The thing with Gretchen McNeil’s books is the synopsis always sounds so enticing but the actual book never lives up to your expectations. This has happened so often now (as in every book she’s released the past few years) that I’ve come to expect it. Apparently it doesn’t stop me from still reading her things because her plot synopsis’ are always so enticing; I just go into her books with low expectations. Because of this, maybe it meant my standards were low enough for me to enjoy this because I actually did like it more than I was expecting to.

Brief synopsis, Neve has a falling out with her friend Yasmin, is forced into going to some leadership summer camp, makes a new friend who turns out to be a wacko who murders Yasmin and now expects Neve to return the favor to someone she hates.

The plot was pretty interesting but some of the dialogue was so cringey. It would be cringey even if it were a middle grade novel. It definitely felt very very stereotypically YA and I hate that stereotype; adults can read and enjoy YA too and YA gets stereotyped as immature already and books with dialogue like this contributes to that. I mean, it was an ok book. It was interesting enough for me to keep reading and with my expectations already being low, I wasn’t disappointed with it. It’s a fun way to pass a couple hours if you’re looking for mind numbing YA thriller.

Thank you to Netgalley and Disney Hyperion for the advanced copy!

Wow. This is pretty dark. After being betrayed by her best friend, Yasmin, at the end of the school year, Neve Lanier spends two weeks in the summer at a girl's empowerment camp where she meets charismatic Diane. Diane seems to have it all, but she reveals that she, too, has been the victim of a bully. On the last night of camp, Diane makes a proposal to Neve: I'll kill your bully and you kill mine. Neve assumes this is just a joke, just angry talk, but when Yasmin turns up dead, Diane shows up blackmailing Neve into holding up her part of the bargain. McNeil includes enough plot twists and red herrings to keep readers enthralled to the end. (Side note: I thought the very end was a bit cheesy.) Recommend to readers who like a good page-turner. The length and pacing of this novel would be good for reluctant readers.

This book was a bit of a mixed bag for me. While it is infinitely readable and I blew through it in a matter of hours, a lot of the characterization and action don't feel entirely earned or believable. The majority of this stems from the fact that the book takes place over the course of probably the worst month on Neve, the main character's life. She only spends about a week and a half with Diane before the murder of Yasmin and their entire friendship feels very rushed. I think if more time had been allowed to see the friendship twist and grow, there would have been a bigger sense of betrayal and more understanding of how Neve is feeling from one moment to the next.

Instead, the story goes from zero to a hundred in a few seconds flat. There's lots of plot twists but they don't feel entirely earned, and the only relationship I felt invested in was between Neve and Inara who get a little bit shortchanged once they depart camp. It also just feels a little insane how well plotted out the murders are considering that these characters are sixteen years old. While I love a good murder mystery, there has to be a level of believability and the idea that Diane is just able to murder Yasmin with every single element thought through enough to blackmail Neve just stretches the vein of credibility.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Just as you think you have it figured out…you’re probably wrong. Oh, there’s no doubt that Diane is murdering people. But that’s not the only mystery for Neve to solve.

This has a lot of mean girls vibe, as the social ins and outs of high school are presented. Neve is definitely an outcast. But when she goes to camp, she has a chance to change her trajectory. She actually has a good time, and returns to high school ready to have a good senior year.

The murder of her former best friend changes that, since everyone’s finger is pointed at her. And that’s when Neve really starts changing from a victim to someone who takes charge of her life. She has to find a way to prove Diane’s guilt, while protecting her fragile family from Diane’s wrath. Add in a cute boy and more murders, and there’s a very twisty tale indeed.

Is the premise a bit outlandish for a high school setting. Sure. Is it impossible? Nope.

Dialogue is realistic, as is Neve’s struggle.

Diane’s accomplice is set up well—I was beginning to think that person was not what they appeared to be, but the extent to which they were in cahoots was definitely a surprise.

Possible Objectionable Material:
Neve is bisexual. Murder. F words and other cursing. Blackmail. Teenage drinking and partying. Mean bullies.

