3.5 rounded up.

This follows Grace, Ally, and Henry as they work together to solve who really killed their English teacher 2 years ago. And most importantly, work together exonerated Henry's brother, Jake. If you liked AGGTM, this has similar vibes.

The pace seemed quick at some points and really dragged in others. I liked the 3 POVs and how they impacted the story.

I wanted to like this so much since I've enjoyed a couple of Lawson's books before, but this one was just okay. I didn't really care about any of the characters. It felt like nothing really happened until 60% through, and even that got glossed over entirely too easily. Most of the twists were predicted in the first few chapters. The saving grace was the final twist, which had barely been on my radar.

I think this would be a solid read for teens 13-16 years old.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read, “Murder Between Friends”, by Liz Lawson. This was interesting and for fans of Good Girls Guide to Murder. This definitely is a book that targets a YA audience!

Who needs a love triangle when you have a sleuth triangle?
Grace, Henry and Ally are best friends. When Henry’s brother Jake becomes a suspect in their teacher’s murder investigation it’s Grace who seals the conviction with some questionable testimony. Two years later the friend group is broken, everyone is sad, Jake is out of prison on a technicality and looking at an upcoming retrial and Grace is starting to rethink what she thought she knew.

This book was…fine I guess. As an adult reader well conversed with “who dunnits” I saw this coming a mile away. I think that YA readers may be more interested in this journey and would recommend this to a younger audience.

Absolutely loved this book. I had my suspicions but they were all wrong. Completely loved it, and the characters that were portrayed. I will be recommending this book to my book friends. So happy to have been chosen to be an ARC reader.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley


I loved this book! From the very beginning it pulls you in trying to uncover the truth behind the murder and everything that led up to it. This book will have you guessing in every way possible. Just when you think you figured it out, another twist unfolds. A must read!

I really enjoyed this book! I had to keep reminding myself that these were high school kids. Easy to read with a nice twist at the end. I'll look for more from this author.

*Thank you Netgalley and the rest for this advanced copy.*
3.5 rounded up. This didn't blow my mind but it kept my interest. I love friends who will go through anything to help each other out. I couldn't wait to find out if Jake really was the killer or who it was.

I wanted to like this book so bad, the premise was really good and what had me requesting this ARC. Unfortunately, the writing and character development left a lot to be desired. I found myself not caring about any of the characters at all.

Each POV felt similar to the others, I struggled to tell apart Ally and Grace’s POV, especially toward the beginning. I was only at like 40% that I was more so able to tell them apart and that was because Ally was mentioning a certain something like every 2 sentences.

I think I am a little too old to find enjoyment in this book, maybe if I was still in my teens I could have enjoyed it but unfortunately, I did not. If this hadn’t been an ARC I probably would have DNFd at 32%

I received an advanced review e-copy of this book.

this was really fun! i think that teens will really enjoy this one, as so many of them love a mystery thriller because it keeps them engaged. the characters were just okay with me but the plot kept moving and it was a fun take on a story i have seen many times before.

Thank you Random House and NetGalley for a copy of the ARC.

Murder between Friends is about childhood friends, turned almost enemies when one of the group goes to the police after witnessing another’s brother at the scene of a murder.

I really enjoyed this book, the suspense and mystery kept me reading more. It was fast paced and held just enough intrigue to get me to need to read that next chapter.

For fans of Natalie D. Richard’s and Natasha Preston.

This is the perfect book for fans of Karen M. McManus or A Good Girl's Guide to Murder. The tension was good, both between the 3 protagonists and the mystery itself. I appreciated that even though relationships are mended, they're not perfect or back to "normal." There's is still healing that needs to be done, but it's better. Also, this book was well on its way to 3 stars, but I had a thought halfway through that was a "that would be interesting if this happened," and it did! That plot twist pushed it to 4 stars. My main qualm was the ending. Not the way the mystery wrapped up, but legitimately, the last chapter. The crux of the story is a mystery, and then it ends on a super romantic note? I wanted something more with the 3 of them, like a tease of another case or something. It was a jarring ending, and not in a good way. But, that is definitely a personal preference. Overall, this was an excellent YA thriller. Highly recommend it to anyone who likes that genre.

There is just something about a YA thriller where a group of motley teens join together to solve a mystery that adults are ignoring that will always get me! It's fast-paced, I love seeing teen characters grapple with their own identity and confidence, while also getting sucked into something so much bigger than them!

IN MURDER BETWEEN FRIENDS, three high schoolers who were previously best friends gang together to uncover the truth behind a murder of a local school teacher, before an innocent teen is framed and convicted. There is murder, drugs, affairs, political underbellies, and a dash of teenage drama. There was a good amount of sleuthing and sneaking about, some threatening messages that gave them pause, running stupidly into danger without a plan - and it was all just such a satisfying read!

I absolutely love a good thriller and this novel is on of them.the cover is what caught my interest.

This was a great read. I loved the characters. Ally was exactly what I’d expect from an editor in chief of a school paper—tenacious and bullheaded. Henry was sweet and such a supportive friend. Best of all was Grace, and how she changed over the course of the book, showing her worth and learning her strength.

I really loved the way the story unfolded. There were so many layers, and just when it felt like the story was resolved, you’d peel back another layer and find another mystery to be solved.

Such a great read!

Solid YA thriller but the multiple POVs was a tad confusing and in my opinion unnecessary. However the twist ending blew me away. I was caught off guard and had to reread parts of the book to see how I was mislead. While I did like the book, I would have preferred to have read it from solely Grace's point of view.

Thank you NetGalley and Liz Lawson for this ARC.

Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m the right audience for this book. I usually don’t have trouble reading YA but this one was tough for me to get through. I didn’t care about the characters, they were pretty whiny and unrealistic. The way people spoke was very low budget TV show to me. The book is full of twists and turns but I feel like they were pretty predictable and quite silly. I do think this book will possibly do well with a much younger crowd, maybe 12-13 year olds! I’m a 33 year old woman so once again take this review with a grain of salt.

This was very well written YA mystery. I have not enjoyed a YA this much in a while. The storyline was good the characters were enjoyable. The twist was even better.

Thank you for letting me read and review this arc!

I really enjoyed this - the pacing was quick, the characters were interesting, and the story felt plausible. I think my favorite part is that the main characters felt like real teenagers; while I know that I am not the target audience for YA (being an adult) I work with teenagers and I always want to recommend books for them where they can see themselves reflected. I especially like that these characters felt flawed in a natural way - their intentions were all positive, all good! But at the same time, none of them necessarily went about solving their issues in the best way. That being said, they tried their best and worked hard to do what they knew was right. Really enjoyed to novel and can't wait to share it with my students.

I really enjoyed this book! I am a big fan of YA thrillers, and this is a good read alike for A Good Girl's Guide to Murder. It was definitely fast paced, and the extra twist at the very end was perfect and something I didn't predict.