I'm a big fan of YA mysteries and this one did not disappoint! I devoured Pretty Dead Queens as fast as I could and didn't want to put it down! I highly recommend this one!

I enjoyed this nice little mystery. I did not see the ending that way so that was a nice surprise. Author kind of set up for a sequel

I read this one over a weekend. It didn’t go as quickly as I thought it would but the storyline kept me interested. I would say a good convo topic

Cecelia Evans is forced to move to Seaview for her senior year of high school after the death of her mother, where she moves in her estranged grandmother, who happens to be a world famous mystery author and one of two reasons Seaview is well-known. The other? The tragic murder of the high school's homecoming queen 50 years ago just hours after she was crowned. Cecelia's grandmother wrote her first novel about it, which was later turned into a movie. But while to some that may all seem like ancient history, it appears history is doomed to repeat itself when the frontrunner for homecoming queen is found dead in the exact same position as the queen from 50 years ago. Is it a coincidence or is the killer back for some kind of revenge? Cecelia and her friends try to figure it out before one of them turns up dead next.

This is classified as a YA novel, but it packs all the punch of an adult mystery/thriller, in my opinion. It's got a solid mystery (two really, the past murder and the present one) and plenty of suspects to keep the plot moving. I mean, there is some teen drama, but hey, it keep things light and fun, and it's nothing I haven't seen in any number of other cozies. So anyway. Don't give up on this one because of the YA label.

The mysteries were really good, trying to figure out what was going on and whether the two were connected. I did not figure out either before the solutions were revealed, there were a lot of directions for them to go in and the author does a good job of building of the suspense and building up different leads and scenarios. And the ending - wow! It was really good once it was revealed. I loved it!

I really enjoyed this book, and would love to read more from this author. I'll be picking up her other book and looking out for more from her in the future!

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Pretty Dead Queens was such a fun book to dive into. I, for one, didn't see who was behind the murders until it was way too late. I was easily distracted by everything else happening that I definitely missed some important clues. Still, it was so good, and I could easily see myself rereading this once again.

In this, you will meet Cecelia. She's seventeen years old and now lives with her grandmother. She's famous around here due to her amazing thriller books. It also doesn't hurt that one of her books revolves around a famous murder that happened within the very same town that they live in. After making some friends, it comes to a shock when she finds one of them murdered. It also doesn't help that she's the homecoming queen either.

With this recent murder looking almost identical to the first one, all anyone could think about is who did it. The list of suspects is long because honestly, everyone in this town has secrets or dirt on someone. It also doesn't help the homecoming queen had so much blackmail on her friends either.

Cecelia and her friends playing detective definitely had its fun moments. Yet, they put themselves in really sticky and dangerous positions. Again, until the big reveal came, I honestly had no idea who was behind it all. So, my jaw fell down to the ground with each secret that came out. Seriously, it was so good and I'm in awe. Still trying to put the puzzle pieces together so I can know what I missed and how I did.

In the end, I can't wait for Alexa to write another book.

This was... unexpected.
It was going to be a 4 but the ending just slapped me across the face and said, you better think again.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Random House Children's Books for allowing me to review this book early. All thoughts in this review are my own.

As a reader that is well out of the target age demographic for Young Adult books, I still prefer Young Adult over Adult almost always when it comes to thrillers. I'm a total sucker for tropes similar to And Then There Were None and dances where the beauty queen or the popular guy is found unalive. So when I read the synopsis for Pretty Dead Queens it was a no brainer for me. (This isn't an Agatha Christie type trope. I'm just speaking to different buzz type things that instantly pique my interest.)

This book does have a dead queen.. maybe even more. Cecelia is where our story starts. And let me just say, the first full paragraph of this book had me sitting up and thinking this is going to be great. Dark and yet the gallows side of my humor had me cackling. Cecelia feels like death seems to follow her. Most recently, her mother was taken too soon by cancer. So our leading lady is shipped off to her mother's hometown of Seaview to live with a grandmother that Cecelia's mom had cut from their lives a while ago. It's senior year and Cecelia doesn't know what to expect.. from the town, the people, school, her grandmother. Because while Cecelia feels tracked by death, her grandmother openly embraces it, in the form of the murder mysteries that have made her famous.. even a little infamous. Since her grandmother's first bestseller was actually based on the Homecoming Queen that was murdered years ago right after being crowned. Maura (Grandmother) was even the one to discover her friend Caroline, dead in the school's swimming pool. Strangled. The bad guy is in jail and there's even been a major motion picture, filmed in their little seaside town. So imagine if another queen turns up dead in the pool and our girl Cecelia just happens to be the one to find her. Shock. Gasp. The horror.

I was super into this story in the beginning. But there's a ton of characters here since we're dealing with more than one generation. That's when I got a little bogged down. My only critique of this story is that you're given a lot of these characters at once and not all of them felt distinct to me. I would have to stop reading and think back to remember who was who and why they were important. I even went and checked the early ratings and thought huh? How can it be that high? I don't feel like I'm reading the same book as everyone else. So I got it together. I knew there had to be something really great coming. Once I got past my own shortcomings and cemented the characters and their roles, I couldn't put this down even if I had wanted to.. but I didn't want to. I did feel like Cecelia was a very real person. Like someone I could know in real life. And I also thought to myself that a murder mystery would be pretty damn boring if there were only a suspect or two. I doubt other readers will experience the same level of difficulty as I did keeping everyone straight. I do take some of the blame. And once you finish the book, you will also understand why this story deservingly has such a high rating. Like, buckle up. For real. Because you're about to get knocked around from one page to the next by the end of this.

