I'll be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of thrillers sometimes but this one I enjoyed. The book was a little shorter than some thrillers (which is partly why I don't always love them, I find they can drag on too long) but very fast paced. The book is told in multiple points of view, and I really like how it turned out. The many POVs helped see all of the sides of the story at the same time and really feel for some characters. I did figure out the killer before it was announced. I also found at points it was a little unrealistic and a few plot holes throughout the novel. Overall, not a bad thriller, definitely a quick one to read and hard to put down.

I wasn't blown away. There were parts I quite enjoyed and others not so much. For me it wasn't a memorable read but it was an interesting concept that kept me reading.

This book has a very interesting way of murder, very fast paced. A Night to Die For has character depth with multiple multiple pov's. I really enjoyed this book because it takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions. I thought it was pretty easy to guess the killer but I definitely enjoyed the book overall!

Fave Quotes:
"It's not supposed to be the night you die."

"Free. A word I hadn't thought about much until now. Before all this, I was free to work my butt off at the Pay-n-Pak for minimum wage. Free to read all the graphic novels I could handle. Free to scream in terror when a spider of any size entered my personal space. Free to ask a girl to go to prom with me.”

A big thank you to @lisaschroeder15 and @brbeyondtours and NetGalley for this amazing ARC!

I like Lisa Schroeder so I was excited to read this new release. Though not usually a fan of multi-POV books, for this particular type of book it worked well. When prom queen Mirabelle is found dead by the prom king, Mario, he becomes the prime suspect. But as in most murder mysteries, things are not always what they seem.

I liked the way Schroeder looped characters into the web of the story and explored the relationships among both the teens, their parents, and the case detective. And the ending was satisfying. The plot was well paced and the developments revealed thrmselves perfectly.

A very satisfying read.

A Night to Die For is a fast-paced, quick read exploring what happens on prom night when things go horribly awry. Told from many varying points of view, we see the story from all angles surrounding the people that knew Maribelle the most. There’s a level of drama that draws you into the story from the start. Punctuated with police interviews and social media feeds, Schroeder slowly unveils a complete picture of what happened that night.

You need to suspend a bit of belief while reading this because of the police procedures. Poor Mario, his mother, is pretty clueless, and I felt bad for him. Reading A Night To Die For, you will find a fun and addicting read that can be read in practically one sitting. There are a lot of secrets, and it’s fun watching them spill out. Thank you to TBR and Beyond Tours and Underlined for sending this along.

Wow! You all know that I am a total mystery lover! This one hit the ground running on page 1 and was very hard to put down! (Darn weekend plans!!).

It was told in multiple points of view and kept you guessing all the way through. I also found it a bit emotional reading it as a mom of 2 teen girls, prom age. Receiving news like this is my worst nightmare!!

If you have the chance, definitely give this one a read!

MY THOUGHTS:

Ever since I read A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder this past fall, I’ve been both obsessed with and deeply craving YA thriller novels (a sentence rom-com addicted teen me never in a million years thought I’d EVER say!). And so, while A Night To Die For ultimately wasn’t *quite* as amazing as the AGGTM series, I can easily say that this was exactly the quick pick-me-up YA horror book I needed to get me right out of a several month long reading slump.

WHAT I LIKED:
- For one, this is actually a rather short YA book at under 300 pages (if I’m not mistaken, I think the exact page count was 288). This means that this is a super easy book to pick up if you (like me!) find yourself stuck in a seemingly endless book slump. I think it took me less than 3 hours from start to finish, which was really nice!
- I’ve talked about this before, but for someone who is a pretty big fan of dark academia, I can actually be surprisingly neurotic when it comes to reading or watching straight-up horror books & films. However, A Night to Die For really surprised me in how it was actually not that much of a horror book at all, but rather a lightly chilling mystery/thriller novel. While some avid horror readers and fans might be disappointed by this, I was personally extremely relieved!
- Another thing I quite surprisingly enjoyed was all of the multi-POVs. Usually, I find it pretty hard to keep track of all the characters (especially when the ensemble cast is as big as the one in A Night to Die For!) but interestingly enough, I actually think that this worked really well in creating an increasing level of suspense. Wanting to go forward and get to certain character’s POVs actually helped me get so entirely wrapped up in the book that I didn’t even realize I had spent several hours sitting in the same spot until I turned the last page of the book!
- Lastly, this is not really a pro/con as much as I actually can’t believe that I didn’t realize that this was written by the same Lisa Schroeder whose children’s/tween books I was head-over-heels with back in elementary and middle school! Some of you may know her as the author of I Heart You, You Haunt Me, the It’s Raining Cupcakes series, My Secret Guide to Paris (and two subsequent “secret guide” books), and the Charmed Life series (among MANY others!). Especially after learning that this was not the author’s primary genre, I really have to give Lisa some credit for writing such a well-crafted thriller!

