WHAT A WILD RIDE!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I don't think I've read a book this fast (3 days) since Bloodmarked (I gulped that down in 2 days). This was a superb read!

As someone who knows very, very little of Nigerian culture, I felt immersed in this rich culture, traditions, yet woefully underdressed amongst the glamor of this wedding and the lead up to it. It's basically a crash course in Naija culture! The scenery descriptions (Why do I feel like I've physically been to Uncle Otunba's house?) were very easy to imagine, and the set up for the tightly knit family dynamic was well established before the real drama starts.

This may sound strange, but the characters are easy to distinguish. For me, new names that I'm not familiar with make it hard to remember who is speaking, but with the great character development and descriptions, it's so easy to know who is who. Each character is so different from one another that it would be impossible to confuse Seni with Amaka, for example.

I'll probably have to Google what most of these outfits look like (not including the gele. I know what that looks like, at least!) but I'm hoping there's artwork for all these gorgeous outfits, and especially the beautiful people in them. The abundance of melanin and elegance really deserves nothing less!

The meat of the drama starts to sizzle as we get introduced to exes, who are nefarious and self-serving in their own ways, and a plot to make the wedding as memorable as possible. In the worst way. I love the way I wish for the culprit's downfall! I'm right there with Lara, trying to figure out the mystery. Derin was right about her being the best for this job. Just when I thought I had things figured out, I was thrown for a loop and had to reanalyze the evidence again.

I'm sitting on the edge of my seat as I get more than halfway through, and there are times I want to just shake Derin and Lara. And then the reveal at the end...I was shocked! Even though there's one prime culprit, I really enjoyed how they're all responsible for the grim turn of events in some innocuous way or another. Not even gonna lie, I even suspected the gossip column! Haha! I didn't think I would enjoy a mystery novel, but I honestly couldn't wait to finish this!

There are some typos, and at least one word that probably should be reconsidered, but hopefully they get caught before final printing. I'm sure the author is already aware. They didn't distract me too much from reading, and since this is an ARC, it's probably not the final copy.

Thank you very much to Netgalley Simon and Schuster for giving me the great opportunity to read an ARC of this story. As my very first ARC review, I hope this review is helpful.

I feel like this book being marked as "YA mystery thriller" is wrongly targeted, especially with the authors mentionned in the blurb - I feel like it's missing way too many investigations parts, confrontations throughout the book, and deaths.

It felt way more like a family drama than a mystery thriller: we're only starting to talk about the menacing notes at the 25% mark, and we get the prologue's big drama happening at... around 80% mark. All along the way we're following the family drama, the wedding from beginning to the end. It's long, way too long, when you're waiting for the mystery thriller part to kick in.

However if you push aside this mystery thriller label, it was still a pretty good read! I really enjoyed the family dramas getting out of nowhere and everywhere because let's be honest, we probably all love watching dramas when it's not concerning us haha All the culprit stuff was pretty predictable so that was a let down, but other than that the developping of all the different dramas were really great.

I also learned a lot about the sickle cell , which takes a big part of the book ; and I feel like it was an amazing idea to use this book to destigmatize the disease, and educate those who, like myself, didn't know much about it. I've learned a lot and it was really important in this story.

Overall: get into this book for the family drama, the nigerian wedding traditions, and the sickle cell representation ; don't get into it for the mystery thriller side.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for granting my request to read this e-ARC and provide my honest opinions.

This is a book well done! And I say it again. This is a book well done! The author did a fantastic job weaving all the pieces of this book together without leaving a thing out of place. This is one of those books that you just have to read as quickly as possible!

It is how the author weaves sickle cell awareness with mystery and still manages to keep us in suspense the whole time! 'Til Death is the perfect book that includes Nigerian drama and shenanigans!!

And I seriously hope that this book turns into a series 🥺🥺.  I need to see more cases that Lara gets to solve 🔥.

Thank you for the e-ARC ❤❤.

What a nice debut novel, I'm not disappointed. I had no time to get bored with this fast-paced novel, full of drama.

It was a nice change of scenary as it was probably my first time reading a book set in Nigeria. It felt fresh and unlike other books I'm used to reading. Although I struggle with characters' names and places as it was a first time.

I really liked Lara, I think she was an amazing protagonist.

The writing style was well executed. It was engaging and I wouldn't put my e-reader down.

Of course, I was surprised with the revelation as I hadn't guess who it was.

Londoner Lara travels to Lagos with her parents and brother to attend the lavish wedding of her cousin, Dérin, a social media star. In a chatty teenage style, the author introduces the reader to the lavish customs of a Nigerian society wedding and a dizzying array of Lara’s extended family and Dérin’s friends. Sounds fun, right? Well, yes, even when bride-to-be Dérin falls victim to a series of threats and baffling accidents and aspiring criminology student Lara decides to investigate. What could possibly go wrong…?
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.

Upon publication, I will post this review on my blog and on GoodReads.

This story follows Lara as she and her family head to Nigeria for the wedding of her cousin, Dérin.
Lara and Dérin are incredibly close, and when Lara discovers Dérin has been receiving threatening, anonymous notes since her engagement she decides to investigate to protect her cousin.

This is a fast-paced, drama filled novel with a lot of heart. Lara is a fantastic protagonist, easy to root for and her passion for her interests and love for her family come off the page so well. I loved the writing style for this book, it was engaging and a fun read.

I would highly recommend this book and excited to read more by this author. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.