This was a wild ride. I loved the mystery behind everything and the story that unfolded. I was NOT expecting that ending but thinking about it now, it makes a lot of sense. I will definitely be reading more by this author. She has a way of telling a story that sucks you in and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Thank you to Cynthia Murphy, Random House Children's/Delacorte Press, and NetGalley for an eARC of Win Lose Kill Die.

I thought this book had a very interesting premise, but felt like some of it was a bit too unrealistic to make it truly enjoyable.

Things I did enjoy...

The plot: At the risk of sounding morbid, kids who are part of a secret society start dying at an elite prep school and our main character and her friends are trying to suss out who the killer is. I love myself a murder mystery.

The setting: An elite prep school. There's something about setting a murder mystery at old buildings with lots of history that just hooks me from the get go.

The characters: The kids were relatable. High schoolers who love their friends but are also secretly envious of those performing better than them or those who are getting more accolades. It created enough suspicion that the reader can't quite be sure who the culprit is.

Things I did not enjoy...

The twist: Ok - I get the whole premise of an unreliable narrator, but we're really going to put the reader in the main character's head for the whole book and then turn everything around on us in the end? The reader experienced the panic and shock with the main character as her friends were murdered around her... then the author turns around and tells us she was the one committing the crimes all along. Nope. No stinkin' way.

Murders... plural: Ok - The body count at the end of this book was HIGH... I think 5 kids ended up dead. And it was just too unbelievable to think that these kids wouldn't find a way to tell their parents (especially with their secret phones!) and get the authorities involved.

Despite the things I didn't enjoy about the book, I did think it was fun, fast moving, and attention grabbing. Despite all the murder, it was a YA novel. I'd rate it a 3/5.

I really loved and enjoyed this book! I finished it in about a day or so because I absolutely needed to get to the end! Thrilling for sure and definitely recommend.

This was an interesting read with some fun plot twists. It felt like the plot drug a bit in some areas, but overall a fun book.

This was definitely interesting! I didn't see most of the plot twists coming, and it definitely kept me hooked. I probably wouldn't read it again, but it was really engaging and I did enjoy it!

Win, lose, kill, die…. Which one is going to happen to you? I liked the book but wasn’t completely intrigued with it, I felt like they was too much going on and just kept it busy and drug out.

This is a fast paced YA thriller and I enjoyed it, but it is definitely geared toward a younger audience than myself. The ending definitely wasn’t expected and did not really make sense, but overall a quick engaging read for the young adult audience.

I went into this keeping in mind that the book is strictly young adult and to not let that swap my opinion. However, upon reaching the end of the book and reflecting on the plot twist, I was not very happy about the main character we were presented with and her big reveal.

To start, the biggest red flag to me was the relationship and how much in the forefront of the story it was, but it provided nothing. We'd have random scenes of them spending time together but it was mostly unnecessary to keep the plot moving. I was hoping that the love interest was the killer by the end to at least have some payoff to it, but alas I was disappointed.

The school setting was a fun one, but again felt lacking when it came to how it was chosen. This may have been due to the category of book, but for how much the book stressed that these characters were the best of the best and was incredibly exclusive to only the smartest kids, we instead got a lot of characters running around doing shenanigans instead of academia. The constant description of the school also felt awkward and out of place; Dark Academia is popular but the over description of the places the main character visits to emphasize the "Hogwarts-ness" of it all felt like it was trying to hit a search engine optimization.

To be blunt about it, I really did not like the plot twist/killer reveal. Having your audience go along for the journey and being in the main character's head and then revealing that she was the killer all along felt like a slap in the face. Neither the characterization (and personality post-reveal), nor the logistics of what happened made sense. (For instance, she went with her friend to the gym. Her friend tells her to go shower, but she doubles back to kill her friend, go back to the shower to be found by her boyfriend after the murder is discovered?) This also felt like a strange dig at people with head injuries: if you're poor and get hurt, you will turn into a murderer.

