Addie’s sister Fiona was killed very suspiciously last year. Addie is positive it’s one of the privileged and rich Montgomery’s that only visit each summer. But when Thatcher Montgomery is found dead the same way, Addie has to rethink everything.

Addie turns to Seth, a Montgomery she has spent nights with but never had a relationship. They follow clues, find corrupt cops, uncover secrets and start to fall for each other. It was fun watching the two investigate pretty much everyone and get turned around in every direction. When Seth’s extensive amount of wealth clashes with Addie’s lack of funds, the story takes on a new level, and not just with the two of them. It wasn’t clear until the very end who the murderer was so the constant guessing with different leads kept my attention well.

This is a great YA thriller for those who love a slow burn mystery that keeps you guessing!

Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for the copies!

The book releases July 16, 2024.

Had a lot of fun with this one. I'm a sucker for a fast-paced thriller set in a small town and this book did a great job of establishing its setting and utilizing the wealthy 1% who run the town. The book is marketed as enemies to lovers but honestly, the main couple aren't necessarily enemies but rather two people being thrown into an impossible situation but deep down love each other.

The climax is also so intense and had me gasping and shrieking in the best way possible.

When I started reading this book, I felt like I had read it before. The characters and the situation were so similar to other books I had read that I honestly did not enjoy it as much as I should have.

Addie's exceptionally talented ballerina sister died under suspicious circumstances last year, and she is determined to find out what happened. Unsure who to trust, she takes a risk and gets in league with her childhood "frenemy" Seth, whose cousin she suspects of murder.

Girls Who Burn was well-written, had good pacing, with perfectly placed reveals. Lots of tension and complicated feelings. This was just what | look for in a YA thriller. Was it a bit cliché and predictable? Sure, but did I also finish it in 24 hours? Yes! And I loved the Wawa reference!

Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for this ebook arc!

This was definitely a page turner for me. I was reading this book everywhere I could. The twists and turns are somewhat predictable but I definitely didn’t see how it played out and the connections.

“You think you know someone, and then they turn out to be someone else entirely.”

3.5 ⭐️ (rounded up)

I enjoyed the murder mystery in this story and I was invested from the very beginning. It also did a great job holding my attention.

Something I really loved about this book was that I was genuinely surprised when I found out who did it. 🤯

Parts of the book I felt were a little drawn out, but altogether with this being a Debut novel I’m highly impressed.
It’s a fun read that’s quick paced and only 258 pages so it’s easy to get through.

This was a decent YA whodunit. Love the cover, and I was sucked into the story rather quickly.

Addie is still mourning her sister’s death and is determined to bring the killer to justice. Her sights are set on Thatcher, but when his body is found in the same place as her sister she has to rethink everything. Seth, a boy she has known most of her life comes back into town and Thatcher’s cousin, decide to team up because the cops are getting nowhere. Secrets are uncovered about both families, leaving the question - who can you really trust?

I enjoyed the atmosphere of this one - it is angsty and the tension between Addie and Seth is palpable. It read very YA, which I didn’t mind. There were some parts I had to suspend reality for but no biggie. I did guess the killer pretty early on but enjoyed the reveal! Not sure I understand the title, because no one burns but overall, this was a good read!

This was a quick, young adult mystery. It has so much teen angst and ridiculous flirting (when you are murdered and both of your siblings are really upset with how it hurt their dating life...) that you have to remember your audience. It was just cheesy enough to be enjoyable, though. There were mostly teenagers running around trying to solve a mystery without much parental involvement at all. The main character does a lot of investigating to get absolutely nowhere. If the killer hadn't been dumb enough to reveal themself, she'd still be in the dark. I think teens would enjoy this book.

Addie, on a mission to find out what really happened to her sister, ends up biting off more than she can chew!

This was a quick and suspenseful thriller that's perfect for my older middle grades and high school students! The characters were well-developed and there were plenty of twists to keep you guessing. I found the ending of this "whodunit" a little weak and predictable, but I'd certainly read more from Pagano for her writing style and ideas alone. Thank you for the ARC!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

⚖️ YA Thriller
🩰Childhood Frenemies to Lovers
⚖️Every is a Suspect
🩰Small Town Secrets
⚖️Murd3r Investigation
🩰Opposite Sides of the Track
⚖️Eat the Rich
🩰Found Family

Thank you Penguin Teen for sending me an early ARC copy.

This book was entertaining from start to finish. I feel YA thrillers have the perfect amount of everything in a book. The right amount of investigation, twists, creepy parts, and in this case romance.

I was suspicious of everyone except the person who did it. I was honestly shocked at the revelation. The motive was not as surprising but I only guessed the motive at the end, it’s not apparent.

I really like that you could feel all the emotions coming the characters. I could feel the grief and emptiness. Fiona’s d3ath is felt! The anger and determination of the FMC Addie was apparent and written well.

MMC Seth! Loved him! The romance between Addie and Seth was chefs kiss! Suspected him very heavily! Thats how you know you have written a good thriller, when even the MMC is a suspect.

I loved the location and vibes, it was very small town and hair-raising!

I would definitely recommend Girls Who Burn!

3.5🌟
This was a good and fast paced mystery book. I read it in one sitting!

Addie has always thought her sister’s passing was not an accident and suspected Thatcher, a boy who was in love with Fiona. When Thatcher is found at the bottom of a ravine, she sets out to figure out what truly happened. As Addie tries to uncover the truth she is careful of who she can trust.

With most mystery books i like noting the small details to see if i can figure out what happened. I did guess who did it, but still thought some of the twists made the story interesting.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Young Readers for the Arc!

I absolutely loved Girls Who Burn by M.K. Pagano. It felt very atmospheric and her characters were extremely vivid. Small town murder mysteries are almost always a fun time.

