Everyone in the Group Chat Dies - L.M Chilton

3.5 stars

Hi it’s me again, Dee, I judge a book by its cover, and also its title and this one grabbed me immediately. I love a good group chat 🤣

I read this book in a day, it was fun, funny and towards the end actually quite suspenseful. I really did want to know what was going to happen.

EITGCD is based in a little town outside Surrey in the UK. 30 years ago there was a spree killer and it looks like he might be back. We follow Kirby as she investigates the disappearance of a new friend. We have two timelines though out the book, what happened 12 months ago, and a flip through time to present day when members of her group chat are under attack.

This book has snappy chapters that bounce back and forwards through time and some quite fun cliffhangers which keep you wanting more.

It’s a good book and kept me engaged for the day.

However there was one plot hole right at the end that yanked me out of the book immediately and made me quite annoyed really as everything was resting on that point. Apart from that it was still worth a read and would probably appeal to people who like a good modern day mystery.

Characters- 6
Atmosphere- 5
Writing Style- 7
Plot- 6
Intrigue-6
Relationships-6
Enjoyment- 7
6.14

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.

12 months ago Kirby and her flatmates welcomed a new temporary flatmate. That night she disappeared setting off a chain of events. Esme was trying to expose a killer from the past. Now a year on Kirby is receiving messages in the group chat from Esme. But Esme died a year ago. Or did she?

I wasn’t sure about this but the description and the title made me give it a chance. Everyone is in a group chat, so the title amused me.

I did enjoy this. It’s set in present day and 12 months ago and is told from Kirby’s point of view. The tale is slowly teased out. I found this quite frustrating, but it kept me turning the pages. I would have loved to see the characters and their relationships more.

I recommend this.

I loved Don’t Swipe Right, and thought this was a must read, I wasn’t disappointed! Funny, murderous and just a bloody good read! This is told across the present day and 12 months ago, going back and forward throughout which works well, some great characters in there with very individualised personalities! That twist at the end though 😳 loved it!

I had a great time reading it. If you want a good mystery that makes you guess until the end, this is it. The characterisation apart from the main protagonist is a bit lacking, but it makes up for it with the story and the writing. A murder mystery on top of a mirder mystery and it makes the book a fun and exciting read.

I really enjoyed this book! It was funny and fast paced and had me gripped all the way through. I enjoyed the first person narrative, and I also thought the two different timelines worked really well with the story. This was my first time reading a book by this author and I will definitely be checking out his other books.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Kirby receives a text in a group chat from Esme, who died a year ago and returns to her old town to

I was gripped from the start, this is a fast paced, fun and twisty YA thriller which is easily read. The writing is on the whole good, it’s snappy and I think the dual timelines worked well here.

There were a couple of instances in the book where I felt the description and scene setting lacked, however this may come down to a YA target audience and didn’t disrupt the plot line massively. This is a fun read that doesn’t take itself too seriously and I enjoyed the little end-of-chapter cliffhangers.

***advance review copy received from NetGalley in return for an honest review***
I must admit I’m not a wild fan of first person narratives, I always find that the main character tends to come across poorly for me and I did find that to an extent here. I also wasn’t overly keen on the humour between the flatmates/friendship group - it just felt a bit forced and 90s sit-commy.
That said, once the book gets going it doesn’t really stop - there’s hardly any filler here, and I always think the mark of a decent story in this genre is a constant drip feed of new and relevant information to the character/s. Too many offerings rehash the same known facts and take too long to progress the plot, but this murder mystery reads more like a teen slasher movie when it moves into its second half.
It does also read more like a YA novel, which is fine but interesting given the main character is supposed to be just into her 30s. If you’ve read and enjoyed things like Truly Devious or A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder or even The Final Girl Support Group, I suspect you’ll find a lot to like here.

A mystery thriller with a slash of humour. I struggled with the pace, setting and dialogue and failed to finish. A younger audience will appreciate the sly humour and cultural referenes.