As an adult reading this, I didn't have fun, but possibly for the targeted audience, they would be able to overlook the inconsistencies I pointed out.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

WHOA! This murder mystery was mind blowing and kept me (and the characters) on my toes the entire time! And I DID NOT see anything coming. This will not be the last Murphy book I read because I was quite impressed.

Morton Academy attracts the best. It gets the best students and helps them move on to more elite educational opportunities they would otherwise not have due to not being in "those" family trees. Everything has a price, though, and though most coveted spots Head Boy and Head Girl has the higher price since they have the most opportunity at meeting the best benefactors to finance their futures.

Liz figured out the answers to the scavenger hunt quickly enough, but her quiet and passive personality caused her to pause and in doing so, lost her the head girl position. She didn't mind, though - it's always better to look before you leap. Especially since all the Head Girls are dying off faster than one can be appointed. Also, she is glad to not have Head Girl responsibilities since new boy Cole seems to be as interested in her as she is in him.

Standard boarding school thriller with some truly messed up characters. This one was okay for me, but a little too messed up.

2 stars!

I love myself a YA thriller, but unfortunately this one didn't do much for me. There was really absolutely no surprise element and I figured it out pretty quickly even though it was potentially the most ludicrous ending possible. I just really dislike this trope and and was disappointed that my expectations for this book did not match any form of reality.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

So many fun concepts here: cults and secret societies and murder! The writing and pacing were pretty solid and easy to follow, though some of the twists/secrets were a bit predictable. A quick and easy read, especially for younger teens getting into the murder mystery / slasher genre!

I appreciate the chance to read this as an ARC. I just couldn’t get into this unfortunately. I DNF’d it at around 17%.

This teen thriller was like so many other teen thrillers. The identity of the killer was easy to guess, and everything basically played out the way it usually does. Sadly, there was nothing new or creative to be found within the book’s pages.

I listened to this book on audio and maybe that was my problem, but I felt like this book was a little confusing to listen to at first and I had a hard time getting into it. Honestly I probably should have DNFed this book but I wanted to see what happened.

I felt like overall, the book was rushed and predictable once I got into it and I was definitely ready for it to be over.

I am giving this 2.5 stars, but round up to 3 for netgalley.


Thank you Netgalley and Random House Children's for the gifted copy.

A secret society at an elite private school starts having members die mysteriously a group of the society decide to solve what is going on before they end up dead next.

This one had an interesting premise but felt kind of similar to other thrillers and a bit predictable. The writing on this was easy to follow and was engaging but the characters were kind of flat which kind of left me not caring what happened to them. This one was entertaining but a bit forgettable. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

Win Lose Kill Die by Cynthia Murphy is a young adult thriller novel that has a touch of slasher vibes from horror movies. The story in Win Lose Kill Die is a fast paced one told from the point of view of an unreliable narrator.

Those that attend the elite Morton Academy are overachievers that are already guaranteed into the colleges of their choice after graduation. But at Morton there is the elite of the elite at the school who are asked to join the secret society known as Jewel and Bone.

At the center of the secret society there is the “head girl” but no sooner than one is named that student is murdered. Liz and her group of friends Taylor, Kat, Marcus and Cole find themselves investigating just what is going on at the academy before they end up the next victim when yet another murder occurs shortly after the first.

Win Lose Kill Die by Cynthia Murphy was what I’d call a solid young adult thriller novel but one that wasn’t without a few flaws. The story is one that is fast paced which leads to not a whole lot of character development with the action pushing the plot along so I can’t say I wouldn’t have liked a bit more. The ending is a decent twist to the tale but also one that didn’t overly surprise me either so when said and done I rated this one at three and half stars and would give the author another read someday.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

YA is not my usual preferred reading but I was drawn to this book by the title and summary - it didn't disappoint! Maybe I need to be more open to YA!!! This definitely wasn't around when I was in high school...

Such a great YA thriller. If you love the wild chase of movies like Scream, books/movies like There’s Someone in The House, read this! When you have to figure out who the killer is as the bodies stack up…