WHAT I...DIDN'T:
- I think the biggest thing I didn’t like about this book was actually the final “whodunnit” reveal. Mind you, I was completely on the edge of my seat for the majority of the book, but something about figuring out exactly who was behind the crime just…didn’t sit well with me? The motive felt kind of flimsy (I mean, at least if you’re going to end someone’s life, shouldn’t you at least have a pretty good reason for it?), and even now writing this I still can’t BELIEVE that [name redacted] was behind the crime – it just really didn’t feel in keeping with said person’s character.

OVERALL:
- While it didn’t quite live up to my (admittedly high) hopes, I still think I can easily recommend A Night to Die For as being a great choice for fans of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, the One of Us is Lying series, and (of course!) the cult-classic ’70s movie Carrie. I’m looking forward to reading more of the Underlined paperback series thrillers in the future!

A Night to Die For is a gripping murder mystery told in multiple POVs with occasional newspaper articles, texts, and letters thrown in.

ANTDF follows the murder of Maribelle Starr, the prom queen. The number one suspect is Mario Woods, the prom king, who found the body. As the police narrow in on Mario, there’s a divide between those who think Mario is guilty and those that are convinced he’s innocent. Lucas, Mario’s best friend, is one of the latter. As Lucas tries to prove his friend innocent, he recruits many characters to help solve Maribelle’s murder and prove Mario innocent.

I really enjoyed this and could not put it down. The narrative style with multiple POVs (parents, classmates, teens directly connected to the death) and other sources of media was really engaging, and rare to see in YA to this extent.

All in all, this was an engaging murder mystery that kept me guessing until the very end!

This is an amazing remake (if it is) of Carrie!

The cover is GEORGOUS, and it's definetely something "required" to have.

Five stars from me, i loved it!

I found Lisa Schroeder's books many years ago, and I love how she weaves a story together.
A Night to Die For is a fantastic thrill ride of mystery. Told in multiple points of view, the reader gets immersed in the total plot, playing detective along the way. Lots of twists and turns, plus short chapters, made this young adult mystery a fast paced, page turning thrill! I know my students will be "dying" to talk about this new book!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I feel a bit conflicted about this book! It was a quick read, coming in at around 300 pages, so it was good to have something to sit down and binge in an afternoon. I would say also that while advertised as a horror, personally I would classify this as more of a mystery.

The book is broken up into a lot of short chapters, from various perspectives. Where most mysteries that use multiple POVs as a plot device, they stick to the characters suspected of the crime, or those trying to solve it. This book goes beyond that however, and takes characters such as the parents involved and even the detectives investigating, which really gives it a fully-rounded appraoch. It’s interesting seeing it used in this way, as I for one always wonder what goes on beyond the character perspectives we are given in books. Although the reader is not set out to be all knowing here – especially as it’s a mystery! – this allows us a larger amount of insight, and from many different angles.

Beyond this simply being a murder mystery, it also felt like a story about truth, and truth to ourselves. Finding ways to break free of the boundaries we have found ourselves restrained by for whatever reason, and putting faith in the people around us also played key roles, along with the simple fact that we are all humans, and no one is ever just one person. We all put out different energies with the people we are surrounded by, and you can be both loved and hated in equal messure. These motivated a story that, while I didn’t absolutely love, I will certainly keep in mind should people ask for recommendations of easy to read, fast paced mysteries.

