I’m a sucker for a YA murder mystery so I was really excited for this one. Admittedly, this wasn’t exactly what I expected. It’s advertised as a locked-room thriller but doesn’t necessarily fit the category for me. I knew it was about a murder at a high school party so I expected all the characters to be stuck at said party with an unknown murderer among them. That did not happen at all. This takes place over the course of many days as the characters work to understand what happened that night. So, is it really a locked room thriller? No, not really. But thankfully, it was still a very solid read! It follows the POV in alternating chapters from three different outcasts from different backgrounds; Frankie, a girl whose best friend recently became popular and is into the It boy, Martin, a boy who used to have money and be popular but now is poor, and Cara, a homeless girl who comes to the party for free stuff. Now everyone’s a suspect in a murder but who actually did it? And why?

So much fun! Pretty predictable for an adult reader and I guessed the culprit literally the second the character was introduced, but I think this will very much appeal to the YA crowd it’s intended for. Overall, totally recommend to fans of Holly Jackson and Karen McManus.

Treggiari is a new-to-me author and I feel this was a great introduction to her writing style, definitely going to check out her other titles.

The only thing better than one surprise sapphic in a book is MULTIPLE surprise sapphics!!!

Heartbreak homes is a teen thriller set around the murder of a classmate at a party, too often with these types of stories the pacing is either way too slow, or rushed at several points which I absolutely can not stand, HH does not have this issue at all. Both the pacing and the engagement levels are pretty constant throughout.

The story is told from a good number of perspectives which keeps the story feeling fresh as well as giving us multiple perspectives on the events ongoing, this mixed with the short chapters makes it super easy to speed through this book.

As I mentioned earlier there ended up being multiple queer characters which was a great surprise for me, as time goes on I'm no longer having to search for specifically queer books to get representation, I get to see queer main characters by accident, which is so refreshing!

4.5 stars rounded up to a 5, I loved this! Will be searching for more by this author.

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

This book is a sort of murder mystery for teens. After a party in an abandoned house goes horribly wrong, a group of teens tries to figure out who murdered the popular kid.

I liked this book but it wasn't anything that kept me on the edge of my seat. I thought the pace was a little slow and there were times when it was difficult to stay engaged in the story. It isn't a bad story at all, but I look for something a little more snappy and quick in a thriller.

HEARTBREAK HOMES is a fascinating mystery that tells the story of Frankie, Martin and Cala. Frankie attends a party with her best friend Jessa at Heartwood Homes—or more aptly named, Heartbreak Homes. Once upon a time, Heartwood Homes was going to be a beautiful estate full of mansions and places to die for. But then the project went bust. Now, it lies abandoned, and it is the perfect place where a perfect party can go horribly wrong. When Heartwood Homes went bust, Mar-tin’s father lost everything, including Martin’s college tuition. All Cala has are the girls at her side and the clothes on her back. So, when she hears that rich kids are throwing a party, she realises they’re the perfect mark. But the night does not go as planned and soon a dead body is discovered, and an intense game of Whodunnit breaks out.

This was a quick read that I found myself flying through. I was invested in the mystery and wanted to know who the murderer was. I cared deeply for Cala and her girls and wanted them to find stability so they could relax for a short while. The murder was woven into the plot with enough detail and suspense that I never found myself wanting. It was well developed and fairly interesting. The char-acters led the story well and the side characters added a depth to the story that it would have needed otherwise. Frankie was a soft soul who I empathised with and who I felt made the story what it was. She was smart, inquisitive and sharp, which I enjoy very much in a character. Martin fell flat in some places, but he was still an entertaining character who’s point of view I enjoyed to read.

This book did feel slow paced every so often. I felt like there could have been more action, or the pacing could have been tighter around some areas. It made it somewhat difficult to keep reading when I was waiting for something to happen, and nothing would. I also don’t believe the description did the story justice, as it led me to believing this story involved a serial killer when it was far tamer than that. The climax definitely didn’t play out how I expected it to, and I believe that there should have possibly been a trigger warning for sexual assault at the beginning of the book, as that kind of content could trigger someone who is sensitive to that sort of material.

Overall, I feel this book wrapped up well, and it was a nice, cosy mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed. I would definitely recommend this if you’re someone who enjoys a quick, simple young adult mystery that takes you through various different points of view.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3 1/2 Stars!

Heartbreak Homes by Jo Treggiari is a YA mystery. This book has an interesting storyline with Frankie and her friend Jessa being the main characters. I felt this had a slow pace but at times the pace got faster. I do like the main characters though.

I received an ARC and this is my honest review.

Easy to read and fast to get into the action of the plot.

The protagonists did annoy me a little, they seemed to be quite cliche.
That being said, I think this will be popular with YA readers.

Frankie and Jessa have long been the best of friends, but recently Jessa has started hanging with the cool crowd and vying to socialise with them and further away from home, which sees the duo descend on the annual back-to-school party, one more apprehensive than the other. Jessa disappears and when Frankie finds her again she is at the heart of the scene of a crime. Could Jessa be responsible? Was she the unwitting eyes to a murder? Or was this a horrible and inexplicable accident?

I found the premise an intriguing one, as were the three perspectives used to narrate this tale. Frankie provided the initial eyes into this word, which was perhaps why I felt most affinity for her. I did, however, empathise with Martin, whose family's financial loss saw him removed from the elite academic institution the rest of his friends still attended and Cara, who dwelt on the streets with others around her age. I thought the author did a good job of discussing economic decline and the fallout of residing in areas were work was scarce, crime was high, and future prospects slim. I appreciated how the different perspectives illuminated a gradient of wellbeing and living standards.

