Blog Tour: You’ll Be The Death Of Me by Karen M. McManus

I’m here today with another book review as part of a blog tour! This time we have You’ll Be The Death Of Me, the latest YA mystery by bestseller Karen M. McManus. I’ve read and enjoyed the vast majority of her books, so I’m happy to be on The Write Reads Ultimate Blog Tour for this one. Thank you so much to the team at The Write Reads for letting me take part in this tour, fun fact, I had already been granted the e-arc for this one when I signed up, but I couldn’t resist participating.

You’ll Be The Death of Me is inspired by Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and it follows three old friends who randomly decide to skip school together only to stumble across the corpse of a murdered classmate.

I’d usually write a little more of a summary, but I don’t want to give anything away. Though this isn’t the most original mystery, it’s thoroughly enjoyable, and you’ll want to go in as blind as possible.

The three protagonists are Ivy, the type-A former class president, Mateo, who is working multiple jobs to earn money for his family and Cal, who has lost himself in his relationships and doesn’t know what he wants. I liked all three of them in their own ways, even if there were also moments where I was judging them so hard. They’re as imperfect as real teenagers are, and they make mistakes. That’s okay. I did actually tear up a little at a scene with Ivy near the end due to her relationship with her brother. So I was glad how that changed throughout the book.

What I didn’t really care so much about was the romance sub-plot. I didn’t dislike it, as it was cute enough. But it did feel a little unnecessary. I get that it added drama and changed dynamics. It also explained why their friendship group split up. But if you’re arguing with someone over a relationship when the police are looking for you for murder? Not smart. But then again, they are teenagers. And teenagers do think that their relationships are the be-all-end-all. So I do understand, but it knocked me out of the story a little bit.

I did enjoy the friendships, as well as all the familial relationships. They were interesting, and I enjoyed them.

The mystery element was good. I was intrigued throughout, even if wasn’t anything particularly original. Mysteries don’t need to be though, and this one still stands out on its own. If you are upset by drugs, then they are mentioned in this book quite a lot. There should also be trigger warnings for paedophilia, so bear that in mind.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot and I got through it super quickly when I finally sat down to read it. Karen M. McManus has done it again with a thrilling mystery that throws it’s teenager characters in at the deep end whilst keeping them relatable.

4/5 Stars