Who Might Like This Book:
Film noir fans will appreciate all the references. If you like suspense, this book has it. If you like reading about high school drama and family struggles, it’s here.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC in return for my opinion.

This book also reviewed at https://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/2022/03/creepy-good-noir-ya.html

Thank you to NetGalley and Disney for the ARC of this book in exchange for a review.

I really wanted to like this more than I did. The book opens with an interesting premise and a big question in the air, so I assumed as it went forward, it would keep with the pace and reveal. However, as it moved forward, I found myself less engaged and more annoyed with the characters than anything else.

I really wanted to like Neve, but I didn't. I just was not able to connect with her, which is why it was harder to stay on board as the plot moved forward. The rest of the characters were not much better either. It felt as if the author didn't understand each enough to have them well developed and solidified in the story.

I also felt like there were a lot of plot holes. Things would take place and I'd be looking back to see what I may have missed or not understood, but was never able to clear it up. I don't want to go into too many specifics as it is a thriller, but I felt it wasn't well developed.

Overall, this is just a meh reading for me. More of a 2.5 than a 3, but the beginning made me round up.

“𝑹𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓: 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑫𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆.”

As a huge fan of the first season of the show, Revenge, which started off with the Confucius quote “before you embark a journey of revenge, dig two graves,” when I saw the title of this book, I grabbed my interest to read it.

This book felt like a cross between a love letter to film noir and a revenge tale. I loved all the film references and titles, and a lot of the twists felt film noir worthy. A lot of said twists were surprising (especially in the first half), and I felt Neve’s stress as she tried to figure out how to dig herself out of the grave that she had dug for herself. McNeil’s writing is propulsive, and it was very easy to read - the pacing was excellent. The downside? I found myself getting frustrated by many of choices that Neve was making, especially with how quickly she trusted certain characters and ignored others. A couple of the twists in the last third felt a little too heavily foreshadowed before they happened, so their impact was lessened. There were also a few clunky writing moments. That being said however, I think many of my students would enjoy this mystery.

With Strangers on the Train meets One of Us Is Lying meets Cruel Intentions vibes, Dig Two Graves had a lot of potential. Although I hoped for more, it is a quick page turner with a lot of great film noir references that I think teens would overall like. Thank you to Disney Hyperion and NetGalley for the ARC!

Rating: 2.75
Author: Gretchen McNeil
Publication Date: 3/29/22

Honestly, this book didn’t do it for me. The synopsis had me immediately intrigued and wanting to find out what was really going on. Unfortunately, the book had a very slow start and right away I could not connect with the main character. She was way too angsty, judgemental and had such a poor me attitude. I didn’t care for how she viewed her dad who was struggling with mental illness. I feel like that could have been handled better. I decided to stick with it and now wish I would have just DNF. The pacing stayed slow which is not great since this is a thriller. But to be honest, I didn’t find anything about this book to be thrilling. The writing was okay, I’ve definitely seen better from this author. If you want a YA thriller then I would recommend her other book #MurderTrending.

Even though I didn’t enjoy this one doesn’t mean you won’t! Maybe if you go in with low expectations you might be surprised and end up enjoying it more than you thought! If you want a book that you can read within a day then pick this one up. It was an easy and quick read. I will be purchasing this book for my library because I can definitely see some younger kids enjoying this one.

Thank you so much @disneybooks for the #gifted copy on #Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

It took me a little bit to really get into the book, but it is a good and interesting story. I enjoyed the book and know others will as well.

I am really looking forward to adding this to my library! I think my more mature readers will really enjoy it. I have a lot of thriller fans, and I think this will be great for them!

I was hoping to like it a lot more, especially because I gave Gretchen’s previous novel a 5/5. The plot kind of dragged on and I had to take a couple breaks to get through the story.

