A new April Henry suspense novel? Yes, please! Like my students, I love all of April Henry's young adult novels! Stay Dead is a thriller with Hatchet vibes that will appeal to a wide variety of readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

This was actually surprisingly readable! I wasn;t expecting for much but I was hoping for the best and I was pleasantly surprised. This was probably closer to a 3.5 for me as I often find myself rating based on what feelings the ending left me with instead of the entire book and I quite liked this ending.

I did think it was a dreadfully slow start tho and I almost DNF'd, but I'm glad I didn't bc things really picked up by the 2nd half. I also was surprised by the ending and didn't see it coming so it wasn't predictible at all which often is the case for thrillers lately.

I'm glad I picked this one up and recommend it for a fun, light, quick read. Light as in horror light, but it was lighter horror (if that's even possible!)

tensely fast-paced story with some super interesting survival elements with a protagonist who felt totally real and alive in the moment. tysm for the arc

This was such a fantastic read! The synopsis really had me hooked, and I had to continue on! I really enjoyed Milan's fight for survival while also dealing with this dangerous secret that has already caused so much destruction. It was so good!

Milan's life is pretty rocky at the moment, her dad just died, and she's not able to get it together, so she's been kicked out of a few schools now-and while she's getting picked up, the airplane gets bombed, and they crash land. Yeah, not a good time.

This was a tense and fast paced read, as we watching Milan fight to survive, and figure out why all of this was going on, what evidence, and evidence of what? She didn't really have survival training, but she had grit, and I had such a fantastic time reading her story!

I wasn't sure how things were going to end, but I was excited to play out! Since we did multiple perspectives, and had a broader view of what was going on, yeah, that ending was just fantastic, and so thrilling to watch it all go down!

Loved reading this book and I can't wait to read more by April Henry!

When your remaining parent tells you with her dying breath not to go to the authorities, who do you turn to?

Milan is 16 years old & the small plane she was in with her senator mother has just had a bomb go off, crash-landing them in the mountains. Her mother has tasked her with taking the information she was murdered for to the only person she trusts, but first she has to survive…

Parts of the beginning were a bit like Gary Paulsen’s ”Hatchet,” but then the story takes a turn when an actual assassin is trailing this teenager & we keep getting flashback glimpses of a seemingly unrelated dairy farmer being approached by a company seeking energy sources here in the United States. I love a good YA thriller, & April Henry always delivers a suspenseful story - I’ll read anything she writes.

Thank you to NetGalley & Christy Ottaviano for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Henry hits the pacing nearly perfectly with this book. Combining a survival story with a political thriller we see Milan up against nature and murderers in equal measure. While some of the plot elements are a bit heavy-handed, the constant movement and new questions raised keep the reader engaged. Its a book that might not hold up to multiple reads but for a vacation or weekend at the cabin this is a strong choice.

I've read 90% of April Henry’s books and like the others, this doesn’t disappoint. I will say that this one stands out from the others. I felt like the plot was unique to Henry and not something she’s done before. It’s full of adventure and suspense as Milan has to navigate the death of her parents and evade the assassin trying to kill her. My students craze these types of books, characters, plots so I’ll absolutely be buying a copy and putting it in my classroom library. Five stars!

Stay Dead is another fantastic title by April Henry. Henry does it again with a well paced and gripping story! Hand this to YA thrill readers and fans of Henry's previous works. Recommended for all YA collections!

I read this in one swift go. I was outside hiding from my family and it started raining and I still did not move. I had to know what happened next. This poor girl went through so much. I loved her and her attitude. I loved her survival skills. I loved all three perspectives. It was just so good. I was also terrified the entire time due to learning about fracking and the evil of the rich. I was not expecting the ending at all.

Stay Dead is the story of sixteen year old Milan caught up in her parent's world of politics. After losing her father, she and her mother's plane crashes and the story quickly becomes one of survival. To uncover her parent's secrets she has to make everyone think she is also dead. Stay Dead is a fast paced thriller. Perfect for fans of Diana Urban.

Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for providing me with a review copy.

Stay Dead
by April Henry
Pub Date May 28 2024
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers |Christy Ottaviano Books
Mystery & Thrillers| Teens & YA


My review is for Stay Dead from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and Netgalley:

There are times when the only way to survive is to keep the world thinking you're dead!


Having lost her senator father in a car accident, sixteen-year-old Milan finds herself on her own after being expelled from her third boarding school. In order to pick up her daughter, Milan's mother diverts her private plane. But on the way home, a bomb rips off a wing and the plane crashes. During her last moments, Milan's mother hands her a key. It will unlock the evidence that so many people, including Milan's father, have already died for. Her mom tells Milan that the only way she can survive is to let everyone believe she died with the other passengers.


Milan must navigate a perilous descent in freezing conditions while outwitting everything from a drone to wild animals. A relentless assassin is on her trail, so she must unravel the web of deceit and save herself and countless others. Is she going to be able to piece together the truth in time?


I give Stay Dead five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

I adore April Henry's writing and really enjoyed Stay Dead. I would recommend going into it not knowing a whole lot and it makes it such a fun read!

With more of a scientific/political bent than the others she's written, the prominence of the fracking mystery that endangers Milan's life seemingly at every turn, is front and center. It's more distracting than helpful however I do understand the need to incorporate some thoughtful dialogue around topics such as these for a teen audience.

