I thought that Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead was a pretty good thriller. We spend a great majority of the book unclear on what happened during an attack on a college campus which was survived by the narrator. There are hints and red herrings but when it was revealed, I still had not guessed the exact story. The story was a little formulaic, you can probably guess the antagonists just from their descriptions.

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I don't really have much to say about this book but I enjoyed it. I read it insanely fast and didn't want to put it down. It kept my interest from the beginning.

My only complaint is that the ending felt a little confusing and lackluster. I'm still not 100% sure how one of the characters died (leaving out the characters name for spoiler purposes).

This book just blew me away! If you like a story with a slow reveal with several twists and turns that will keep you turning the page so you can find out what happens next, this is the one for you!
Charlie (Charlotte) has put her life together after a tragedy nine years ago while she was in graduate school resulted in the mysterious death of her friends. Now she's engaged, and although still haunted by what memories she has of the event, has managed to cope and prepare herself for her marriage, career, and family. But, no surprise, the past comes back to haunt her and she works to recover her memories before she loses everything she's fought for.
Rarely have I actually gasped aloud while reading a book, but there were at least two plot twists in this one that had me do so. I really enjoyed reading this book.
As an aside, I've had to do trauma-informed work and found Charlie's struggle to sort her memories to be realistic in that regard.
I highly recommend this book and thank NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Charlie Colbert is the editor of a fashion magazine and engaged to a wealthy publishing heir. She has the world at her feet. But then someone from her past decides to make a movie about horrific multiple murders at her graduate school over ten years ago. Charlie was there, but cannot remember the details. However, what she does know is the story she made up for the police. With the help of her therapist, can she recover her memories? And does she want to?

This is a compelling psychological mystery with secrets that are deeply buried but slowly uncovered as we go along. There are some well-hidden surprises, and the mystery begins to unfold through Charlie's slowly returning memories of the past. Chapters are simply titled "Now" and "Then," which differentiates between the present and Charlie's time at grad school, and this works well. Every character is fascinating and seems to have a secret, and I loved the way the truth is expertly peeled away.

This is a mesmerizing story that will keep the reader enthralled and guessing. Fans of mysteries and psychological thrillers will want to seek this one out.

I received a free copy of this book from St. Martin's Press via Netgalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

What a great debut thriller for Hollander! This was a slow-burn thriller where the main character is dealing with events from her past and what actually happened. I really liked the premise, but I did think the pacing was a little slow. The ending wrapped it up nicely and I didn’t see the twist coming. I do wish that a couple things would have wrapped up a little differently. Looking forward to reading more from this author in the future!

Thanks NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books for the ARC of this book!

I did enjoy the overall plot of the book but felt it was a little disjointed in explaining the main suspense of what happened at the school. I didn't love the back and forth between then and now. Had slightly higher hopes for this one.

If nothing else, this did not improve my already extremely poor opinion of the violent true crime as entertainment industry. And if reading this book does one thing, I hope it’s to convince you to stop consuming this sort of content, which exploits and harms victims, survivors, and their families:

This book centers on those consequences of the public’s lust for this stuff, and does a great job showcasing what it’s like to be on the other side of a tragedy that others seek to monetize.

The mystery itself here is just okay, and there are some elements of the “surprise” at the end that didn’t feel quite like fair play, but I really liked Charlotte, and the other characters are interesting and nuanced if not entirely anyone you’d want to be around.

The book does a good job on the “life after a tragedy” angle, and I hope also serves as a cautionary tale for those treating the real life versions of stories like this as an entertainment product.

Interesting stuff and a promising debut for Hollander, who gives us a story that is equally thought provoking and engagingly well paced.

I was looking forward to this book, but, unfortunately, it missed the mark for me. The pacing was too slow for the genre. Characters weren't well developed, which made it hard to try and connect with them or understand their motivations, though I did appreciate the multiple POVs. Overdetailing made some points confusing.