Thank you to the publisher, Disney Hyperion, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After a betrayal by her best friend Yasmin basically made her the school outcast, Neve Lanier finds herself at a girl’s empowerment camp for the summer as her family hopes that it will help her. The girls at the camp are much nicer than she expected, and she makes friends much more easily than she has ever been able to before. She is particularly drawn to Diane, a beautiful and charismatic girl despite warnings from some of the others to be careful. Diane tells her about her predatory step-brother Javier harassing her and Neve tells her about Yasmin’s betrayal, which leads to them jokingly promising to murder each other’s bullies. Except, when Neve returns home after camp, Yasmin has actually been murdered and Diane is now blackmailing her to hold up her end of the deal. With time quickly running out, Neve has to play along as she desperately searches for a way to expose Diane. But as she digs deeper, getting to know Javier as part of her ruse, she begins to realize that this is not the first time Diane has done this, and if she doesn’t figure something out soon, Neve might be the next victim.

It took me much longer to get through this book than it should have taken considering it’s barely 350 pages. The plot itself and the concept of the thriller was a very promising one, but the execution was somewhat lacking. The mood was typical of a YA mystery/thriller novel and it was quite easy to get caught up in the story. Pacing was one thing this book definitely did right, and it didn’t drag at any point, nor did it veer off plot – it was action-packed throughout. YA novels of this genre also usually have the main characters running around, trying to solve the mystery, often for no other reason than they want to instead of leaving it to the police, so this book was a refreshing change in the aspect that Neve actually wants nothing to do with it, but is forced to take things into her own hands because she has no proof and the police don’t believe her story.

Neve was a very hard character to relate to and for the most part, I just found her to be incredibly annoying. The girl has terrible taste in friends, she even says that Diane reminds her of Yasmin and then goes ahead and befriends her anyway, which was not a promising start to the story. Then there is Neve’s love for film noir, which more or less exists only to give her a connection to Javier, and didn’t add to the plot in any substantial way. The constant references and quotes felt out of place and rather unnecessary.

As for the mystery itself, the twists were well orchestrated, though it became a little predictable towards the end as I felt like the plot had been heavily foreshadowing the last twist for atleast a couple of chapters before it happened. Then again, I read a lot of thrillers, so maybe I’ve just become better at picking out these tropes?

Overall, this was an ok read. It didn’t really work for me as a whole, but there were some elements of it that I enjoyed. I might look up a few of this author’s works at some point, since the reviews sound pretty decent. This is a book I would recommend if you’re in the mood for a thriller that doesn’t require you to think too much, especially if you’re not particularly fussy about there being relatable characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.
When I first read the summary of this YA murder thriller I was quite intrigued. The main protagonist of the story, Neve, invokes empathy from the reader as we learn that she was betrayed and bullied at school by someone she considered a good friend. From the outset, her time at a summer camp is filled with a few bizarre encounters that did poke my curiosity. Especially when another teenage girl, Diane takes an interest in Neve. But on the last night of camp, Diane's chilling final words frighten Neve.

I won't say anymore because I don't want to ruin the twist and turns that ensue. Although I desired to know what happens in the end and did read the story in one sitting, I did find myself increasingly annoyed with the majority of the characters including our protagonist. Lots of plot holes abound and I felt my eyebrow would be stuck in one position forever. 🤣


#DigTwoGraves #NetGalley

Expected Publication 29/03/22
Goodreads review published 17/03/22

Neve has been convinced to attend a Glam Camp that promises to empower her and forge lasting friendships. She makes friends with Diane and wonders if it might become more, but then she jokingly promises to kill Diane’s brother if Diane kills her ex-best friend, Yasmin. Or at least Neve thought they were joking. When Yasmin is murdered in her bed, Diane blackmails Neve into killing Javier, her stepbrother. Neve pretends to go along, but she never really wanted anyone dead. Will Neve be able to stop anyone else from dying? What other tricks does Diane have planned for Neve’s life?

