This Book Kills: the bestselling new YA thriller of 2023

I love this book such a good murder mystery highly recommend for 10+ year olds. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Well, that reveal had me SHOOKETH. Never in a million would’ve I have guessed that! Brilliantly twisty tale about money, murder, boarding school and making unlikely friends! Really bloody enjoyed this - have raced through 3/4 of it tonight alone! This has so many twists and turns and red herrings that I was flummoxed a few times. Jess is just brill and I love Tommy too. Brilliant story telling and interesting characters make this a proper page-turner!

"I'll make it clear from the start: I did not kill Hugh Henry Van Boren. I didn't even help. Well, not intentionally." - ‘This Book Kills’ by Ravena Guron.Set in an elite English boarding school, this lively YA murder mystery is narrated by sixteen-year-old Jesminder (Jess) Choudhary. She is a student at Heybuckle, an elite boarding school in the English countryside. Jess is a scholarship student and as such is subject to strict conditions of behaviour to retain her position.The death of Hugh Henry Van Boren, one of the most popular and richest students, leaves everyone stunned, including his girlfriend, Clem, who is Jess’ best friend. However, when Jess realises that Hugh died in the exact manner as a character in a short story that she co-wrote with a fellow student she is unsettled.Then Jess receives an anonymous text thanking her for the inspiration. As the police and a private detective hired by Hugh’s family seem to be going around in circles, Jess and her friends undertake their own investigation. No further details to avoid spoilers.This proved to be a great deal of fun. I found Jess an intelligent, witty narrator. She is quite philosophical about her outsider status. One encounter she relates is the all too familiar “but where are you really from?” exchange when she first met Hugh, who rejected her initial reply about being from London.Overall, ‘This Book Kills’ proved an entertaining mystery that kept me guessing as to whodunnit until the final reveal. While marketed as YA, I felt that Ravena Guron has written a novel that is bound to will appeal to lovers of mysteries of all ages.4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

This book has my heart and soul. I can't put into words how much I loved this book (to say that I loved it is an understatement)

good reading

A decent debut novel, overall a 3.5 stars for me. The premise of the book, a murder at an elite boarding school, is good and I quite liked the main character, Jess. The suspense builds quite nicely but it becomes obvious who the murderer is from early on in the book. Topics such as bullying, racism and misogyny are tackled but it's a bit stereotyped and I felt that the constant disparaging references towards scholarship pupils was a little laboured. Having worked in an independent school which offered scholarships, I did not find any snobbery towards those pupils, not saying it doesn't happen though. Less is more sometimes and I think that the author threw a little bit too much into the mix.That said, it's an entertaining murder mystery for YA and the author is one to watch.

This book was brilliantly written with enough red herrings to populate a zoo. Also, the character development of being rather meek to being able to solve a murder is what every young adult reader needs. Dark academia is a hard genre to write for, despite there being many books in that genre at the moment, mainly because once one is written it is hard to make the next unique. However, Guron was able to turn her book into a thoroughly unique adventure with brilliantly formed characters, well thought out subplots and even a knitting club (a school after my own heart).I loved the interactive nature of this book as just before the killer is revealed there is a qr code to scan and submit who you think is the killer and why? My answer was thoroughly wrong. Which is why this book is so brilliant. I probably would never have reached the answer to who was the killer ever. Crime books are perfectly written if you, the reader, is shocked by the outcome or the crime.If you enjoyed Holly Jackson's "A Good Girl's Guide To Murder" then you will love this.

I’ve read a good girls guide to murder and one of us is lying etc and this is the perfect mix of both. I dont usually like reading but this had me staring at my ipad for days!

This book was so fun to read and I was really invested in the characters! I would highly recommend to any lovers of YA mystery/thrillers.

I read this book about a month ago so am a little late to review but honestly was the best book i have ever read! The plot twists are AMAZING!!! And overall just ♡ the formatting and plot of it all! Great book 100/10 DEFIANTLY WOULD BUY! And would ♡ to see another one with different peoples viewpoints!

I loved the characters in this book, the main character suprised me, she was so balanced and relatable and the dry humor caught me off guard sometimes.The book remains suspenseful all throughout and one ends up questioning everyone's innocence.The ending was satisfying and even though I was surprised by the reveal, it made sense, which I appreciated..