This Book Kills by Ravena Guron - OPTIONAL

This Book Kills by Ravena Guron, 368 pages. Sourcebooks Fire, 2024. $12.

Language: PG13 (26 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL

Hugh (17yo) and Millie are the it couple of their private school, which makes their public breakup even more of a spectacle. But then Hugh ends up dead—the exact same way that Jess (16yo) imagined the murder in her short story for a class assignment. As questions and accusations fly, Jess’s scholarship is put on the line, and she goes digging for the truth herself.

The whole murder mystery is a convoluted mess for the characters trying to solve the case, which was enjoyable as the reader trying to put the pieces together with them. Guron made the scenario feel pretty realistic with all the red herrings that have to be waded through and with the ways real life and biases get in the way of teenagers attempting to investigate murder. My only disappointment is that the perpetrator seems to come out of left field instead of being revealed in an aha moment that makes everything click.

Jess is Indian-British, and Lucy is undefined but also non-White, with the rest of the characters implied British. Summer is gay, and Hattie is bi. The mature content rating is for kissing, underage drinking, partial nudity, and illegal activity. The violence rating is for assault and murder.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen