This book caught my attention because it's a Lizzie Bordon retelling. I found this book really fast paced and fun. All the characters were flawed and unreliable, but not in a way that felt completely unrealistic. The only reason I bumped it down to 4 stars was because I felt that I wanted a little bit more with the characters and the plot, but that may have been on purpose. The book has a dreamlike feel. I'm excited to see what else Kyra Leigh can do!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. All of the opinions given are my own and have been given nothing for my review.

When I saw, “based on the Lizzie Borden story,” I KNEW I had to read this! As a true crime fanatic, this book checked off all the best parts of a thriller, crime, and mystery all at once. I was absolutely captivated by the atmosphere, and the characters and I had an enjoyable time reading this and it held my attention the entire way through that I finished it within the day! I enjoyed every page and thought that the plot/story was very unique. Would recommend to anyone who loves a good thriller based on a highly publicized and popular true crime!

Plus that cover? Beautiful, sad, and brilliant..

Based on the Lizzie Borden story, this book follows two sisters whose mom died 6 months ago. And of course, dad has moved another woman into the house and pretty much ignores his daughters. Their resentment of him an of his new lover builds throughout the story. Were they together when mom was still alive? Did they kill mom to get her out of the way? And, well, you know how these two will die in the end if you know the rhyme "Lizzie Borden took an axe..." An interesting story, although it fell a bit short for me because the characters were hard to relate to.

3.75 stars

Charlotte lost her mother six months ago, and still no one will tell her exactly what happened the day she mysteriously died. They say her heart stopped, but Charlotte knows deep down that there's more to the story. The only person who gets it is Charlotte's sister, Maddi. Maddi agrees—people’s hearts don’t just stop. There are too many questions left unanswered for the girls to move on. But their father is moving on. With their mother’s personal assistant. And both girls are sure that she’s determined to take everything that’s theirs away for herself. Now the only way to get their lives back is for Charlotte and Maddi to decide how this story ends, themselves.

Right off the bat this book reminded me of a mix of the movie The Uninvited and the Lizzie Borden murders. I enjoyed the frantic pace of the story and the dual POV from both sisters. All of the adults here infuriated me and could've saved everyone a lot of trouble if they had just been honest. Charlotte and Maddi's father was awful and should've redeemed himself by telling the truth! The side characters (the uncle, Lana, Charlotte's ex-boyfriend) were not really fleshed out, but it worked ok for how fast the story flew by. Overall solid.

What a heart pounding psychological thriller. I really felt for Charolette and Maddi. The way this author made you feel their desperation, sadness, and anger grow with each chapter was phenomenal. I really was invested in going on this journey with them. This book was unpredictable and wonderful. Also huge kudos for the shorter chapters, I definitely appreciated that too!

I couldn't put down this taut re-imagining of the Lizzie Borden case in modern day. Completely haunting and riveting.

Lizzie Borden in a contemporary setting? I'm not sure if I would say this is a modern retelling of Lizzie Borden, but it's an okay book none the less.

The 2 MCs mother dies and the book is all about what they go threw to come to terms with this place also to find out what exactly happened to their mother, was it murder and if so who is the murderer. The story line is decent and kept me interested enough to keep turning the pages. The 2 MCs are both relatable and mostly likeable but literally every other character in the book is basically a garbage person!! The story was well written and had some twists I did not see coming, only other issue was the ending.... Personally I like to see more of a wrapped up ending, but overall a decent book and I would recommend to anyone who likes mysteries.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Actual rating 3.5 - What pulled me into this was the The Uninvited vibes I got from reading the summary. It honestly reminded me more of that (minus the ghostly parts) than Lizzie Borden. I felt bad for Maddi and Charlotte because their whole world was continuously collapsing. Every single character was horrible and treated the sisters so unkindly. If this had been written any other way I would not be a fan of the ending, but I think it ended perfectly.

Oh this was just great. Super thrilling and fun and even more then that, exciting. I really had fun reading this. It’s something new and something I haven’t generally thought about picking up but it’s for sure my taste. Kyra Leigh is an author I’ll keep my eyes out open for in the future!

Well,well, well since I attended the murder house tour in Salem/ Boston where Lizzie Borden’s poor dad and stepmother have been butchered ( probably by her even though she has gotten acquitted) for my documentary project I have truly scared and pulled the plug my entire work indefinitely! But my obsession about reading true crime stories and have a great need to see the events from the perspective of the killer never ended!

The book’s opening quote from Borden, references to Helter Skelter already picked my interest as a modern approach to the mind of a killer.

This is not modern retelling of Borden murders but this is a remarkable and interesting story about loss, grief, madness, dysfunctional family issues, estrangement with lots of mean girls and dislikable characters!

Actually only characters you can connect and feel sorry for Charlotte and Maddi. You can feel their inner screams throughout their perspectives. As Charlotte gets more depressed and sadder, Maddi gets more furious, impatient. They’ve been told that their mother’s heart has suddenly stopped, found lying on the beach. Why someone’s heart suddenly stop without any reason?
But this is not the only trauma they need to deal with: their mother’s dear personal assistant Amber is having an affair with their father and now she seems like getting everything her mother had including her wealth, husband, jewelries including her wedding ring!

The girls find poison in their house and clues of foul play about their mother’s case! Could their father team up with his mistress to inherit their mother’s business, house,money by faking her death?
Well, the names and the traumatic incidents of this book are perfectly adapted from real life events and short but effective chapters easily grab your attention. This is fast, emotional psychological thriller. There are so many unlikable characters you want to slap! And of course you may guess how the story conclude because of the content of true crime story.

But there were still some smart and unexpected twists! Definitely heart pounding, easy to read!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House/ Delacorte Press for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

I hadn’t heard about this book until I saw the cover on Netgalley. It also drew me in when they mentioned The Cheerleaders and Sadie. It didn’t take long after that for me to click the request button, haha.

The book is told from two point-of-views, Maddie and Charlotte. The two sisters are dealing with their mother’s death in different ways. Grief is a powerful emotion and it shows in this book with what can happen. Although, there is more going on besides that I would presume after reading this book. Each of the sister’s life is complicated with the family drama and even the drama from school. Charlotte does get the brunt of it all and it definitely wears on her mental health.

I would say that the girls are relatable but with the drama being over the top it’s hard to completely connect. There is also the use of language. I get it. Teens do indeed talk like that but, it also felt like it was used at times to try and fuel the drama. I’m sure these are issues that only I have with it.

There are a lot of other characters in this book besides the girls but I didn’t like any of them. They were all cruel without any understanding as to why they were this way. By the end there is some understanding for at least one character but it didn’t make up for what had already been done.

The plot was interesting and although some things were predictable, I still was surprised by a couple of the twists at the end. The ending was very open which isn’t something I like and personally, I wanted more closure. I get it but it doesn’t mean I have to like it, heh. Even though I had issues with certain things, it didn’t take away from continuously reading to see what would happen next.

I’m not too familiar with the Lizzie Borden case but I do like seeing how authors take something from history and make it fit into a contemporary setting.

Overall, this was good but I did have a few issues with it. I do think that readers will enjoy it if they like a more dramatic and darker book.

CW: Talk of Suicide, Miscarriage

Rating: 3.5 stars

A contemporary take on the Lizzie Bordon story that explores the depths of grief. What would you do if after your mother’s death... your father’s mistress has moved in, you find suspicious poison in your kitchen cabinent, and a strange girl at schools claims that she has letters written from your mother before her death....what if your mother’s death wasn’t as natural as you had thought. Sisters Charlotte and Maddi are grieving their mother’s sudden death. They are not happy that not after two months their mother’s personal assistant is now moved into their home and is now their father’s fiancee. Things start to become suspicious when the girls start to uncover more and more clues that implicate that their mother’s death wasn’t as natural as it appeared... and that they can’t trust anyone. They are both grieving in their own ways and the anger that builds in them is palpable. This was such a unique take on the Lizzie Bordon story. I have always been fascinated by the story and the mystery, and this book explores the depths of grief that can impact you and have a new take on why our Lizzie Bordon might be lead to do what she did, why she did it, the powerlessness and emotions that could occur. This was a brilliant read and honestly highly recommend. I was rooting for Charlotte and Maddi and honestly everyone else was kind of horrible. I could empathize with their grief, with their anger, with the way they were processing the loss of someone they cherished dearly.

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I absolutely love this thriller. This book starts with a quote regarding Lizzie Borden and it didn’t disappoint. This is my favorite kind of book full of mystery and murder. I highly recommend it.