I think this is the best book by April Henry yet!! It had the feeling of One by One by Allie Carter. I loved hearing from 3 different perspectives. Milan is the daughter of senators who have both passed. Both were passionate about the care of our environment. Her father passed in a car accident that wounded her and her mother in a plane crash that probably should have killed her too. Janie's perspective is mainly from three years prior. She is a dairy farmer who is not doing well. A man comes one day and plants the idea of fracking for oil to help her business. Janie agrees and starts to notice a negative change. Finally we have Lenny, a hit woman who was hired to kill Milan's parents but seems to have a sweet spot for Milan. Lenny is has terminal lung cancer. The research that had to have happened in order to write this book is apparent. I enjoyed that it spoke about the repercussions of fracking and the process itself in a way that teenagers can understand.

I sped to read this once I was approved because it came out so soon after I was given a copy. I enjoyed this. I have read the last few April Henry books in this vein, and they're all pretty good but they're not anything to write home about. The characters were distinct with stakes and motivations that made sense; the plot was compelling if not lacking a little bit of complexity; the pacing was pretty solid. I don't know why, but I was expecting this to be longer.
Overall, a well done story in a popular vein.

Stay Dead was a heartpounding thriller that starts shortly before the plane crash that kills Milan’s senator mother and everyone else on board. Her mother tells her as she’s dying that it’s important for her to let everyone assume for as long as possible that she died in the plane crash. There’s important information that her mother uncovered after inheriting her father’s seat in the senate, information that her mother says got her father killed in an apparent car accident. This information is what also brought down the plane with a bomb.

Alone in the snowy wilderness after the traumatic events in the crash, Milan has to make her way down the mountain and to safety without any help, because she doesn’t know who she can trust. Given information by her mother, she has to reveal the deadly secret that has claimed dozens of lives. Because once the truth is out there, she’ll be safe from being hunted.

I thought the book could have began in a different way, because I really wasn’t expecting very much out of Milan with the way it started. But maybe the point was to misjudge her. She’s a quick thinker that uses her parents’ knowledge and her own will to survive. To make the impossible journey down the mountain, her efforts at survival are tested - along with her tenacity when reaching civilization turns out just as deadly as survival on the mountain. She has information that’s worth killing for. And the only way to make it out is to stay dead as long as possible.

I did have a couple of small issues with some minor plot points. But overall, this book is an amazing tale of survival for someone who’s just lost everything. It’s also very informative and eye-opening about some environmental issues that I had never heard explained in a way I could understand until now.

Stay Dead by April Henry is a fast-paced mystery.
I devoured the book in one-sitting. The story is fast-paced thrilling and gripping.
April is a great young adult writer and is probably one of my favorites.
There hasn't been a book by her that I didn't like.
She always crafts an engaging mystery!

Thank You NetGalley and Publisher for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I can always count on April Henry to give me a fantastic, quick YA thriller and this was no exception! I’ve been reading her books since I was a teen myself and she still manages to write a book that hooks me in and keeps me reading!

I loved this story. Milan was such a strong character. Survival is one of my favorite sub-genres and April Henry crafted a layered, emotional, and gripping tale of survival that rivals the best survival stories out there.

Milan has just been expelled from her third boarding school. Her mother is already traveling in their private plane and stops by to pick her up. As they are journeying home, a bomb detonates, and the plane goes down. Before her mom dies, she gives her a ring of keys and tells her there is evidence of a coverup that led to her father’s death. She needs to get away, but the only way that will happen is if everyone believes she is dead. Who can Milan trust?

Stay Dead is a fast-paced thriller that is not like the usual Henry books with a body being found. The mystery is truly complicated and convoluted, yet it also is captivating. As Milan navigates out of a snow-covered landscape into the heart of a criminal conspiracy, I wondered what I would be doing if it was me … and I will have to admit I probably would have died. Stay Dead is a great read for all thriller fans.

I really enjoy April Henry's writing style. Her stories are full of detail and research while moving at a quick pace.

I love a strong female character like Milan. There's a lot going on in the book and at times I wished there were less side plots so that we could really get inside her head. The ending requires you to suspend belief but not in a bad way. Stay Dead is a book with a message and a well researched one at that. Definitely read the author's notes. I look forward to reading more of April Henry's books!

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for the gifted copy to read and review.

I Love this authors book so i couldn't wait to read this. Was excited to have an early copy.