Milan was in a horrible car accident that took the life of her senator father. Then her mother assumed his senate seat and now that Milan has been booted from yet another boarding school/academy and is on a plane with her mother, the plane crash isn't another tragic accident- it was purposeful and Milan is starting to put the pieces together about who is out to get her and end her life like it did others around her.

There is plenty of action and intrigue in line with books like [book:The Girls I've Been|49471138] or Karen McManus titles with curious female leads. Yet, it wasn't as heart-pounding as her other titles. And not that the STEM-focused cover up doesn't provide it, but it felt off.

I am a fan of all of April Henry’s books and this one did not disappoint. This is a story of survival. You will root for Milan as she desperately searches for the truth while trying to stay alive and figure out who killed her parents.
A suspenseful thriller that literally captivates you from page one. Perfect for those that love a good who done it.
Thank you NetGalley and Little Brown Books for my ARC in exchange for my opinion.

Another great read from April Henry. Her books are similar and similarly written but entertaining nonetheless.

I have commented over the years on suspenseful young adult reads by April Henry like Eyes of the Forest or The Girl I Used to Be and STAY DEAD is another gripping mystery from this prolific, talented author. Sixteen-year-old Milan (great name, right?) has just been expelled from her third boarding school after the death of her Dad, Senator and environmentalist, Jack Mayhew. She and her Mom, Heather, who is now the serving Senator, are with staff aboard a private plane when it crashes. As the only survivor, Milan must rely on quick thinking and her past hiking experiences to beat the cold, the snow, and an animal predator as she struggles to get to Portland, Oregon and the only person her Mom told her to trust. That hazardous journey is exciting enough, but Henry treats readers to added perspective from Lenny, the woman hired to kill Milan and her parents, plus details from Jane, a dairy farmer dealing with the consequences of allowing fracking to occur on her farmland. The pace is quick – and Milan needs to draw on inner resources, remembering a favorite quote of her Mom's from Amelia Earhart: "The most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is merely tenacity." In her acknowledgments, Henry sounds super curious and adventuresome herself; she says, "as a writer, I've done many things for research, but probably the most intense was a three-day course called Urban Escape and Evasion. The final day of class you are kidnapped; hooded, cuffed, and mouth duct-taped.... You must use all your newly learned skills to escape...” Wow – that is serious research! And her adrenaline-charged writing reflects it. Enjoy!

Tore through this book in one day! Characters were well developed and made you want to figure out their stories. An intriguing plot that kept me engaged throughout. A bit scary as it seems like something that could actually happen today.

My first book by April Henry and I was blown away. Stay Dead This was a fast paced book and it keeps you on the edge of your seat. I couldn't put it down and was mesmerizing by everything Milan had been through and she survived and was still trying to find justices for her parents.Her and her father, Senator Jack Meyhew, were in a car accident that killed her father. When her mom takes her dad's Senate sit they too end up in a plane crash that doesn't seem to be an accident after all. Her mom tell Milan to Stay Dead because who ever killed her dad was now coming after them and she wasn't going to make it out so Milan needed to get out and save herself. Milan needs to run until she can find a trusted friend of the family, Brent Kirby. Brent Kirby could help her if she could just get to him alive. It's harder then she thought because now that she made it out of the snowy mountains, she has an assassin hunting her down at every turn.
Can she make it to a safe place and what secret did her parents know that someone is willing to kill for?
Stay Dead was such a good book and definitly one you will want to read again and again.

Milan’s life seems to chalk up one disaster after another. First, her father, who was a senator, dies in a tragic car accident; leaving Milan with a broken leg. Then, the private plane Milan and her mother were in, went down after a bomb exploded in the cargo hold! 16-year-old Milan, the only survivor, is now stranded in the frigid Cascade Mountains of Oregon, with injuries to complicate her survival. She had to witness her mother dying in the snow following the crash. As her mother lay dying, she told Milan that whoever killed her father and blew up the plane, would now be hunting for her, and that the only person she should trust is Brent Kirkby. Brent is Milan’s godfather and the founder of the renewable power company where Milan’s dad was CEO. So if rescue comes for her, does she trust them? Not according to her mother so it’s better if she stays dead.
Thus begins the potentially deadly cat and mouse game.
This is another April Henry on the edge page turner.
Teen Thriller, age 12-18)

Henry’s novel opens with Milan getting kicked out of her third boarding school after her father died in a car accident and her mother took over his seat in the Senate. Milan blames herself for her father’s accident since he was arguing with her when it happened, and her deep homesickness has made it difficult for her to thrive at school.

Her mom picks her up on her private plane, but before they can land in Portland, a bomb goes off and the plane crashes in the wilderness. Milan is the only survivor, but just before her mother dies, she tells Milan that her father’s accident wasn’t an accident and the same person is responsible for killing them both. She directs Milan to find a flash drive of important files at their home and get it to her godfather, the only person she can trust.

Milan’s efforts to survive and discover the truth about her parents’ murderer intertwines with the perspective of the killer’s efforts to track Milan and a story about environmental damage done by a fracking company, the truth Milan’s father was working to uncover when he died.

Henry’s novel is a quick and engaging read that will appeal to many students, particularly those who love suspense.

Thank you NetGalley, Christy Ottaviano and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are our own.

This review will be posted at https://threeheads.works/category/blog/ya-books/ on June 17, 2024.