This was my first by the author, Alexa Donne. Though, I had been interested in The Ivies and purchased it before even starting this one and now, I will be getting to that one much sooner, rather than later. I wouldn't mind seeing more of this story with these characters and I will definitely be checking out whatever Alexa Donne comes out with next.

set in a coastal californian town, pretty dead queens (releasing october 4, 2022) is a young adult contemporary thriller following main character cecelia as she navigates grief and her new normal living with her estranged grandmother. though the town seems normal at first, the prom queen is murdered, prompting cecelia to investigate a copycat murder of her grandmother’s bestselling murder mystery novel.

from the first line of the book, i was completely hooked. i even read the entire book in one sitting. much like the ivies, pretty dead queens was interesting and suspenseful and i also really love alexa donne’s writing style. cecelia was a relatable and complex protagonist; i really liked how pretty dead queens explored themes of grief and tragedy with her character especially. i also liked how the friendships and depiction of teenagers felt realistic in the novel as well. and the atmosphere of pretty dead queens! the coastal town setting makes the perfect book to read on vacation, especially for a road trip down highway 1.

the only thing that i sort of didn’t love entirely about pretty dead queens was that i found it decently predictable, as i was able to guess the murderer. however, i still really enjoyed my reading experience and i think that many of the best books are still amazing reads even if you know what is going to happen next, and that’s how i feel about pretty dead queens.

also the ivies is really good too, i recommend!!

thank you @getunderlined for an earc of pretty dead queens and thank you @alexadonne for the opportunity to be on the pdq street team!! <3

I wanted to fall in love with this book so much. Unfortunately, I didn't. The characters are hard to like. The pacing is not the best, and I guessed most of what happened. The writing was not very emotionally charged. It was much more a play by play of what was happening, but no one really cared that it was happening, least of all Cecelia.

Alexa Donne quickly is becoming a nuanced writer in the murder mystery genre, which is demonstrated in her newest novel, “Pretty Dead Queens.” After Cecilia’s mother passes away, she has to move in with her eccentric grandmother, Maura Weston, a famous mystery writer. As Cecelia navigates through the cliques at her new school, a shocking murder of an almost-Homecoming queen happens. And it seems to be a copycat murder of one written about in Maura’s novels as well as witnessed by Maura. Cecilia becomes obsessed with solving this murder and is shocked at how obsessed the people in town are with her grandmother’s novels. Donne does a great job of creating some red herrings and some surprising twists. As with any murder mystery, the main character seems to have some unrealistic liberties and privileges to help solve the murder, but that is what keeps the reader intrigued. I am left to wonder if this the first novel in a series, and if so, I will definitely read the second one.

I would recommend this novel to my students who enjoy murder mysteries. It is an accessible read that pays homage to other authors in that genre.

I would like to thank Alexa Donne, Crown Publishing, and NetGalley for the Advanced Copy.

2.5 stars

If you enjoy small-town settings with a bunch of secrets, this may be a book for you to check out. I found it to be way too predictable, and I was expecting more mystery. I enjoyed The Ivies, but this one didn't quite hit the mark for me. I did enjoy Cecilia's grandmother.

I really enjoyed this book overall. The book is centered around Cecilia, who discovers a dead body in the school pool and investigates the murder for herself. There was a similar murder years ago, so she investigates both cases and compares them. I enjoyed following Cecilia along as she tried to discover who the killer was. It was pretty quick read and the ending was really good!

Pretty Dead Queens was a thrilling, interesting, and captivating novel that kept my attention.

The story follows our main character, Cecelia, who moves into her grandmother’s mansion in a peaceful New England town…or so she thinks. When the homecoming queen dies a gruesome death, similar to a homecoming queen who was murdered years ago, Cecelia attempts to get to the bottom of the mystery- even if that means all of her new friends are the suspects.

Personally, I liked Cecelia. She definitely wasn’t my favorite character, but she wasn’t completely clueless (like some ya protagonists are). Even though she was basic, she was still a solid character. All the other characters had a lot depth and motivation and were fun to read about. Brontë & Gabriel were probably my two favorite characters.

The pacing was very well done, I read the entire book in around 2 days. I enjoyed. the writing style, no complaints there; and I liked the atmosphere of the book.

The plot made sense and was interesting. My only complaint is how predictable it was. I figured out the murderer quite early on, but I didn’t figure out the final plot twist, which redeemed the book for me and was not as predictable.

The romance was…eeh. It could’ve been better and I didn’t feel like it was completely necessary, but I can see how some people might like it.

Overall, I liked and would recommend Pretty Dead Queens. It’s an engaging ya mystery/thriller that’s a quick read and has a shocking plot twist. It’s also perfect to read during homecoming season!