This book was full of action, twists, mystery and suspense that kept you on the edge of your seat as always the author knocked it out of the park on this one. From page one it had me not wanting to put it down definitely a page turner.

The character build was awesome and just was a fun and exciting book to read.

I will always look out for anything the author writes.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

i went into this book nearly blind, having only read one of the author’s books before. i’ve been in a both review and reading slump since january and i can’t get out of it. but this book? this book was PERFECT for snapping me out of it. it gave me a adrenaline rush and such a breathtaking feeling. i felt alive while reading it and while incredibly short, it hooked me from beginning to end. the main characters were understandable, relatable, and felt raw; i felt like i was reading real people, not stereotypes. the plot was fun, addictive, and i read it in one sitting. stay dead is definitely a book to look out for in may 2024 !!

This book is a YA survival story about a girl who lost her father. She gets into a lot of trouble after that and is expelled from school again. While on a plane with her mom, a bomb goes off and everyone is presumed dead. Milan survives and has to navigate frozen wilderness to find the truth behind her parents deaths.

I enjoyed this book! It was super fast paced because it was a survival story. I really enjoyed the different POVs throughout the story because it kept things interesting and it kept me wondering how everyone was connected.

This book also explores secrets, especially in the government and environmental sectors. I liked how everything unfolded.

Milan was such a fighter in here and I love to see it. She went through a lot and that’s why I enjoy survival stories.

It was not quite a five star because I do feel like the writing was a bit simple at times. However, I will still recommend this one to people!

I think YA readers will enjoy this one a lot.

Thanks so much to netgalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | Christy Ottaviano Books for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Purchasing April Henry books for my middle school library is a no brainer--they are automatically going on my shelves and are always in high demand.

This one is a mix of mystery/survival, and Henry's attention to detail makes her stories so much more engaging and believable (even when they're a little outlandish). Short chapters and fast-pacing make this one fly, and the multiple POVs help build tension and bring the story together in the end.

There are a few major twists that will keep readers guessing, and our MC is tough and likable. My main complaint is that the ending felt a bit rushed and everything seemed to happen within just a few pages...but that's pretty minor.

My students will love it.

This book was amazing and it had me hooked from the very beginning! I couldn't put this book down and thoroughly enjoyed it!

April Henry's Stay Dead is a cat and mouse thriller featuring three completely different characters like Milan Mayhew, a woman named Janie from 3 years ago, and Lenny, a woman who is paid to get rid of things that might hurt important people. Milan has just been kicked out of her third boarding school, this time for accidentally setting fire to required reading. She has been reeling since her father’s death which she blames on herself, and since her mother recently became a senator.

When her mom charters a plane to pick her up, she is resigned to spend some time in Portland with her old friends, including her best friend Chance. But when a bomb explodes and sends the plane into the Cascade Mountains, Milan finds that she is the only survivor after her mother soon passes away due to her injuries. Her mother warns Milan not to trust anyone. Milan doesn't know it (but readers will), someone has hired Lenny to kill her mom, the same way she targeted her dad months ago before he died in a car accident.

But now that Milan survived the crash, she has to find a way to continue to survive. And the easiest way to do that is for everyone else to think that she didn't make it, at least until she can get to the one person her mom told her to trust. He just happens to be hundreds of miles away and she's stuck in the wilderness. ​Milan is forced to navigate a perilous descent in freezing conditions while outwitting everything from a drone to wild animals. With relentless assassins on her trail, she must untangle the web of deceit and save herself and countless others. Will she piece together the truth in time?

*Thoughts* Henry has a tendency of talking about white people as though they are infected with racism and bigotry which is as far from the truth as possible. Milan gets booted from school because she didn't want to read another book written by a white author. Next, this book is political in almost all ways. It all focuses on fracking which is and has been a hot topic for at least 10 years and how far powerful people will go to silence dissent. Henry has been writing books about young women surviving in the most stressful situations for a long time now. Milan's is no different. She loses her father in a car crash, shatters her leg, almost dies in a plane crash, loses her mother, comes face to face with a mountain lion, nearly drowns in a quagmire, and eventually makes it back home where she and her friend Chance are tracked by an assassin hired by powerful people to keep a major secret from being exposed.

I read this book in one sitting. No wonder she won an Edgar Award for it.

Milan Mayhew has been through three boarding schools in six months. Her father, a senator, was killed in a car accident and her mother ran for his senate seat and won. And now she's dead too... The killer thinks they also took care of Milan with the plane crash but Milan proves far more resourceful than anyone gave her credit for. There is a reason the senators had to die and the assassin won't stop until that reason has been destroyed. However, they didn't plan on contending with Milan and her rage at the loss of her parents.

