[arc review]
Thank you to Minotaur Books for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead releases February 6, 2024

Nearly 10 years ago, Charlotte was attending Carroll University as a journalism student, and was involved in a brutal tragedy in which she was the only student to come out physically unscathed.

Now, as Editor in Chief at The Chronicle, Charlotte is desperately trying to keep her composure as the trauma of that night starts to resurface when the twin sister of one of the injured students decides she wants to make a film of the tragedy that would “set the record straight,” just in time for its 10 year anniversary.

Structurally, this was all over the place. There was <I>so much</I> build up, keeping the reader in the dark about what happened at the school on Christmas Eve for nearly the entire book, that the reveal just didn’t reach the pay off that it needed to.

I never got the impression that Charlotte ever wanted to seek forgiveness, which is pretty much what the title implies. Instead, she was more focused on her “lie” not being found out.

While I thought the depiction of trauma through panic attacks and avoidance of confined spaces in elevators was done well, there were times when it didn’t even seem like Charlotte’s therapist was actively aiding in the recall of her repressed memories because Charlotte was recounting everything perfectly fine on her own terms and her own pacing.

I’m not too fond of the whole characterization of villainizing the “boy obsessed” girl who snaps and becomes “crazy,” of which the plot of this book is largely based around…

There’s also this plot hole I’m suck on involving Renee and the restaurant encounter. If Renee didn’t bump into Charlotte at the restaurant as stated in her email, then who did?

Overall, a miss for me.

2.5 stars!

I unfortunately found this book and all the characters so unlikeable, and the mystery really wasn't enough to save it. It took me honestly a long time to read it just because I just didn't care? I really could not believe that everyone was in their mid 30s because they felt like young teenagers. Not the book for me!

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

Thank you to the author Jenny Hollander, publishers Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of EVERYONE WHO CAN FORGIVE ME IS DEAD. All views are mine.

Three (or more) things I loved:

1. This first person narrator is a delight to read! The voice is authentic, surprising, so real and funny. But there is also something dire and scary about her. I'm not often into the character driven novel, but that is what this is, and it's done well!

2. Charlie's character is an accurate depiction of PTSD; I appreciate also that the text works hard to avoid stigmatizing the character's behaviors.

3. Hollander has perfect timing. She places the events at all the right places to make a tense story that moves along nicely.

4. I find this book to be an excellent and extremely satisfying example of true crime fiction, in part because of the few twinkles in which this story winks at that entire genre. Mashed up with dark academia made for a tasty treat!

Three (or less) things I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. This book, it turns out, is trying to do two separate really big narrative jobs. The first is "to uncover the forgotten crime of that Ling ago night," a classic thriller arc that delivers reliably. And second, the story of "a woman's slow descent," a classic horror arc that is again a dependable favorite. The problem is, I don't think there are enough story resources to keep them both going with appropriate intensity.

2. The form of this book is sometimes hard to take. The dual-plot means two climaxes. Two climaxes means two denouements, which basically a double long, extra boring denouement.

Rating: 🔥🔥🔥.5 / 5 very slow burns
Recommend? Yeah, I liked it
Finished: Sep 27 23
Format: Digital arc, Kindle
Read this book if you like:
🔪 murder mysteries
🎞 the film MOMENTO
🏫 dark academia
🚔 true crime
😖 ptsd

"Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead" by Jenny Hollander is a gripping psychological thriller about a woman haunted by a tragic event from her past. Nine years ago, as a graduate student, Charlie Colbert survived a horrific incident at her elite journalism school known as "Scarlet Christmas", where several students died.

Now a successful magazine editor in New York, Charlie has carefully rebuilt her life, but is forced to confront her buried memories when a former classmate plans to make a film about the tragedy. As Charlie struggles to remember the truth of what happened that night, it becomes clear she is an unreliable narrator and that others may have also been keeping secrets.

The novel is cleverly plotted with several twists, though the pacing can drag at times as the mystery unfolds. Hollander skillfully captures Charlie's psychological turmoil and the ways in which she has changed in the years since the traumatic event. Overall, "Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead" is an impressive debut that will keep readers guessing until the end.

Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead is a standalone thriller mystery from Jenny Hollander. Released 6th Feb 2024 by Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 304 pages and available in hardcover, audio, and ebook format. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

This is a lost memory/possibly undependable narrator/trauma trope with a MC who was witness to a brutal event and is trying to piece her recollections together in order to get some closure and progress with her therapy and get on a stronger footing in her relationship with her fiance. The author cleverly uses the therapy sessions as a mechanism to introduce backstory, and does so quite seamlessly.

The writing is strong overall, witty and well done without being overwrought or clunky. Unfortunately the pacing is very uneven and it's not before about 30% into the book when it really seems to get its feet. There are twists and turns aplenty, but some are bewilderingly unnecessary as motivation (for crime).

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 8 hours and 32 minutes and is read by Marisa Callin. She has an odd hybrid American/British RP accent which is difficult to define. She reads precisely and enunciates clearly, but some of the character accents are uneven and, frankly, odd. Sound and production quality are very high throughout.

Three and a half stars. Uneven and patchy in plot and character development. Generally well written and twisty. It will likely be optioned into a movie soon (if it's not already). One can hope the "Hollywood transformation" will even out the bumps.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Forget whatever you believe, because it’s most likely wrong
What I loved
A wild ride
Unreliable narrator
Characters you can’t help but Love
Second chances

This is another book that’s been on my Kindle forever and I finally got around to reading it. Let’s just take a moment to bask in that dopamine hit.

Anyway, I thought that this one was good but not great. The writing was nicely done, especially for a thriller. It was also a pretty good length. And it had some dark academia vibes which can go either way for me, but I thought it was well done here.

Unfortunately, I found myself losing interest as I kept reading. There’s a big mystery behind some terrible act that the MC committed (but she can’t remember what happened), and I just wasn’t invested enough to care what actually happened. When it was finally revealed, I was like “ohhh…k”.

My lack of enthusiasm could have simply come from the fact that I took awhile to read it. I could see this being a winner for a lot of people, so I encourage you to pick it up if it sounds like something you might like.

Thank you to Minotaur Books for my gifted copy!

This was a very quick and easy read. While it is a quick one, I wouldn't classify this as a thriller. It felt more like a high school drama with cat fights and scenes of hissing and raised hunches. While not a bad read, it wasn't great either.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this one. All opinions are my own.

Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead by Jenny Hollander is a debut psychological suspense novel. The story in Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead is one that is told in a dual timeline style switching between the past and present with more emphasis on the present timeline.

Nine years ago headlines everywhere lit up with the story of a mass murder on a school campus which reporters and police dubbed it the “Scarlet Christmas”. Charlie Colbert was there as events took place and became the witness everyone wanted to hear from, the problem, Charlie doesn’t actually remember what happened.

Now, after years of therapy and being out of the spotlight Charlie has made a life for herself putting that long ago event out of her mind, or at least to the back of it. Charlie is now the editor of a major magazine and engaged to be married so the last thing Charlie needs is the past brought back to the surface so when she gets word of a possible movie being made Charlie’s goal is to do whatever it takes to stop it.

Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead is one of those books that I think I may be an outlier on with it just not quite working well for me. Everything about this one should have been something I loved but I ended it at two and a half stars with a bit of disappointment. For me this one was incredibly slow which often makes it harder to stay engaged but with that said I wondered if the author had focused more in the past and built the event up better if it would have made the pacing pick up too. Whatever the case I would probably give this author another shot if she wrote another thriller though.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

This story truly had me guessing and wondering until the end. If I can't figure out the end then I always say that is a great read and this is one I would consider a great read.

I cannot wait. to see what Jenny Hollander writes next.

When I first pulled this one up (writing a review in May for a book I read in February, WHY), I legitimately could not have told you a single thing about this book - but then I read the synopsis and it all came back to me, so I would say that's a good thing. The end felt a little anti-climactic, but that could also be because I was reading to finish from about 75% on - the pacing and the dialogue is really where this one lost me. The characters did not feel like people that knew one another in any real ways, and the twists felt more like GOTCHAS than they did twists that had been alluded to and were just waiting for you to flip the page. I'm not sure exactly how to explain it, it just didn't hit the way I wanted it to. (But THAT TITLE AND THAT COVER, SO PRETTY)

Overall Rating: ★★★ / 2.75

Rating each element of the book out of 5★
Characters ★★★
Atmosphere ★★★
Writing ★★★
Plot ★★
Intrigue ★★★
Logic ★★★
Enjoyment ★★
Pacing ★★
Dialogue ★★

★ did not like / ★★ it was okay / ★★★ liked it / ★★★★ really liked it / ★★★★★ loved it

2.5 ⭐ rounded up

Charlotte "Charlie" Colbert distanced herself and "became a new person" after surviving a tragedy in grad school known to the media as "Scarlet Christmas". Her memory of the events were foggy, but as a threat of a movie and new information based on the event come to light, Charlie works with her therapist to unearth the trauma and memories locked away. The story splits between the recollections of past events and relationships vs the current time.