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: A Night To Die For

Author: Lisa Schroeder

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 3/5

Recommended For...: young adult readers, mystery, murder mystery, prom night

Publication Date: March 1, 2022

Genre: YA Mystery

Age Relevance: 16+ (underage alcohol consumption, abelism, death, sexual content, language, drugs, religion)

Explanation of Above: There is one slight comment about abelism and talking down to a character because they have cancer. It felt a little infantizing, but the character who said it was a rude character so it fit their MO a little. There is a lot of references and mentions and showings of underage alcohol consumption. There is death mentioned, a dead body described, and some slight gore mentioning vomit and slight blood. There is some slight mentions of sexual content, mostly in jokes. There is very slight cursing; there are probably just a handful of curse words in the book. There are drugs that are just mentioned a couple of times. There is also one mention of religion.

Publisher: Underlined

Pages: 288

Synopsis: All Mario wants is one normal night before he graduates. He's spent most of high school riding solo and gaming with his only friend, Lucas. But when his mom asks him to take Elana Dexter to the prom as a favor to her father, his mother’s boss, he figures this might be his chance to be less of a loner.

Only, the night takes a turn quickly. First, Mario gets crowned Prom King alongside the school’s it-girl, Maribelle Starr. Which is weird enough. But what’s weirder is that when they put the crown on his head, hundreds of worms slither out of it and all over Mario. Just when Mario thought the night couldn’t get any worse, he sees something on the side of the road while driving Elana home. That something is Prom Queen Maribelle Starr—murdered and left for dead.

All Mario wanted was to go to prom...but somehow, he ended up in hell.

Review: This was an ok book. The book was a fast paced mystery read with mixed media format. The book had a good premise and it was interesting as it kept my interest throughout. The book also did fairly good with the mystery aspect of it.

However, the book was a bit of a let-down. There are a ton of POVS (10+) and I didn’t feel like I got a good sense of who was talking and I didn’t feel like any of these voices were distinct. The character development itself is horribly lacking and nothing clearly defines anyone. The only character who is developed is the dead girl and while this style could have been played off well, it wasn’t in this instance. There was a weird back and forth between the timelines without indication of where we were. The world building was lacking in a bunch of scenes. I had a big issue with how the investigation was handled. One of the characters questioned is a minor and should not have been questioned without being in the presence of her parent. The said minor also later went to the police twice and gave them further information, again without their parent which is illegal and something the “competent” detectives would have known. It was also foggy if the other character was a minor or not, but it was found out he was. I also was reminded of how unfair the criminal justice system was in this book, in which a family’s life savings are completely drained proving another’s innocence and they’re not paid back for the police’s mistake in arresting the wrong perpetrator, which I think needs to be overhauled when we start prison reform in this country. Anyways, aside from that I think the book would have been better if it was just a bit more developed and if the author took more time to develop the killer through hints and clues.

Verdict: It’s good, just too fast paced and needs a bit more details in it.

A Night to Die is told in first-person narratives by almost a dozen characters involved in prom night.

The book opens up with Mirabelle, the prom queen at the prom dancing with the prom king, Mario. Then the next thing a deputy spots Mario on the side of the road looking into a ditch at dead prom queen. How did she get there? Did Mario have something to do with it? No one knows for sure because his date is drunk in the passenger seat of his truck. One thing that piqued my curiosity was how fast a deputy was on the scene. Was he just driving around because it was prom night? Mario is instantly arrested not for murder but for contributing to the delinquency of a minor because his date was drunk. But that quickly changes when new evidence comes to light.

Then enters Parker, her boyfriend. He had plenty of motive but he can’t recall what happened after he dropped her home because he went home to drink after she broke up with him. Could he have done it because he doesn’t remember what happened?

As the story progresses we soon realize that Mirabelle was leading a whole other life that no one really knew about.

Lucas, Mario’s best friend knows he can’t let his friend who is innocent go to jail for a crime he never committed so he decides to dig around in hopes of finding out what really happened since the cops are focused on Mario. Will Lucas be able to crack the case?

I ended up reading this in one sitting because I was instantly hooked. I wanted to know who killed Mirabelle. I have to admit that for the first 3/4 of the book I really didn’t have a clue and was shocked at the end. I didn’t really see that coming but once I sat back and reflected on the book I could see it and why it lead the person to do it. There was definitely plenty of twists and turns to keep you on your toes in guessing who the killer was. The storyline was fast-paced which I love in mystery/thriller kinds of books.