Unfortunately I DNF’d this one at about the 30% mark, so I am only giving stars based on what I read. I stopped the book because of how bored I was. The story line felt like there was no movement in the percentage I did read. It constantly kept talking in circles about the massacre and a movie deal. My guess was the main character had more involvement than leading others to believe, but not sure since I didn’t read until the end.

I was definitely intrigued when I read the premise for this book, especially with this being the author’s debut, but kept thinking it could go too far into the YA direction.
Charlie, is living a thriving life on paper and has been through tremendous trauma to get to where she is. Nine years earlier she was a survivor of a horrific event that happened at her graduate school that not only ended in two people dead, but she was a witness to. The tragedy to the world was deemed “Scarlet Christmas”. Her life went into a dark negative spiral of self-medicating and she worked extremely hard to completely transform herself and the trajectory of her life.
That happy life is suddenly rocked after a former classmate lets her know they want to make a movie about the tragedy. Anddddd this is where the chaos and mania begins for Charlie to do whatever she needs to do to stop the movie from happening.
The book follows Charlie through that journey and includes a lot of scenes with her therapist to work through the trauma it is causing in her. I do appreciate the author acknowledging the real trauma, hardships, and pain her experience has on her and other survivors.
With all that being said I could not get invested in this book. I didn’t feel a strong connection to Charlie, a lack of character development with all the others, and to me Charlie’s story just kept going in circles. The ending for me was a disappointment and after how many circles it took to get there I expected more. It just did not flow for me. The epilogue in this book confused me even more because it felt like a wild weird turn.
I will say for this author’s debut it was impressive and I will definitely read future books, this just wasn’t for me.

I want to thank the Author, Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Minotaur books for the ARC of this book!

3.5 stars

Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead is a slow burn novel about our main character questioning things that have happened in her past. I found it was hard for me to be fully immersed in this book, like I normally am with thrillers, but that doesn’t mean it was a bad book.

I found myself invested in the story and wanting to know what happens at the end, which made it easier to pick up as I was going, despite being a bit of a slower paced thriller.

I did really enjoy the now vs then dual timeline and the content with her therapist.

Thank you St. Martins Press and Minotaur Books for my copy of this!

This was a quick read/listen and was a decent book, not great but not terrible.

Charlie is editor-in-chief at a fancy magazine, engaged to a wealthy man from a prominent family. She has PTSD from the ‘Scarlet Christmas,’ a horrific event during college in which several of her friends were injured or killed. She was one of the witnesses that helped piece together what happen, but when another survivor wants to make a movie about it, Charlie fears that the truth will be uncovered.

Overall this book held my interest. It had a good twist about halfway through, but I didn’t think the ending made much sense, especially in regards to motives.

I both read and listened to the audiobook. I thought the narrator did a great job with a variety of accents, but found reading it to be easier to follow with all of the back and forth.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copies in exchange for my honest review.

What if the worst night of your life turns out not to be true? When a tragedy of nightmare proportions hit Charlie’s elite grad school, she fled. In the past decade, she has carefully rebuilt her life. When a former classmate is making a documentary about the tragedy - referred to as “Scarlet Christmas” - for its ten year anniversary - everything Charlie has built could change as she knows it.

This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2024, but unfortunately it was not for me. The pacing was very slow, and I just could not get into the story.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for. The ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for giving me the chance to read an ARC of Everyone Who Can Forgive Me is Dead by Jenny Hollander.

After reading a variety of holiday books I was looking to read something with a bit more excitement and mystery and this one definitely did not disappoint! I was hooked from the very beginning and was shocked by some the the crazy reveals. It kept me guessing until the end and was simply so fun to read.
The main character, though at a couple times a bit frustrating due to poor choices, was overall incredibly well written and at times very relatable.

Highly recommend this one for the new year. It comes out on February sixth.

Definitely check your content warnings for this one because some parts were quite dark.

