, and you should dig two graves...

Neve Lanier is a major film noir buff. Her unique sense of style and no-f*cks-given personality don't really fit in with anyone at school, except her bestie, Yasmin. When Yasmin betrays her and their friendship explodes, a heartbroken Neve goes off to a girl's empowerment summer camp. She meets the alluring Diane, and is quickly enamored by her new BFF. In a moment of dark humour and lamentations, Neve jokingly agrees to murder Diane's predatory stepbrother, Javier, if Diane will kill Yasmin. It's all in good fun, until Yasmin actually winds up dead, and Neve receives a chilling text that reads, "Your turn, BFF." Neve desperately wants out of the deal that she was never serious about, but with Diane blackmailing her, all she can do is stall for time. As she gets to know Javier, she realizes that nothing Diane said about him was true, and now, she is falling for him hard. She also finds that Diane has murdered before, and she will again, unless Neve can stop her once and for all.
I loved this YA thriller! It was admittedly a little slow for me in a the beginning, but once it picked up, I could not stop reading! I really identified with Neve's character in a lot of ways, from her personality, to her longing to fit in without changing who she was. I even enjoyed Diane's character, as I love a good villain as well! I had some theories throughout the book that definitely panned out, but I was still surprised by HOW they happened. I listened to the audiobook for this novel as well, and the narrator was amazing at voicing all of the characters and their emotions. I would recommend this novel to anyone who loves YA thrillers and/or murder pacts!

This book was both too much and not enough at the same time. Neve goes to summer camp after being bullied and betrayed by her best friend and it takes way too long to get there. The beginning felt like it dragged on and I couldn't connect with the characters. Then, she arrives, only to find that things aren't quite what she expected. Diane seems to have it all and tensions rise between the girls as she attempts to separate them.. Neve and Inara are hot and cold and soon Diane sweeps in and pulls Neve into her nefarious circle. Then Yasmin, Neve's bully, ends up dead after Diane makes Neve promise if she kills her enemy Neve will have to kill hers. There were a lot of twists. Too many twists. And yet, I still figured out the end well before I felt like I should have. And then it ended abruptly.

I loved the premise of this book and wanted to love the book just as much but I couldn't. The relationships and twists were unrealistic and dramatic and the only one I ever connected with was poor Inara. This just felt more like a first draft.

Thanks to Disney and Netgalley for the copy of Dig Two Graves

Not sure how long this review is going to be. The short of it is, this book wasn't for me. There were character issues, serious pacing issues, and things that were impossible to really believe. And that last point is a pain because it's sort of where everything starts.

Our main character is going to this camp over the summer and it's supposed to be an empowerment camp. That lasts two weeks yet it somehow has a massive, life changing effect on our main character who has a pretty rough shell to start with.

Two weeks? That's a seminar at best. And not enough time for her to form the kinds of bonds she was supposedly forming. What really bothered me was the pacing. It was so slow. Even when the situation was supposed to be fast paced and tense, it was just boring.

Not to mention, no trigger warning. I will never be quiet about this. This story sort of hinges on the fact that our main character makes friends with another girl at this camp over their bullying histories. The fact they were victims.

Except one girl was the victim of sexual harassment. Fun stumbling on that and having no warning. Honestly, it made me want to not finish the book. I don't select books that deal with or have SA in them, and I like it that way.

Authors need to realize that they can do some harm to their readers if they don't give them the ability to make an educated decision on what they choose to read.

Now, after that, the story really does just stretch belief because of the time and how these bonds supposedly were so strong.

I will say that there's one thing I liked about the main character that everyone else who's reviewed this book seems to hate about her. Her father has had a mental breakdown. And she's annoyed by it, frustrated by the fact she has to manage his emotional responses to things. That she can't get a break from it because her mom won't actually address the fact her father has this issue.

That's believable. If you've never been the child of a sick parent, I'm happy for you. A lot of us though, were embarrassed by it. Our parents couldn't do the same thing as other parents, we were looked at differently by other kids. And sometimes, for whatever reason, we wound up being put in the position of caretaker at a young age.

Her reaction to that is absolutely realistic and I think some people are upset because it's about mental health. You don't have to like a character to sympathize with them. And this is something I found not only believable but relatable.

She's also bisexual which I would love to say was great representation but the relationships were just impossible to believe.

I give this a two (2) our of five (5).

I received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to them and the publisher.

This book was WILD and NOTHING MADE SENSE, even on a reread. However, it was a great ride! And it's sapphic! What's not to love? Well, there's the writing, the dialogue, and the major plot holes. But other than that! I would have loved reading this at my middle school library.

As a fan of the murder trending books I was super excited to have a chance to read dig two Graves by Gretchen McNeil. Unfortunately this one just didn’t work for me. The synopsis of this book was incredibly intriguing but some plot holes had me questioning some things and I just didn’t love the characters.

Rating this book as a teenager. I will be purchasing this book for my classroom library 100% and I teach middle school. It’s honestly the perfect murder mystery for teens.