Dig Two Graves is a stand-alone mystery that had a promising storyline that didn’t pull through. There were lots of twists and turns that kept me reading, but there were also sections that were just unbelievable. McNeil has created a fun mystery that would be a good weekend or beach read, but not a page turner that will keep fans guessing. I recommend Dig Two Graves for mystery fans but it doesn’t need to be at the top of your TBR pile.

I love a twisty turny thriller and this book does not disappoint! The characters all have depth. The surprises happen throughout. A great read for teen fans of thrillers!

I did my part, BFF. Now it's your turn.

Teenage film noir fan Neve is a girl who doesn't seem to fit in anywhere. After being betrayed at the end of the school year by her best friend, Yasmin, she is sent to a two week girls' empowerment summer camp where she meets the beautiful and charming Diane Russell. But Diane is not all smiles and sweetness, and Neve soon finds out that what she thought was simply playful banter was actually meant to be a real life promise to murder each other's enemies.
So, when Yasmin turns up dead and Diane comes calling - intent upon blackmailing Neve into fulfilling her end of the murder swap by killing Diane's stepbrother, Javier, - Neve must pretend to go along with Diane's evil plan in order to stall for time in an attempt to figure a way out of the mess she's become entangled in. What's worse is that Neve feels Yasmin may not have been Diane's first victim - and if Neve cannot stop her, she may not be the last.

While the pacing was a bit slow, the plot predictable, and the film noir references too frequent and unnecessary in my opinion, I enjoyed this twisted cat and mouse novel. The 'villains' were properly unlikable, and though Neve came across as whiny and mopey at times due to her (self-imposed) lack of true friendship I found myself rooting for her in her quest to prove the truth.

I love a good sinister plot, where you think your new friend is perfect but then they’re a murderer.

Of course, that’s not something I’d like to happen in real life but it makes for a good story.

Dig Two Graves delivers and then some. Full of surprises and high stakes, this book is great for fans of thrillers and Pretty Little Liars.

Strangers on a Train meets Cruel Intentions in this story about two girls and the plan to commit murder for each other. Neve Lanier has always loved vintage film noir movies, she’s only ever had one friend and when that friend betrays her and makes her a social outcast Neve is left on unsteady ground. Her parents send her off to a girl’s empowerment camp to help her after the entire ordeal... but thats where trouble begins. There she meets Diane, a charismatic and beautiful girl who captures Neve’s attention... but is disliked by Neve’s roommate. Diane tells Neve about how she has a predatory step brother who harasses her and Neve tells Diane about her best friend Yasmin who betrayed her, they both joke about murdering each other’s bullies... except when Neve comes home from camp Yasmin has actually been murdered and now Diane wants Neve to fulfill her part of the bargain. Diane blackmails Neve into trying to murder her stepbrother or else Neve’s father will be framed for the murder of Yasmin. Neve will now have to try and find a way to get out of this and to see who she can trust. With Diane constantly watching her and more bodies dropping, Neve will have to see if she can figure out a way to prove Diane was behind everything before its too late... but did Diane commit this alone or is there someone else even more sinister behind this? This was a pretty interesting story and though the mystery was easy to solve I think people who like mysteries would enjoy this. I adore film noir and it was a fun element in the story!

*Thanks Netgalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide, Hyperion for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I was a bit bored with this book. It was pretty predictable, but I am also not the target audience. Young adult/teens might enjoy more.

I am a huge fan of Gretchen McNeil! She write great thrillers with twists and turns that you don't see coming. Dig Two Graves is no exception to that! I highly recommend giving it a change if you enjoy young adult thrillers.

This seemed a lot different from the other YA thrillers I’ve read because instead of trying to figure out who the killer is, we’re told who it is and they try to blackmail our main character into committing one too. But there are a few twists! The big one was predictable because the main character’s instincts tip us off. This book did have LGBT+ rep but it wasn’t the best. I haven’t really watched film noirs, but I was intrigued by all the references. Our main character also seemed to keep falling for the same mistakes over and over. Unlike most thrillers, she does actually try to tell the police the truth. I don’t feel like there was much character growth.