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books, as well as NetGalley for the electronic ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead revolves around main character Charlie and her experience during a violent, high-profile crime, "Scarlet Christmas," which took place at her journalism school. This novel is completely about Charlie's journey to process the trauma and remember the truth about what happened, as her mind had blocked out many of the gruesome details from the crime. Her journey to process everything is catalyzed by news that there may be a movie released giving the "true" story.

I didn't love this one, didn't hate this one. This book was a fast read, I really enjoyed the ending, and the multiple POVs worked well. However, it took quite awhile to get to the action and once I got to the action, everything about the plot that I thought I knew seemed to spiral out of control at once and become part of the twists. I felt pretty confused at first and had to reread a few pages to catch back up. Ultimately, I liked this novel and would consider reading more by this author in the future.

If you like Riley Sager and similar authors, consider giving this one a try.

Nine years ago, Charlie was one of the survivors of what the press dubbed the “Scarlet Christmas,” a vicious attack and massacre at her graduate school on Christmas Eve. She refused to talk to anyone other than the police about what happened that afternoon in the “pods.” Since then, she’s been living a double life, trying to forget her past, living day-to-day as if she’s a new person, engaged to a publishing heir and a successful career woman herself, when she’s struggling inside. But she can’t keep it together any longer when an old classmate announces they’re making a movie about that day. Suddenly Charlie must confront what happened head-on, even if it destroys her. And it just might.

This book is told along two timelines, both from Charlie’s POV: Now (present day) and Then (the months leading up to the Scarlet Christmas).

Can a book released in February already be in the running for best book of the year? Well, must be, because this one certainly is! I couldn’t put it down! There’s just so much suspense, I was absolutely just tearing through pages by the end, desperately wanting to know what was going to happen. I had my theories, but man, there were some twists I couldn’t have seen coming. Holy crap! That’s all I’ll say.

Anyway, the atmosphere is fantastic and perfect for both timelines, both of which were incredibly well written and very interesting. I don’t know which one I was into more, TBH. We have sex, lies, murder, college students, New York City, rich, pretentious people, it’s all here! How can you not be pulled in? Like I said, I was absolutely into the whole thing from start to finish.

Plus, Charlie is the ultimate unreliable narrator. Throughout the slowly start to see her lose her grip on reality and that tension is just palpable. It’s like you can cut it with a knife.

So, yes, go out and get this book, like yesterday. It’ll be your next obsession!

Nine years ago, Charlie was a part of what the news dubbed “Scarlet Christmas” and has been doing her best ever since to forget. But with the ten year anniversary coming up and a movie deal in the works, she’s forced to try to recall and reconcile her traumatic past. Being in Charlie’s mind means we also don’t know what the reality about that night is and her mind protects herself as she becomes more untethered in an attempt to relive it and finally remember the truth.

You can feel Charlie spiral as she works toward trying to keep the public from finding out everything about that night while also trying to finally remember herself. This book relies heavily on an unreliable narrator and mental health issues and so while Charlie’s deteriorating mental health state propels the story, I hesitate to applaud it for making me not know what was happening. Charlie’s therapy was used as a ploy to get the past told instead of to show how it can help and the ending is wrapped up in a bow; I wish it would have spent more time addressing the real implications of mental health- both with what happened the night of “Scarlet Christmas” and the truth of how it affected Charlie.

However, that aside, the suspense of the unknown did make you turn the pages in hopes of finding the truth.

Because of a recent eye surgery, I requested this audio.copy instead of attempting the ebook till.my eye heals. Please see my complete review for the audio version when I complete. Thank you.

What good turns! I really liked Charlie's growth, the way the panic attacks are described, and how much they talk about her mental health (and the consequences of not even caring for her).

The narrative has an agile pace, something interesting is always happening and, when you think you already know how everything will end, we realize that elements that we do not consider important have a great weight in the final revelation.

I definitely want to read more books by this author. Thank you @netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

AHG, I am really thankful to Minotaur Books, Jenny Hollander and Netgalley for granting me access to this one from a digital, physical, and audio standpoint, but this one was just not for me.