This book was a lot of fun. Of course the remote location, people start dying trope has been done, but as usual the author infuses it with a lot of mystery and twists. Will definitely be sharing this book for the winter season!

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. I really had fun reading this one. It was a classic who-dun-it, but felt fresh and kept my attention the whole time. There were a lot of characters to juggle so for those that struggle with multi-POV, this would make a fantastic audiobook! A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads. 3.75 stars

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Alexa Donne for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for The Bitter End coming out October 15, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I’ve read a couple books by this author, so I was so excited to receive this book! I really love YA mystery/thrillers. I’m definitely obsessed with her writing! I think it’s really suspenseful and fun. There were a lot of awesome characters. I love snow survival mixed with slasher stories. It reminded me of a Korean Drama called White Christmas, which I’m obsessed with. I’m definitely really more books by this author!

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys YA survival thrillers!

An unplanned coincidence was I read both this and One by One by Ruth Ware (another ‘rich people trapped in a mountain resort/cabin keep turning up dead’) in the same week, and man, the two experiences couldn’t have been more different. One by One took two days to read because I was hate-reading it just to get to the end. I read The Bitter End in basically two sittings because I couldn’t put it down!

A perfect combination of Horrible Rich Teens, and some more sympathetic, but oddly suspicious ~normal~ teens to keep you on your feet, a very claustrophobic snowed in cabin, and past transgressions finally catching up on these horrible teens.

The only thing that I struggled with is mostly a personal preference; First person POV is a hard sell for me in general, but I usually get into the flow of things within a few chapters and don’t get caught up constantly. But the style of this book is we keep getting flashbacks to a significant party that happened three years earlier, and all of those chapters are in third person POV. So when we come back to the present I found myself tripping over the first person all over again. Also this made me realize I apparently have a bad habit of skimming chapter titles, because I kept losing track of who’s POV we were in.

Other than that, I really loved this! The twist totally got me, in the best way. And the set up of all the little things around the cabin that you totally know are going to be involved in a death somehow, had me like Sickos.jpeg the whole time. Also there is a cat, and nothing bad happens to the cat!

Really enjoyed this one. Once we got to them getting to the “cabin” things started happening pretty rapidly. One thing I didn’t like about this book was all the ways everyone was connected to each other but the reader doesn’t know, that’s one of my least favourite things in books. I also had a hard time remembering whose POV I was in and had to keep going back to see. There was also a lot of unlikeable characters but the mystery and vibes of this one were so good, I was having a hard time guessing the killer until it was revealed. Definitely recommend if you like mysteries where your learning facts with the characters and set in snowy mountain tops

This YA thriller delivers everything you want in a thriller. It’s chilling, macabre, and at times heart-stopping. I enjoyed this modern twist of the classic And Then There Were None. Classmates start to drop like flies as everyone becomes a suspect. I enjoyed how the cold wintery isolation trope cleverly propelled this addictive whodunit. “Appearance should not be mistaken for truth.” Not is all as it seems as secrets are revealed and motives become apparent. I highly recommend this to all who love an entertaining, unpredictable, and clever mystery. Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Children's for my copy. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Once the story hit its climax, it never let up. The ending was probably the best part of this novel. I did enjoy the setting and the psychological aspects of this mystery. There were also what felt like a few Easter eggs related to the 1985 cinematic masterpiece Clue starring Tim Curry. So that was fun to see pop up now and again. I think I would have liked a bit more time in the beginning to get my footing with all of the characters before we started in on the action. But this was still a good time.

I love a closed-room mystery more than almost any other novel conceit and Alexa Donne's The Bitter End hits every mark. Every cliche and trope is covered to great effect: true crime obsessed rich kids are snowed in at a cabin, they have no cell service and their phones have been taken, and their guidance counselor disappears early on. As the bodies start to pile up, motives pour out like an open faucet and everyone is both a target and potential killer.

It's time for the Senior Excursion at Warner Prep and rich kids Delaney, Declan, Eden, Camille, Wyatt, and Liam have lucked out of their first pick choices and into a less-than-ideal digital detox retreat at a snowy cabin in the mountains. Scholarship kids Piper and Willa are also there.

Their first day is easy and complete with cross-country skiing and a casual dinner, but everything takes a turn when Eden drugs their chaperone and guidance counselor, Ms. Silva, and talks the rest of the group into playing a strip card game that feels oddly pointed and which later pivots to a classic teenage drinking game that easily turns into a mean-spirited shitshow, Never Have I Ever. We learn all about these privileged kids and the horrible things they've done together, so it's no shock when they wake up in the morning to one of their own dead on the couch. He's had an allergic reaction to amaretto and his EpiPen, which he always diligently carries, is nowhere to be found.

From there, the novel spirals into the finger-pointing, let's split up chaos that anyone familiar with closed room mysteries like Clue, Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None (which Donne acknowledges was inspiration for the book), or the more contemporary Bodies, Bodies, Bodies will recognize and love. Donne does an excellent job leaving breadcrumbs for the reader in the form of flashback chapters that paint a picture of cliques, changed relationships, and high-stakes teenage tension. The setting, a Blizzardy ski chalet, is just icing on the cake.