Everyone in the Group Chat Dies, is a mystery thriller centred on Kirby Cornell, who after leaving behind a massive secret receives a text from her friend Esme, who has been dead for the last year.

It is a quick read with characters full of personality and a pretty good mystery, that will leave you guessing until the end. However, I do feel that the two different timelines made it a little hard to follow. I also felt it was a little reference heavy at times.

I would recommend this book to readers that are looking for a fast-paced, funny mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for this ARC.

I very much enjoyed this writer's previous novel about the perils of online dating, and this new story is no less entertaining. Not to mention, topical in its treatment of issues such as our social media activities and obsessions with true crime and podcasts.

When the MC receives a message in the nearly-defunct group chat that she shares with her ex-flatmates, the warning that everyone on the group chat will die is bad enough. But it is made considerably worse by the fact that the apparent sender of the message died a year ago!

Fast-paced and funny, you'll glide through this one, giggling frequently along the way.

A fast paced and mostly engaging storyline, with an ending that I didn’t see coming for most of the book! The use of the dual timeline added more interest to the overall story, whilst the utilisation of WhatsApp messages and mentions of social media made it more realistic in a digital age. There were points where I would become frustrated by the seemingly unnecessary tangents the main character would go on, as I felt this added little to the overall arc of the book. However, overall this was an enjoyable and compelling read.

when esme messaged her group chat a year after her death … is it really her

the writing is extremely modern, twisty and quick witted.

a lot of Y/A’s could easily get into this style as it’s easily digestible and fast paced, especially with the inclusion of social media elements ( whatsapp, tiktok etc ).

personally, the plot gripped me and was very well executed. i love how esme’s modern day disappearance is linked into a past town mystery.

i would definitely read another book by this author.

Thank the Crow I was selected for an ARC of this book. I loved Don't Swipe Right so leapt at the chance to read this new book early. I was definitely not disappointed!

It is set in 2 time periods (present and one year earlier) which I really liked and kept the intrigue going as present day Kirby would allude to things that past Kirby was going to experience.

Overall, the setting had a very Hot Fuzz meets Making a Murderer small town feel to it, which I really enjoyed as that's always an eerie setting, and I was kept guessing right to the end about the murderer's identity.

First of all thank you for approving my request!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The authors writing style had me hooked throughout this book.

I didn't want it to end, a book I really couldn't put down.

I enjoyed this book, it was a fast paced thriller with an interesting concept. I found the focus on armchair and online detectives to be novel and added an extra layer of intrigue to the plot.

I really enjoy a good murder mystery/thriller. It’s my fav genre. This one was engaging and I did like it. Multiple characters can be a bit hard to follow but I still enjoyed this read. Thank you for an early copy of this book.

"Everyone in the group chat dies" is a mystery/thriller book that keeps you hooked until the end. I couldn't stop reading and formulating my own ideas about the plot and where things were going.
The book is really well written and it made me laugh at times, feel excited in other moments and even cry a bit.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book for people who love a good story surrounded by mystery and with well written characters.

Another enjoyable and fast-paced thriller from L.M. Chilton deals with the ramifications of social media, cancel culture, and journalistic ethics, all while telling a 'I Know What You Did Last Summer'-esque whodunit about a group of former flatmates being picked off following a traumatic incident one year prior. The characterisation outside of the lead isn't the strongest, but the mystery is strong and it has the hallmarks of another fun murder mystery from Chilton,

A fast-paced, dark funny thriller where secrets unravel, paranoia rises and chaos ensues. Clever twists and sharp humour but the different time lines made it a confusing read at times

I was pretty excited about this one, I like a humorous thriller something that does a bit of everything. So I was excited when I got this book.

It did not deliver for me, I found it irritating and boring. I liked the writing style so I would try this author again I just found the characters irritating. I couldnt get through it and I didnt want to know what happened to them.

I will give it one star because we must and one star because I didnt finish it.

Thank you for the ARC but I could not continue. I think others will like this based on what I read… I am hopeful for the author this is a hit.