Neve is not your typical high school student. She’s had a rocky history with friends, is always worried about her dad and his mental health, and just trying to survive living in a place she hates. While I was reading, I did NOT understand the whole camp set up for the first quarter of the book. I was ready to write it off. But once Neve gets home from GLAM camp, the plot goes exactly where you expect, and that is NOT a bad thing. While taking the dynamic of Strangers on a Train, McNeil deftly weaves in a twisted affair and allows Neve to shine as a strong protagonist. While I said this plot was predictable, I know my students will love it. I actually gave a few a brief synopsis while I was reading it and they said “what’s this called? Do you have it in your library?” So it’s already a winner!

This wasn't my favorite book by McNeil but it was still enjoyable. I guess I'm not a huge fan of the premise of trading murders. I couldn't relate to the main character of Neve at all, who despite not wanting to be judge in how different she was, was very quick to judge others. I warmed up to her some near the last 1/3 of the book, but she was pretty insufferable to start. I will say I enjoyed the ending, which raised it half a star in my opinion. I'm hoping McNeil goes back to slashers, because as a "thriller" this was pretty boring.

This book simply didn’t do it for me. I didn’t like the plot as much as I anticipated and the writing was a little too “blah” for me.

Definitely <i>Strangers on a Train</i> for the YA set, but the twist is that only one half actually wants the deal. The other was blowing off steam. Annnnd... go. There are some other twists that don't fall into the usual SoaT genre, so this will feel fresh for all readers.

The whole girls empowerment camp idea sounded interesting but only two weeks? That felt wrong, too short a time to really integrate the message that supposedly being sent. And that this inspires real change in Neve was less realistic. There are other questions that should have been explored based on the camp alone, so two weeks? Sorry.

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.

This book was certainly not my favorite murder mystery, but had its moments.

There were lots of twists and turns in this book which made it pretty interesting. There were particularly lots of surprising bits towards the end. While some twists were easy enough to pick out, there were many things I never saw coming.

Also, I was very intrigued by the idea. While I was let down by most of what I felt like I was promised from reading the synopsis, the idea was still really interesting. It definitely could have been executed better, but it wasn't the worst.

I didn't love any of the characters. Neve, the main character, was not very relatable and had lots of emotional problems that were never really resolved. Plus, the way she treated people was not great. All in all, it's hard to love a book when you don't like the characters.

I was pretty bored at the beginning but the pacing did pick up. Not by much which was why I wanted to stop reading it so many times, but it did eventually pick up a bit.

Overall, I didn't love this book and wouldn't read it again, but it wasn't the worst.

The pacing of the story is a bit slow for my taste. This book details the main character, Neve, and her introduction to and interactions with Diane. Diane, as predictable, is a charismatic character that ropes Neve in and blackmails her into trying to murder her stepbrother. Through an interesting turn of events, The ending, though interesting, is not surprising. Overall, the book is pretty good; however, it's not my favorite.

I know that this was one of those books where people either loved it or hated it.

I think I might be one of the only people who have a neutral feeling on it. Was it my favorite book? No. Was it the worst book? No.

I am a fan of Gretchen McNeil (Murder Trending is AWESOME!!) I think because of my love for the Murdertrending series, that I had very high hopes for this book. It wasn't as good as Murder Trending, but it wasn't awful.
The story deals with Neve who is forced to go to a leadership camp during the summer. She had a fallen out with her friend Yasmin which she reveals to her new "friend". Next thing we know, Yasmin turns up dead

Yeah she is a wackado!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC

Unfortunately, I did not finish this book.

I tried it out, tried to push through when it wasn't working, and failed to continue. Now don't get me wrong this is probably a really great book. For the right reader. However, it turns out that I am not the reader.

I wasn't a fan of the little time jumps and didn't feel much connection to the story. I think it might just have been the point of view, not my style.

Gretchen McNeil's books are addictive, rivaling Karen McManus in the YA thriller genre. Plus Dig Two Graves was serving major Hitchcock noir vibes. We follow Neve, a scorned teen who heads to a leadership camp for the summer. While there, she meets the charismatic Diane and accidentally enters into a murder pact. While it wasn't necessarily unpredictable, there were still twists and turns throughout. I honestly couldn't put it down, though I'm still left with questions. Like what did Charlotte know? Are Neve and Inara going to get together? Agh!

Overall a nice quick read for fans of psychological thrillers and people who read the Wikipedia articles for horror movies rather than watching them.

*Thank you to Disney Hyperion and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review*

I'm late for my pub day review. Better late than never!

I loved Dig Two Graves by Gretchen McNeil. This is my first book written by this author, but it won't be my last!
This was a tense, page turning read. The writing was great, our characters were well developed. And I found myself turning the pages very quickly. This book had me hooked on page one.
The characterization that the author sets up is impressive.
This superbly written YA thriller delivers edge of your seat thrills and suspense.
A wonderful YA suspense novel.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Disney Publishing Worldwide/Hyperion,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review to my platforms, blog, B&N and Waterstone closer to pub date.

This was a great YA Thriller! It had great twists and turns. I do wish we got more from the characters and I found it hard to relate to Neve at times. But overall I enjoyed this book and definitely made me rethink how I joke with friends lol! This book will keep you wanting to know whats next and try to guess who's being fake and who's being real! It definitely keeps you hooked until the end. If you want a quick fun suspense to read I recommend this book!