The mystery itself, however, I felt less enjoyable to explore. I felt much of the novel moved at a sluggish pace, concerning the uncovering of clues. The journey into finding the murderer was less about puzzling out answers and more about getting to know the characters who attended the party, which was of less interest to me personally.

This book is most deff going on my bookshelf when it comes out. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I went into this kind of blind and I am not disappointed.

Thanks NetGalley and Nimbus Publishing for this eARC, these opinions are my own. I found myself intrigued through this book! Frankie, Martin, and Cara are all at a party when the host ends up dead. Martin has just been in an altercation with him, Frankie’s best friend like him but she was not a fan, and Cara and her friends weren’t even invited to the party. Can the figure out who did it? Are they suspects as well? Do the people they thought they could trust have secrets? I honestly couldn’t figure this one out till close to the end and even then I though I might be wrong! I also hadn’t anticipated some of the things that come out at the end! I enjoyed Frankie, Martin, and Cara. I think Cara and her friends had been through so much! There were a few holes for me but maybe I just missed them in my read. In any case they weren’t that big and didn’t distract from the major plot! I highly recommend reading this if you like LGBTQ+ mysteries! Can’t wait to read it again!

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book but I really liked it. It’s essentially a murder mystery told in a very locked room theme. I would consider it an updated spin on Agatha Christie.

4.25 for the YA genre

I really enjoyed this book! I love multiple pov in mystery. It really gives us a better look into the goings on of the story, as perceived by more than just a main character. The characters were very relatable and the mystery/twist was a nice surprise.

This book is reminiscent of Holly Jackson and Karen McManus, I’ll definitely read more by this author.

I liked this one. It took me a minute to get into it. It is told from the perspective of three troubled teens living completely different lives. They go to a party thrown by the town rich kid at an abandoned model home. A lot of terrifying and creepy things happen and they end up teaming up to solve a murder. There are a lot of nice details here, such as Alex with his little dogs and the street kids eating dry ramen.
As a former homeless teen I appreciated the details about their struggles. I was glad this wasn't another book where the children are stuck solving mysteries simply because they have obvious parents.
I would reccomend this to someone who wants to read a YA.

This was a really great murder mystery. It had the fast pacing and twists of a Karen M Mcmanus but with the humane qualities of something nearer a Holly Bourne or Laura Bates.

Cara, Frankie and Martin all share the narration. Each giving a fresh view on the situation and allowing the reader to learn more and more as the storyline progresses. On top of this they allow the reader to become emotionally invested in not only solving the mystery but in the characters themselves.

Cara, in particular, is a wonderful character. Her strength and loyalty shine through in her chapters in contrast with her vulnerability in Frankie's.

Martin was written in such a relatable way. His irritation and embarrassment coexisting with his love and care for his father made him so incredibly human and real.

It was nice to see the main romance plots being LGBT focused for a change and I also appreciated that Martin developed friendships instead of romantic links as this is often overlooked in YA!

The twist was believable and not completely obvious... although I had my suspicions. However I wish more hints had been made regarding motive earlier in the novel, as the reveal felt rushed.

I really enjoyed this book and found it hard to put down. I would definitely recommend and look out for other novels by this author!

For my first Netgalley ARC, Jo Treggiari knocked it out of the park! This book sucked me in from the beginning and kept me engaged and guessing all the way through - I finished it in a matter of hours. The short chapters, told from different points of view, made it easy to keep reading. Though YA thrillers tend to have some stock character types (the jock, the cheerleader, the outcast, etc) and this novel is no exception, I was really pleased with the character development of both Frankie and Martin. I was particularly fond of Martin and loved the recurring nods to his journalistic mind.

Though I was anticipating a more complex twist in terms of who is behind it all, I still found myself satisfied at the end. Hats off to Treggiari for an engaging, well thought out thriller and I look forward to more of her books to come!

The back to school blowout filled with drinks and drugs isn’t Frankie’s scene, but she would do anything for her childhood best friend Jesse, whose recent ugly duckling transformation has her hanging with a new crowd and vying for pretty boy Melcome the popular senior throwing the all out raged on his father’s deserted development property.
Martin hasn’t heard from his old friends since his father lost everything and moved them across town, until the party invitation between working double shifts and avoiding his father’s sad guilty routine, decides to blow off some steam. But the party house is a monument to the bad real estate deal that left half the town in financial ruin and the heart of all that has gone wrong for him and his family.
Cara and her crew of lost girls have been squatting in a model home on the property, stealing for their survival. The party is the perfect mark privileged kids, abundant alcohol and dark corners. The girls score big with their haul, but the celebration is short lived when they learn their temporary home is at risk of discovery. They could be split up and forced back onto the unsafe streets.
In the wake of a brutal brawl the guests find their host lifeless in a tangle of blood soaked sheets. And Melcome’s murder is only the first. Escalating violence drives Frankie, Martin, and Cara to forge new bonds, and together unmask a killer. Narrated from multiple perspectives. Heartbreak homes is about what compels us to kill and the true face of justice.
Really enjoyable read totally recommend
Thank You NetGalley and Nimbus Publishing
I just reviewed Heartbreak Homes by Jo Treggiari. #HeartbreakHomes #NetGalley