I really enjoyed the twists and turns in this mystery! The added element of a boarding school makes this one extra fun.

Thank you for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This books is following Jess, a scholarship student at one of the best boarding schools in the UK. Her best friends boyfriend is murdered and Jess starts getting thanked for the inspiration for how the murder was committed. To protect her name she starts investigating the murder but soon the target is on her back.

This was a fast paced fun read, with a lot of character growth and development. It was one of the few thrillers I have read recently that did not feel predictable, and I was truly shocked by the ending.

I would recommend this for fans of Kara Thompson and Karen Mourning.

This was a quick and fast-paced YA mystery thriller. In a high stakes, elite school environment, competition takes a turn when a well-known student is found dead, murdered in a way that echoes a short story our main character wrote. We follow Jess as she tries to clear her name and find the killer, while navigating all the secrets that everyone is trying to keep.

I thought this was pretty well-written, had good pacing, and brought in a diverse cast of characters. The main character is easy to root for and likeable (especially compared to some of the other students). The book was a really quick read and I liked it a lot.

This was such a quick and easy read. I read this in the middle of a massive reading slump and finished it in two days. As for the plot I’m of the opinion that you should go in blind to Mysterys and thrillers.

The main character was likable and I would definitely recommend this, if you loved A good girls guide to Murder.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the E-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

The classic amateur sleuth teen mystery/thriller whodunnit. Had the boarding school trope as well.
Felt similar to A Good Girls Guide To Murder. But less thought out.

I wanted to love this one! From the summary, I thought there were multiple short stories, and multiple murders copying the different short stories over the book--however, there was only one short story-murder that ended up being pretty incidental. I also had a hard time with the ending--the killer was very James Bond villain, with a whole monologue at the end.

Still, grateful to Netgalley and SourcebooksFire for the arc!

This book kills caught my interest because I love a good thriller/suspense novel. Sadly, it was my favorite read of the year but I do give it a good 3 1/2 stars. I personally didn't like the authors writing style.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

Ravena Kaur Guron’s This Book Kills is a young adult mystery that masterfully blends suspense, high school drama, and a touch of dark humor. Set in the elite and competitive environment of Heybuckle school, this novel keeps readers guessing until the end.

The story follows Jess Choudhary, a scholarship student and one of the few students of Indian heritage at her prestigious boarding school. Jess’s primary goal is to keep a low profile and excel academically. However, her life takes a dramatic turn when Hugh Henry Van Boren, one of the school’s most popular and wealthy students, is found dead in a manner eerily similar to a murder described in a short story Jess wrote. As the prime suspect, Jess must navigate a web of secrets, lies, and hidden motives to clear her name and uncover the true killer. 

Guron excels in creating a diverse and relatable cast of characters. Jess is a compelling protagonist whose intelligence and determination make her easy to root for. Her best friend, Clementine-Tangerine Briggs, provides a perfect foil with her vibrant personality and unwavering loyalty. 

Guron’s writing is sharp and engaging, with a knack for witty dialogue and vivid descriptions. The pacing is well-balanced, maintaining a steady build-up of suspense while allowing for moments of introspection and character development. 

This Book Kills explores themes of identity, privilege, and the pressures of academic excellence. It also delves into the complexities of friendship and the lengths one will go to protect those they care about. 

This Book Kills is a standout in the young adult mystery genre. Ravena Kaur Guron has crafted a story that is both entertaining and thought-provoking, with a protagonist who is as relatable as she is inspiring. The novel’s clever plot twists and well-drawn characters make it a highly enjoyable read.

Fans of Holly Jackson and Karen M. McManus will find much to love in this book.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Ravena Kaur Guron for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for This Book Kills, which was released September 3, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I really enjoy YA murder mysteries. I thought featuring characters of Indian descent made the book more interesting. I really loved the first half of the book. I lost some interest in the second half of the book. I won’t give anything away, but it was a little more drawn out for me. I would check out other books by this author!

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys YA mysteries!

I really enjoyed this YA thriller and the boarding school setting. I loved the character of Jess and her motivation was clear and easy to root for her: she wants to keep her scholarship. The story was suspenseful and I did not guess the murderer at the end. With that being said, I was really shocked by the twist at the end which I guess is the point? Although it felt a little like "here's why I did it" info dump at the end making it feel a little convoluted. But overall, I tore quickly through the book and will recommend it to other YA thriller fans.

I will say I enjoyed parts of this book. I loved the atmosphere, but I didn’t feel a connection with any of the characters and how they were written. When I first started the book I wasn’t super into it. Then I became hooked, and soon fell off again. I ended up skimming a bit towards the end because things started to feel repetitive. That ended up lowering my rating. I like to rate things off of if I would recommend them to my reader friends, and I can’t say I would for this one. It wasn’t bad, just not something I would read again.

