tl;dr basically ferris bueller's day off ft. murder
Premise
Ivy, Mateo, and Cal used to be close. Now all they have in common is Carlton High and the beginning of a very bad day.
Type A Ivy lost a student council election to the class clown, and now she has to face the school, humiliated. Heartthrob Mateo is burned out--he's been working two jobs since his family's business failed. And outsider Cal just got stood up . . . again.
So when Cal pulls into campus late for class and runs into Ivy and Mateo, it seems like the perfect opportunity to turn a bad day around. They'll ditch and go into the city. Just the three of them, like old times. Except they've barely left the parking lot before they run out of things to say . . .
. . . until they spot another Carlton High student skipping school--and follow him to the scene of his own murder. In one chance move, their day turns from dull to deadly. And it's about to get worse.
It turns out Ivy, Mateo, and Cal still have some things in common. They all have a connection to the dead kid. And they're all hiding something.
Now they're all wondering--could it be that their chance reconnection wasn't by chance after all?
Rating
4/5 stars
Review
This is the first book I’ve read by Karen M. McManus, and I enjoyed it! A thrilling twist on Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
This book definitely met my expectations — it wasn’t anything revolutionary in terms of YA murder mysteries, relying on some plot elements that I see in many other similar thrillers. The plot was engaging, and I didn’t expect many of the twists and turns. Pretty solid, plot-wise.
I liked all three main characters (Ivy, Mateo, and Cal), though I will admit I have a soft spot for Mateo. The three of them were,, pretty much exactly what I expected from this book, as the three of them fit into pretty stereotypical high school boxes, like the One of Us is Lying characters do. The class president, the tall dark and brooding boy, and the artist. I think they were interesting characters to follow, and their differing backstories shaped their individual POVs. I feel like they could have been developed a bit more and shown more growth throughout the book (that was shown and not just directly told). I say this mainly because some of the characters needed to… check their privilege lol.
With the side characters, I thought they were pretty intriguing. There’s this one character who’s by far the most complex and interesting one out of everyone, so I enjoyed reading about where her story went. The actual culprit, though, I felt like could have been fleshed out as a character more. Yes, it was shocking, but it was more-so because I barely knew about the character. This character’s change from run-of-the-mill side character to cold-blooded killer was too jarring, in my opinion. Props for the shock factor, though.
Lowkey a cliffhanger lol someone help
Thank you to Random House Children’s and NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for a review!
Other Info
Standalone
13+
CW: murder, death, violence, drugs, underage drinking, infidelity
Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Youll-Be-Death-Karen-McManus/dp/0593175867
Would I Recommend?
Yes!
Similar Books
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus
The Ivies by Alexa Donne
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