I have read many of April Henry's books and she never fails at executing knuckling suspense plots that will leave you turning the pages until the end. I like that she is a local author (Oregon) and many of her books take place around the state.

This was an excellent book but one that should not be started before bed or you won't stop until you're done.

My thanks to Christy Ottaviano Books and Netgalley for this ARC.

Henry gives us a fast-paced, well-written thriller. From the first few pages readers will be hooked, and only become more invested in the characters as the story progresses. Milan is a resourceful, quick-thinking character who develops well throughout, and is offset by other dynamic characters. There are a few places where the plot slows down a bit, but overall this is a good story that is quick to read and definitely gives us things to think about.

Milan has just been kicked out of her third boarding school, this time for accidentally setting fire to some required reading. She has been reeling since her father’s death, and since her mother recently became a senator. When her mom charters a plane to pick her up, she is resigned to spend some time in Portland with her old friends. But when a bomb explodes and sends the plane into the Cascade Mountains, Milan has to figure out how to survive…even when someone is out to kill her.

✈️🏔️🔐

This was SUCH a great survival/adventure thriller! It was reminiscent of Hatchet and Not if I Save You First, but it also had such a compelling mystery surrounding Milan’s environmentally conscious family and the impact of fracking on drinking water. I stayed up past my bedtime to finish this one because I just HAD TO KNOW what happened!!! I think this will be a big hit with April Henry fans—a great addition to school and classroom libraries!

Thank you to Netgalley and Little Brown Books for Young Readers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sixteen year old, Milan, is on a path of destruction. She's reeling from the year-long guilt over the fatal car accident that killed her dad and nearly her. She just got kicked out of her third boarding school, forcing her mother, Senator Heather Mayhew, to pick her up while enroute to an important meeting.

But, then their plane blows up. And Milan is the only survivor entrusted with a secret revealed to her by her dying mother. As Milan figures out how to survive in the mountains, she quickly realizes someone is after her and this person will not stop until she's dead.

Good premise, right? It took me awhile to get into this one because I do not like harsh environmental survivalist stories, which makes up the first 50% of this book. It's like, it's so convenient how much Milan knows about surviving except has never taken any classes. She makes it look easy; should it really be that easy?

The book does alternate between Milan, Lenny (the killer), and a mysterious woman named Janie (her tie to the story eventually becomes quite clear).

I gave it 4 stars because things felt too slow for the first half but I couldn't stop reading after the 50% mark, once Milan reached civilization.

I’ve been a huge fan of April Henry for years, and after reading nearly all of her books, I’ve been highly anticipating her next book. And it didn’t disappoint!

Stay Dead follows sixteen year old Milan who has just been expelled from boarding school. Her senator mother arrives to pick her up via private plane. However, on their way home, a bomb explodes causing the plane to crash in the mountains. Milan’s mother entrusts her with important evidence and urges her to survive, not to trust anyone, and to let everyone think she died in the plane crash with everyone else.

I love how much research April Henry puts into every single one of her books whether it's survival tactics or private planes. This leads to a heart-pounding survival story. Extremely fast paced and action packed, this book had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Also, Milan is such a great main character. She's strong and smart. I cared about her so much and was so invested in her story that I felt like I was trying to survive right along side her. Such a great YA mystery/thriller that I would highly recommend, especially if you like survival stories.

Milan’s mom is a senator. Her dad was too, before he was killed in a car accident. When Milan gets kicked out of her boarding school, her mom comes to pick her up in the family plane. But on the way home, the plane crashes. Stranded in the snow, Milan must fight to survive while keeping one step ahead of a dangerous killer. This young adult thriller with a touch of romance is a fast-paced gem told from multiple viewpoints (Milan, a hit-woman, and a victim of a man-made environmental disaster). I loved the tie-in to the Wizard of Oz and have to admit that I didn’t guess where the data critical to unraveling this mystery was hiding. The villains in this story are multi-faceted and at times surprising. Be prepared to stay up late reading just one more chapter!

Thank you to NetGalley & Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for the ARC!

The author did great with this book! Our main character Milan clearly has a knack for survival. In my opinion, the tale was dragged a bit and it made me lose interest at times. The twists were not surprising in this one because in the beginning you are told who and not to trust. I was intrigued to see how it all played out though!