This was a good teen mystery. There were lots of twists and turns along the way. Anyone can read this and be entertained.

This one was a miss for me.

Within the first couple of pages I was thrown off by some of the character names, like Clementine-Tangerine Briggs and Millicent Cordelia Caltrope-Newton-Rose. I’m not sure if it was supposed to be satire or some kind of tongue-in-cheek commentary about the wealthy, but it made the characters seem like caricatures and that didn’t improve as I continued reading. The characters were one-dimensional, lacking depth, and there was no character growth throughout the story. It was hard to care about characters that we didn’t really know.

There was also a good amount of telling instead of showing. We’re supposed to believe that Jess was scared for her life and scared of losing her scholarship, that Tommy was sad about losing his best friend, and that Clem was utterly devastated by everything that was happening but we never really feel that in any way. The only way we know any of this is because the author tells us. Again, this made it hard to feel invested in the characters and what they were dealing with.

The timeline didn’t help. A lot of things happen in a very short period of time which made things feel rushed and especially unrealistic. While I appreciate that everything that happened led to a shake up at the school and that it was ultimately positive for many of the characters, it was hard to believe that so many friendships could be formed and changes made in such a short period of time.

On a positive note, this was a quick read and there were a few scenes that kept me engaged and had me turning pages to see what was coming next. There were also a couple of surprises at the end of the book that I wasn’t expecting.

Ultimately, this one just wasn't for me.

Thanks NetGally and Sourcebooks Fire for this copy.

Jess is a scholarship student at her school. She writes a murder story with another student and somehow it comes true. Only who committed the crime??? Naturally Jess is at the one blamed for the murder but did she really do it? Read to find out. Very good book and first time experiencing anything written by this author.

What is it with rich people and their secret clubs?!
Anyway, this was an easy to follow mystery that takes place at an elite boarding school. Scholarship kid, Jess, is one of the "poors" and doesn't feel like she belongs with the old money kids around her. After turning in a murder mystery as part of a creative writing assignment, a student mysteriously dies with inspiration from Jess' story.
I had my suspicions early on who the killer was and I was right. But I don't think that necessarily means the story is predictable, I'm just suspicious by nature! But the why I did not see coming!

I loved this book! I'm a fan of A Good Girls Guide to Murder and this book had the same feel. I couldn't put it down and needed to know who the killer was.

I really enjoyed the last half of this book. There were some great twists and much more character development that sucked me in. The first half love just a little too slow for me and I struggled to get into the characters at first with a little bit too much going on between all the students/suspects. The author did a great job however wrapping up the story line with the twists.

I really enjoyed the last 25%, but the first 75% was just too slow. I did enjoy the main characters, they were well-written and had some layers. I was able to figure out one of the twists, but there were some other twists that made the ending interesting.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

If you enjoy teens solving crime or popular titles like One of Us Is Lying or A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, this one is a must read! There were so many twists and turns in this book that I truly didn't see the end coming and that was a delightful surprise! I thought a few times I had it figured out but I never did. The setting and setup of the story was perfectly spooky and dark academia fans will love it: the main character writes a murder mystery and someone at the school is killed in the same way. Can Jess figure out who the killer is before she's the next victim? This is a great read-alike for fans of Lauren Oliver's Broken Things which is similar in context (teens write a murder and their friend is murdered that same way) but this private boarding school setting makes things feel even creepier -- there's nowhere that's safe and they could literally be sleeping among murderers. Another standout element of this title is the conversations about privilege, race, and class. It's not heavy-handed but shows a realistic portrayal of how these elements affect real lives. This adds a level of depth and sophistication and sets it apart so it's not just another teen murder mystery. I also really enjoyed the character development in this story and how that played a large role in the plot. I recommend adding this to any public library collection and any secondary classroom or school library. Kids and adults will love this one and it would be a great choice for book clubs as well!

(This book felt a little drawn out, could have probably been 2/3 the length)

Jess is a new student at an elite boarding school, Heybuckle. She’s on scholarship, so her financial situation varies from the other 99% of students in a vast way. She has one friend at school, Clem, so one might say she’s an outcast. Thriving in the subject of English (and challenged in Math), Jess takes a Gifted and Talented (G&T) course where she is paired with another student and they decide to write a novel - a mystery/thriller of sorts. Summer, wants nothing to do with Jess, other than to get the assignment submitted. She doesn’t agree with some of the plot points Jess chooses for their novel, but it’s gets submitted nonetheless.

A few days later, a student is killed. Soon following, details about the death are released - and those details align with the book that Summer and Jess submitted.

Who had access to their book? Can Summer and Jess track down the murderer before there are more deaths? Can they do it before they, themselves, have their scholarships taken away for “tainting” the name of the school on the book they collaborated together on?