Review: You'll Be The Death of Me by Karen McManus

 

Goodreads Overview:

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 from working two jobs since his family’s business failed. And outsider Cal just got stood up . . . again.

So when the three unexpectedly run into each other, they decide to avoid their problems by ditching. 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...like a connection to the dead kid. And they’re all hiding something.

Could it be that their chance reconnection wasn’t by chance after all?

Review:

This is the third book of McManus's that I have read. I started with One of Us is Lying and then read the sequel One of Us is Next. One of Us is Lying was REALLY good. I was a huge fan of The Breakfast Club as a kid and could definitely see the similarities. Five students with very different backgrounds all end up in detention together. One of them ends up dying and the rest are being investigated for murder. One of Us is Next continued the original saga with a game of truth or dare spiraling out of control at the school. This book wasn't quite as good as the original, but it was still a very entertaining story.

By the third time around, I feel like it is time for McManus to move onto another topic. This book had more of a Ferris Bueller's Day Off vibe with three students skipping school. They were close friends growing up, but have drifted apart since the start of high school. Them reconnecting out of nowhere was odd enough, but then witnessing the murder of another student, who was also skipping school, was completely random. Throw in an odd relationship between one of the characters and a teacher and I really felt like McManus was grasping at straws to keep this school themed murder mystery theme going. While this book did not take place in the same school and involved a completely new set of characters, it was essentially the same concept readers have already experienced twice already.

The threads to this mystery were so far fetched and convoluted that it is not something readers can relate to. Something going terribly wrong in detention...YES. A game of truth or dare getting blown out of proportion....YES. The events that took place in this book...NO WAY. I guarantee if I gave these books to my son, who is a junior in high school, he would have the exact same reaction. This was so unrealistic that you couldn't help but think McManus has jumped the shark and it is time to move onto a new subject matter.

I gave the book 3 stars simply because I liked the characters and enjoy McManus's writing style. I do plan on reading her book The Cousins, which does seem to have a new subject matter, to hopefully turn things around. In addition, I just noticed she has a One of Us Is Lying book 3 now listed on Goodreads. Seriously? Is there going to be a third death at Bayview High? I will have to read the description and some reviews before diving head first into that one.