A decent thriller/mystery. Kept me guessing and the pacing was good. I didn't love the main character and the culprit's reasoning seemed a little weak to me. But overall enjoyable and I'll definitely be checking out more from the author.

I read this one in 2-3 short settings, with some skimming once I figured out the villain. But I was genuinely interested in knowing how it ended, so in that sense, this book works as a thriller. However, I found the romance mis-marketed (this is NOT enemies-to-lovers) and distracting (for example, a side quest involving “only one bed”). Readers are likely to feel underwhelmed by the villain’s motives and a bit shocked by the sister’s storyline, but again they were enough to have me turning pages until the end.

3.5 stars.

Girls Who Burn had very pretty writing. Though it wasn't a fresh feeling YA thriller, it did give an interesting sense of de ja vu/nostalgia for summertime, 90s thrillers. It was decently paced, and easy to read.

I had gone in to this one expecting a little more excitement and "newness" to the genre. And, though I was a little disappointed in those aspects, the twists at the end made up for that. This one is definitely for those who love flying through fast paced, tropey, YA Thrillers. Also for those who love enemies to lovers romance (one of the best romances imo). I will be keeping my eye on what M.K. Pagano writes next.

Thank you Penguin Teen for providing me with an ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Penguin Young Readers Group for this ARC the below review is of my own thoughts.

Girls Who Burn by MK Pagano tell the story of Addie, a girl who's sister, Fiona, died the previous year and the police had ruled the death an accident. Addie was sure Thatcher, a rich boy from the city, was the one behind it and spent the last year posting her claims/theories online. However, when Thatcher ends up dying Addie and Thatcher's cousin, Seth, decide to try and figure out both murders together. Addie and Seth are each others alibis for both murders, hence why they trust each other and decide to try and solve the murders together.

This book to me was such a fast read, the chapters flowed really well and I was very invested in the story from the get go. It has been a while since I read an YA thriller and I can say I truly enjoyed this book. It has an enemies-to-lovers dynamic between Addie and Seth, as they have always fought/competed since an early age and this also plays a huge role while they are trying to figure out whodunit.

Overall, this book was very entertaining and I truly enjoyed it. However, I was not a big fan of the last reveal as I thought it was a bit cliche the reasoning for the murders and to me it was a bit disappointing.

I gave this book a 3.5 but rounded it up as there are no half stars here.

If you enjoy fast paced, enemies-to-lovers and YA thrillers this book is for you.

This book has everything a good YA thriller should have. I thought the whodunnit aspect of this book was great. I felt just like Seth and his theories; I kept changing my mind on who I thought it could be/what I thought happened! I have to admit, it took me a long time to put it together, and even then I had an idea of what may have actually happened without being sure who committed the crimes!
I will say that I wish I liked Seth’s character a little more. I think the parts of his personality that were written to make the reader suspect him (such as his absolute obsession with Jeremy) made him somewhat unlikable. He also seemed to be the stereotypical “nice guy” which felt more off-putting than romantic. It made it a little harder to buy into the love story part of the book. I felt bad for Jeremy, who I liked significantly more than Seth, and just could not wrap my head around Addie’s choices when it came to the two of them.
I also felt like the reader needed just a little more information toward the end for closure. Some details felt random (dad’s announcement at the end- which I know is supposed to add to the theme of growth/moving forward but felt so randomly thrown in), and I was hoping to see more justice. I was also hoping for more closure on the whole thing with her mom.
Overall, I did enjoy reading this book and look forward to more from this author.

This should’ve been good, but it felt like something was holding it back. The writing was rather immature, and Addie was also too stubborn. She refused to hear anyone else’s opinions and thought she was always right, it was infuriating. And then all the side characters kind of blended together and didn’t have much of a personality or any sense of distinction. Seth was cool I liked him, he seemed to care about Addie a lot, it was sweet. But it didn’t really feel like she cared about him that much, it was more lust than love from her. Overall, this was decent, with some lower quality writing and characters. I liked the idea a lot, but it slightly failed to deliver. I also wish that there were some more Easter eggs about who the killer was planted, that we could look back on once we knew who it really was. That wasn’t really a thing as far as I can remember. But besides that, “Girls Who Burn” was decent but nothing particularly special. Thanks to Netgalley and Nancy Paulson Books for the e-arc!!

I really enjoyed the characters and the setting of this book. This is a fast-paced thriller, it's not too far into the book when a body is found in the same rivine as Addie's sister Fiona and the suspense kicks off from there. Addie is convinced that Thatcher killed her sister, but that theory doesn't fly after he is found in the same place as her sister. Now Addie and Thatcher's cousins are suspects because they are the ones who found him,

The police are corrupt, and it seems like everyone is hiding something including Fiona, and what she was hiding could have been what led to both her death and Thatcher's. It's up to Seth and Addie to uncover the truth and prove their innocence. There are so many twists and turns that you never know what was going to happen next, and with each secret Addie uncovered I got even more sucked into the story.
This is the first book I've read by this author but it wont be the last.

Genre: YA Thriller

Synopsis:
Addie’s sister’s death was ruled an accident after she was found at the bottom of a cliff, but Addie doesn’t think it was. Now another body is found and there could be a serial killer.

Similar Authors:
Diana Urban
Jessica Goodman
Holly Jackson (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder)
Ripley Jones (Missing Clarissa)

This was a fast paced YA thriller and that was fun to read. It kept you guessing who the killer was the entire book. It had a little bit of an enemies to lovers feel without too much teen drama. It was suspenseful and had all the elements of a good YA thriller.
I listened to it on audio & really enjoyed the narration.

Thank you Penguin Teen & PRH Audio for the gifted copy! 🖤