I’ve been so lucky to get early copies or proofs of a bunch of the books I included in my Will I Like This Book series. And Let’s Play Murder is the next of these books. If you remember, I was insanely hyped for this book. I was comping it from the sampler alone as Sword Art Online meets Danganronpa and the Escape Room films.
Getting into the book, those weren’t really the vibes in the end. But honestly? I’d still probably describe it that way and add that there are some paranormal elements too.
In this book, we follow Veronica as she wakes up trapped in a VR world with four strangers. They’ve all been brought into The Game, a black market competition where they could win millions if they’re the first to solve a murder mystery. But when strange things start happening, and the players themselves start to die in both the game and the real world, Veronica has to decide whether to solve the mystery or whether she wants to win the game.
A big thank you to the team at Bloomsbury for sending me this one!
When I pick up a thriller or mystery, I want high intrigue, and I definitely got that with this one. Like with the sampler, I didn’t want to put this book down. On the surface, the idea of the game is something pretty simple. Even when the contestants start getting murdered, it should be as simple as solving the original mystery and getting out of there. And yet, still, there is layer upon layer of secrets.
Early on in the book, it’s clear that something happened in VR, meaning that Veronica doesn’t like it anymore. As you go through the book and the seemingly paranormal elements are introduced, the reader is shown why she might want to avoid it. Especially one game in particular that seems to be warping with the mystery of the game. It was utterly fascinating, and even though I felt that elements of her past did become apparent quickly, I still found myself going along for the ride.
And when you consider that the big twist in this is the type of twist I usually hate in books like this, the fact I still enjoyed reading the book after that says a lot. It often feels like a cop-out or an author just trying to be clever, but it actually made sense in this case. And watching the act drop was so good.
There was also a second smaller mystery; by that, I mean the mystery they were trying to solve in The Game. It wasn’t the most clever, and it was quick to solve after, I think, the second floor. But I had fun collecting the clues with the characters and trying to solve it myself.
The atmosphere, the characters…everything about this book was great, and I had fun. It’s not a perfect read, not by a long shot, but boy, will you be addicted and love it.
I highly recommend you pick this one up as soon as possible. You won’t regret it.
5/5 Stars
Title: Let’s Play Murder
Author: Kesia Lupo
Genre: Thriller
Age Range: Young Adult
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release Date: 13/4/23
BUY LINKS
Lace and Dagger Books 