I think I kept reading to figure out the end. I’m notorious for having to know the how and why of thriller books, even if the book doesn’t warrant a finish. Which I could’ve lived without finishing this book.

this book was such a ride!

the first half of the book did feel slow to me and it took me a while to get into the story, but halfway through the plot really picked up! it was a captivating mystery and i loved the elite boarding school setting. i also enjoyed the fact that the killer wasn't obvious. i was suspecting people left and right and the final reveal of who the perpetrator actually was truly shocked me! i didn't see it coming at all.

this was a fun, twisted murder mystery and i'm very excited to read the rest of cynthia murphy's works!

Exclusive prep school, secret society, questionable narrator recovering from amnesia, slasher vibes - if these are your things, and you love a YA thriller, this one is for you. I enjoyed the pace and the nostalgic teen horror vibes - and didn’t put the pieces together on my own

i really enjoyed this book, which in some ways is surprising because im not usually into slasher-style stories but this one was so good (and maybe i just don’t like the movies). i have to pat myself on the back because i figured out what was going on really early in the story. my confidence wavered a few times, but the ending confirmation had me screaming. this plot is so fast-paced and fun. the dark academia x psycho killer vibes kept me intrigued the whole time.

This was a fun YA murder mystery that gave me murdery Gossip Girl vibes. I suspected the twist, but kept changing my mind throughout the story. I enjoyed the book and was was pleasantly surprised with how it all came together in the end!

Also.... can we talk about "Billy Loomis"?! 😂🔪🔪

this book was a blast! I didn’t see the twist coming and enjoyed every second of it. And the characters were well rounded and not a bit of it was cheesy as I worried it could be. And the author really did a phenomenal job and I read the whole book so fast it was wild. This would be good for late preteen and up, I am in my 40s and thoroughly enjoyed it!

This seemed so young, even younger than a typical YA book. Some plot points seemed unnecessary, and the ending was confusing. I am going to chalk this one up to being for a much younger audience than I am.

I want to thank Netgalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for an ARC of this book.

Win Lose Kill Die by Cynthia Murphy
Published: November 28, 2023
Delacorte Press
Genre: Teen & Young Adult School & Education Fiction
Pages: 262
KKECReads Rating: 4/5
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

There is a lot to appreciate in this book. I loved that this elite school selected the students based on their academic success and intelligence, not the amount in their family's checking account.

This gave a level playing field vibe, as the characters were similarly rooted as far as their home lives. I loved the sisterhood and the way the story flowed.

There were several twists I didn’t see coming, and I liked the alternating narration. I did guess who the killer was, but I’m a hardcore thriller fan. That did not deter me from the story, though.

I did have to remind myself that this is a YA thriller, so the plot didn’t get as profoundly twisted as I prefer from my thriller books. But I liked how Murphy told a story, fleshed out her characters, and invited me into a school of nightmares.

WIN LOSE KILL DIE started out strong, with a really intriguing premise, and immediately vaulted into action. However, it suffered during the middle portion and started dragging, but ultimately redeemed itself with one shock of an ending.

Enjoyed it but not sure I’ll seek out others from this author - the YA element was a bit too apparent and took away from the enjoyment.

Thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the opportunity to read and review WIN LOSE KILL DIE.

This is a fairly quick read that keeps you guessing throughout. The author leads little clues throughout that will keep you guessing and working out who the killer is.

Thank you to netgalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for allowing me read this book. This was a good ya thriller.

I loved the idea of the book, but for some reason I just couldn’t really get into the story. The characters didn’t feel real to me and the narrator was supposed to be this really smart girl but for some reason acted and reasoned like any regular teen. To me, the ending felt far fetched and I had a hard time understanding the motives of everyone involved.
However, I would still read more of this author. She seems to be creative and I really want to read her next idea :)

I really enjoyed this YA thriller. The mystery was a roller coaster of twists and turns and I couldn’t get enough of it. This book kept me intrigued from the very first page.

The head girls at a prestigious boarding school start dying in mysterious ways. What is going on behind the scenes at Morton Academy? If you like slasher films, this is the book for you!

Was initially attracted to this book because of the setting and in being a dark academia type read. It also is compulsive and reads very fast! This is the perfect book if you like reading about the cutthroat environment and going-ons of a prestigious school and the students there.

Morton academy is a school for top achievers and everyone of them want to be the head girl. And get all the perks and success that comes with that title. But when the head girls start getting murder thing really change.
If you like secrets societies and private school and murders this is for you. See if you can figure it out

A murderer is targeting head girls from the secret Jewel and Bone society at the elite Morton Academy. Liz watches as all her best friends are savagely taken out around her. Will she solve the mystery before she’s next?

This was just okay for me. It was so far fetched that I just couldn’t really get into it.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children’s Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This story was incredibly choppy — it felt like it was written by multiple different authors. I had high hopes in the first few chapters with the murderer's point of view, but then we lost that POV for almost half the book only for it to come back in the end in the most random way. The whodunnit aspect is a good head-turner, but the way the book is written, the lagging chapters, and the whole chapters that are basically irrelevant made me not want to finish this book at all. As someone who's a fan of Holly Jackson, that call out made me want to read this book, but if you like Holly Jackson, you probably won't like this story as it's not as well-written or developed as a Jackson novel.

This book was a fun quick thriller but it was a little too full for the length so thing were really surface level. I think it's a great read if you want a quick mystery. I wasn't really trying to figure it out before the end, but I think you reasonably could.

I tried to read this but couldn’t get past the writing style. I thought maybe listening might make it better for me but this had the worst choice for narrator – she’s good but not the right voice for this book. I couldn’t get into it. It’s overly dramatic where it doesn’t need to be and the story wasn’t very intriguing. I found my mind wandering way too much for me to give this more than 2 stars. It just wasn’t for me.