I loved the format of the book. Not only was it written but it also included Twitter messages, text messages, press releases, newspaper articles, and also letters. I also think that those are fun elements to a book. This was definitely a quick read with very short chapters.

It’s prom night, boy and girl get crowned king and queen, queen is murdered, king is the main suspect. So we have all these Carrie vibes happening and this cover is just perfection! A Night to Die for is a YA ‘who done it’ with short fast chapters and many many POV’s. The multiple point of views make the story fun and fast paced however, with so many, comes less depth, making it really difficult to connect with any one character. The writing felt a little juvenile (definitely more on the early teen side), the character development fell a little short, but it was certainly an entertaining, twisty thriller with a super sweet and hopeful ending that had me all sentimental! May be odd to say for a prom murder trope but, all in all a cute read!

This book made me question my skills as a reader/detective. I both loved and hated that it bounced around from so many of the character's perspectives and at times, I couldn't quite keep up with what was happening or what had happened. I thought I had the ending figured out, and then I didn't....and two minutes later, I doubted myself again. It was a good kind of confusion though. It was a new way of looking/exploring a murder.

I enjoyed the major themes of perception and how social media, the police, and the other students of the high school had their two cents to throw in about Mirabelle's murder. But as a reader, you discover that she had a whole other part of her life, and it seemed to make her happy. And I went through so many emotions with Elana. At first, I felt sorry for her, then I was upset with her for her lack of empathy, and by the end, I was a little disgusted by her. I just felt sorry for Mario, even with his lies.

A Night to Die For was phenomenal! I was drawn in by the cover and intriguing title and was hooked when I read the synopsis! I was hooked and kept guessing the entire time, never knowing which person was truly at fault. The author did a phenomenal job of making me feel like I knew and understood everyone before ripping the rug right out from under me with new information. I loved the main characters you get to meet - the ones you spend the most time with are Mario, Mirabelle, and Elena, though there are some you get brief POVs for as well.

Mario, someone who would have been fine not going or going alone is pressured to ask Elena to Prom, it's at that prom that Mirabelle is named Prom Queen and then, within the first few pages of the book she is found dead in a ditch the very same night. A cop finds Mario and his date at the side of the road with Elena and all chaos ensues. Mario is quickly a suspect, and everything gets pinned on him - but is everything exactly as it seems?

Honestly, this was such a fun, intense, and fast-paced YA thriller - it kept me turning pages and guessing all night long so I highly recommend it. The storytelling is done in a unique way with the changing POVs, which is perfect because you have no idea who to trust! A Night to Die For would be perfect for fans of the Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson as well as They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodman.

"A Night to Die for" was a fast paced, entertaining, YA Thriller. It was so fun to read and I read the whole book in a matter of 2-3 hours. The book has a few characters but they are all so interesting and annoying in their own ways. The book was very entertaining and there was so much teenage drama.

The whole clique thing and bullying seems like the same old formula, but there is a reason it works well. There was so much jealousy and toxicity among the characters. It was the perfect setting for a murder to happen. The story was set in the prom night where Mario and his date Elana find a body.
The body belonged to their classmate, Maribelle.

A cop walks in and the whole thing gets pinned on Mario. Investigation ensues and a lot of secrets get revealed. I was a bit disappointed with the ending. There were a lot of unreliable narrators in the book. So it made it very confusing, but the ending could have been a better for me. Nevertheless, it was a very fun book to read and I recommend it to all lovers of YA thrillers.

I really liked and enjoyed this book. The setting and the mystery behind the plot was absolute top-notch. However, the multiple PoVs were just not it for me. Regardless. its a definite 4 stars read for me.

The prom queen is dead along the side of the road. Standing right next to her is the prom king. Dun, dun, dun. The narrative includes text messages, letters, and newspaper articles. I found this to be an entertaining mystery with a multitude of POVs that kept the pages turning. If Mary Higgins Clark were still with us and wanted to write a YA novel, it might be a bit like this. Hand this one to fans of April Henry and Natalie Richards.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this book, knowing nothing. Within the first two pages there is a death and whodunnit ensues.

The story follows too many perspectives to count, but in this type of story, it made sense to let everything unfold person by person.

I didn’t guess the ending, which is always a bonus. Enjoyable overall.