I have no clue why this was such a slog, but I felt like it dragged on. Thrillers have not been my preferred genre for a few years. I should've known I wasn't going to care for this when I was barely invested into the story 30/40% in. I sped through the audiobook for the sake of finishing, but I'm mostly indifferent to it. Though the plot or the characters were not doing it for me, I did enjoy the writing. I may try another book by Jenny Hollander in the future on that basis alone.

🌷 Witty writing
🌷 Interesting idea for a story
🌷 Past/Present Timelines
🌷 Twist @ 50%

Thank you to NetGalley, Minotaur Books & St. Martin's Press for the eARC of Everyone Who Can Forgive Me is Dead by Jenny Hollander.

My experience with this book is mixed.

What I liked:
· Intriguing exploration of guilt and the malleability of memory.
· Unreliable narrator.
· Surprises I didn’t anticipate.
· Dual timelines worked well for the story.

What I Disliked:
· The plot occasionally veered into convoluted territory.
· Characters weren’t likable or relatable.
· The college murder plot has been overdone and is a bit cliché.
· Parts of the story dragged for me – particularly at the beginning. I needed more momentum.
· It took me forever to finish the book because I was never truly engaged.

While this story didn’t fully captivate me, it has been well-received by others. For those drawn to the premise or fans of stories with unreliable narrators, it might be worth delving into to form your own opinion.

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for copy of this book, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I was so excited to get this arc but I found this to be soooooooo slow and boring I was so close to DNF'ing it but rather skimmed the pages.

I get that this is a mystery, and that all will be revealed at the end. But I’ve never felt so frustrated being left in the dark for so many pages. There’s got to be a more comfortable way of stringing us along.
It also took over a third of the book for the story to even get warmed up, which is entirely too long.

I really enjoyed this! Would be a great book club pick in December as it is set around Christmas. Razor sharp and hard to put down.

Nine years ago, Charlie was witness to horrific crimes at her graduate school; crimes that became known as "Scarlet Christmas." in the press. She has moved on and has made a successful life for herself, and much of what happened that night is a blank in her memory. But now a classmate is making a film to expose what really happened that fateful night, and Charlie wants and needs to remember. If she doesn't then she might lose everything.

This story sucked me in right from the beginning but slowly but surely lost me. It was just too much of a slow-burn for me and lost my interest. The characters were also really unlikeable and Charlie was unsympathetic. By mid-point I really didn't care what Charlie did or didn't do or what happened on Scarlet Christmas. It did have some twists but since interest was gone, they weren't that thrilling to me. I will say, I may just not be the right demographic for this one as it felt super YA. So readers in their 20s may enjoy this one more than I did.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for providing me a digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

3.5 ⭐️In the beginning we meet Charlie, who has been through terrible trauma. I love that the narration goes between the current and the past, giving us a glimpse into how she has gotren where she is. Although, the down side is that Charlie is a bit of an unreliable narrator, because she doesn’t remember things and has blackouts. I wish there was more character details in the beginning and overall development, (we don’t get much of a backstory until you are a ways in). I was also a bit turned off by Charlie’s therapist, and how she goes about getting Charlie’s memory back. I would have rated it higher had there been some initial back story to get me going, and if the flow of the writing was a bit smoother.

I thought this was pretty suspenseful and I was ready for it to get to the point so when it did……. I was disappointed. I was kinda just like “oh, ok” and kept reading lol Charlie annoyed me.

Thank you Minotaur for my eARC.

This was a miss for me. It is so slow for most of it, then speeds up 10x the last 20%. The whole "Scarlet Christmas" premise is good and what made me request this on Netgalley but there was no backstory to what had happened during it until you were almost too far in to care. Would have been a solid 3-3.5 stars if more happened in the first part.