The Bitter End does what it sets out to do and more. The story is compelling and prompted me to buy Donne's other books. It may have been predictable if you pay close attention to the characters and their motives, but that's okay with me. I WANT to be able to solve the crime as it's unfolding. My only complaint was that the characters blend together early on, so keeping track of who is who was a bit of a challenge until the pack starts to get thinned. But once a few bodies get piled up, the novel flies and will be an ideal cozy cabin read when it comes out in October.

A secluded murder mystery with a group of teens trapped in a large cabin during a blizzard. Everyone has secrets. The perfect set up. But unfortunately, that setting and the very beginning of this book was the best part.
Now I love a villain character or an antihero. But all of these characters were so self involved and vapid that I could not find one reason to root for any of them. They had no redeeming traits. They were also so similar that I kind of couldn't keep straight who had done what in the past timeline and who was with who, now. You could have switched any of them and it wouldn't have mattered. They were the same character just with a different name. Now this was hard to put down because I did really want to know the answers. So if you are looking for a fast mystery read, this could be for you.

Thank you to the publisher for the free copy in exchange for my honest review.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I previously read Donne's earlier book and enjoyed it, so I was delighted to be approved for The Bitter End. I hate snow, skiing, and cold weather, but a bunch of students stuck in a house during a snowstorm, cut off from the world as bodies start piling up? Sign me up.

I was initially a little worried about the multiple characters, but we only get a few points of view so it's not as hard to follow the different characters. I had to remind myself whose pov it was if I put the book down, which I didn't want to do.

Thriller wise, with plot and pacing was A+. Each character was hiding something, and it was tricky to remember the little Easter eggs or clues being dropped along the way. I wasn't as interested in the flashbacks to 3 years ago at Declan's party, but the events of that night tie into the Senior excursion trip to Colorado. A few of the characters surprised me more than others who seemed like stereotypical Gen Z kids. And that ending had us questioning everything all over again. If I were (redacted character), I wouldn't go on that cruise with (redacted character).

Book is available October 15th, 2024. 4/5☆

I suspected different people at different times and everyone is suspicious in a way. I was surprised when I found out who it was. The book flashes back and forth between a party that happened several years ago that cause some drama and now. To be honest, one thing that bothered me was that at the end there was a mystery that was never solved or explained of what happened. I am not sure if this will be corrected by time they release the official copy, but I feel that it should be.

I did enjoy this book. I love a good who done it book!

A group of friends get trapped in a big house on a Colorado snow engulfed mountain with the storm of the century raging outside.

One by one, the friends start dropping like flies. In the beginning, it was just an accident, right? But as more bodies pile up, it becomes evident that this is no accident and someone is on the hunt for each of the friends. Revenge is a great thing.

When a winter storm traps eight teens in a remote ski cabin, they find themselves stranded with a killer—who may be one of their own.

A classic plot with great execution. I enjoyed the atmosphere and plot twists and overall vibe of this book.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I loved a good locked-room mystery especially when the characters are systematically getting killed off. I've watched Donne's YouTube channel on and off over the years but this is the first book of hers that drew me in with the synopsis. I ended up enjoying this far more than I was expecting to. While multiple characters were sometimes insufferable to read from the perspective of, this was something felt intentional. These characters were supposed to be stuck-up rich kids.

The mystery was great as well, and I found myself sucked into this book. I read it over one flight and was engrossed the whole time. I really liked the reveal and the individual murders. Overall, It was a really fun book and it made me want to read another by this author.

Loved this book! Thought I had the killer figured out the whole time. I love being wrong! I enjoyed how twisty this book was.

I was unable to finish this book and thus will not be posting a full review. I found myself bored and there were so many similar characters that I had a hard time keeping track. Thank you for the opportunity and consideration.

I enjoyed reading this book. It was slow going at times, and there were some typos, but I did like it. I will try more books by her. It didn't let me review on the app after reading, so I had to do it while online. It did remind me of the Ruth Ware book titled One by One, however, I know that there are so many different books out there, that it would be hard to have something at least not similar.

too ya for me. i was so disappointed, i wasn't expecting the teenagers to act so childish 30 pages in. i don't ever want a ya book to have the line "ok boomer" ever again

I liked this book. I did not love it which is a shame as the plot and the premise sounded really good.

I am going to rate this 3 stars but I believe it is just a matter of who is the audience for this style of writing. It's not me, but perhaps YA will get into it more.

The witing kind of felt all over the place for me and honestly, it was a bit boring as I kept hoping it would improve. I do not feel it did, but like I saiid others may like it a lot.

Fun 10 little Indians-style romp for the YA set, Definitely leans adult. I appreciated the mystery and POV work in the second half. The first half dragged a bit and found characters harder to track…. I did enjoy the ending and murderer reveal, but found the final page “twist” (or whatever the takeaway was supposed to be) fell a little flat. Giving this 3.75 stars and rounding up.