Seaside Town: √

Murder Mystery: √

High School Drama √

Jessica Fletcher would be proud.

Alexa Donne said that "Pretty Dead Queens" is an homage to Murder she Wrote and I am here.for.it. A cozy mystery but with a higher body count and more secrets? Done and done.

Cecelia has moved to Seaview to live with her grandmother, a famous mystery writer, after her mother passes away. Struggling to adjust in a new town isn't easy, especially with the shadow of an infamous murder hanging over the town. And oh yeah, the murder just happens to be the subject of your grandmother's most popular book.

What follows is a plot that seems ripped from her grandmother's books: another homecoming queen has been murdered, mirroring the crime from decades ago. Cecelia is drawn into the mystery of solving the crime--and along the way she begins to wonder if maybe an innocent person is in prison.

When everyone seems to be lying, who can you trust? Is the truth really stranger than fiction? What if Murder She Wrote was rated R? I had a great time finding out the answers to all of these questions and recommend this creepy mystery.

4 stars/5

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's for my arc.

I loved the Ivies so was very excited to see what the author had up her sleeve for her newest novel.

I absolutely could not believe it when I realized the author had killed Natalie in the exact same way she killed Emma in The Ivies. Can she truly think of absolutely no other way? I was immediately let down. I instantly questioned why I was reading the exact same book twice! I honestly almost DNF’d it right there.

I tried so hard to connect with this story but it just never happened. I was overwhelmed with the amount of characters, I had such a hard time remembering who was who. Both twists were completely predictable.

I cannot stress how desperately I wanted to like this. Ultimately it was simply meh.

In particular, I like books about amateur detectives who look into homicides. This was so simple to get sucked into, and the small-town mysteries kept me guessing right up until the very end.

I adore it when there are suspicious activities going on in addition to the murder. It keeps the story interesting and keeps me on the edge of my seat as I wait to find out what happens next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this title.

I enjoyed this one. It was a quick read even if it was predictable. The characters were decent, the setting was good, and the mystery was okay.

Cecelia has just lost her mother to cancer, the only family she's ever known, and has to move in with the grandmother she barely knows, Maura. Her grandmother is a local celebrity, however, as a best-selling author. She only just starts to adjust to her new life when a murder occurs, eerily similar to the homecoming queen murder that her grandmother's debut novel is based on. Cecelia throws herself into the investigation to find out who the copycat killer is, and who is next.

I've had mixed luck with YA mystery thrillers, but this definitely didn't disappoint! I like Cecelia as a character and loved how her dealing with her grief ties in with how she goes about doing things. I also really appreciated that Cecelia's suspicions and opinions change as she discovers new details and clues instead of immediately knowing who to point the finger at. Her own sleuthing ebbed and flowed with what was happening, which just added to the authenticity of the mystery.

The overall mood was very suspenseful with a hint of spooky, so this would definitely be the perfect book to read right around Halloween. There were so many twists and turns that I didn't see coming and was honestly on the edge of my seat right up to the ending.

📌 Pub Date: October 4, 2022

Thank you to the author (Alexa Donne), the publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC!

4.5 stars - First & most important disclaimer: I am friends with the author. I obviously am sharing what I experience as my honest opinion here, but I fully acknowledge that unconscious bias is a thing

That said... I absolutely loved this. I think this is the best book Alexa has written so far in terms of quality of writing, plotting, and theming. It helps that this could not be more up my alley trope wise: secrets from the past, small town secrets, and an homage to Murder She Wrote/Cabot Cove. My own critique is that it takes a while for the main story/mystery to get going because there is such a large cast to introduce; that said, I still found that interesting, so just know it is a bit of a slow burn on the front end that cascades into a rush to find whodunnit by the end

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

Alexa Donne has DONE it again. She has written a masterfully plotted, beautifully written, and perfectly atmospheric thriller. I was very curious to read more of Alexa's thrillers after the Ivies, and I am pleased to discover Pretty Dead Queens proves Alexa's place as a thriller writer in the industry.

My favorite things about this book were the setting (I mean, a small cozy killer town near a beach? I'm in love), the atmosphere, and the prose (Alexa's words are beautiful!).

I will say it took a little bit for the book to pick up, and for the murder to even happen. The relationships between the friend group were okay, but individually I loved every single one of them. I think Cecilia's drive to investigate the murder could've had a stronger reason, as I was not completely convinced in the first place, but overall the parallel between Cecilia's personal history and the occurrences of the book interlaced beautifully.

I give this book 4.5 stars. I enjoyed the read so much! Can't wait for Alexa's next thriller!

Pretty Dead Queens is a fast-paced YA thriller with engaging characters and a compelling mystery. The book is perfect for fans of Pretty Little Liars, One of Us is Lying, or Jessica Goodman. When seventeen year old Cecelia's mom dies, she goes to live with her estranged grandmother, a famous murder mystery author. When the homecoming queen gets murdered, Cecelia begins investigating because the killer is a copycat killer and the original murder was the basis for one of her grandmother's books. The story has plenty of twists and unpredictable gems throughout. This is a fun read for fans of YA thrillers. Be sure to check out Pretty Dead Queens today!