Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Pretty Dead Queens

Oh my gosh! I absolutely loved this story. I was hooked from the opening line and didn’t want to stop listening to it. We find Cecelia on her way to live with her rich estranged grandmother, who is also a mystery author with a career spanning decades. Her grandmother treats her like a house guest and prides herself on the social connections that Cecelia makes at high school. On the first day of school Cecelia falls into the popular crowd from the start. The town is shrouded in the real life murder turned thriller turned blockbuster movie. Caroline was found dead in the pool floating next to her crown 50 years ago. The town has Weston Con where murder enthusiasts come to see where the murder that inspired their favorite thriller took place. On the night before homecoming two of the girls in Cecelia’s friend group got into a very public fight over homecoming outfits. The next thing we knew was Natalie, daughter of the mayor, head bitch on campus was found dead in the pool. Along with finding the body people start to wonder if there’s a copycat to the murder from 50 years ago. Cecelia works with Brontë, her new best friend as well as Amber, Brontë’s girlfriend and police chiefs daughter, Ben Cecelia’s love interest and Gabriel, Brontë’s brother to figure out who killed Natalie. The thing is Cecelia works with people one or two at a time not as a whole group. The more Cecelia digs the more dirt and blackmail she uncovers. Everyone has dirt on someone else. Like Natalie was recording all the therapy sessions the people of the town had with her mother. She would then exploit their secrets for her gain. Amber played both sides of the law to help her friend and her dad. Gabriel worked 3 jobs but always was where he needed to be to help out. Morgan wanted to sleep with Natalie’s dad this lead to Cecelia announcing to the whole town at Natalie’s funeral that the mayor was into underage girls. That was a real bombshell. Bens grandfather is going to sue the town for his moms death and there’s animosity there and hate fucking did take place before he got with Cecelia. I loved the women I. This book they had the town on lock. By the time Cecelia got to the pool with the mysterious messages I knew Ben would be the killer. I didn’t see the grandmother twist coming but what a revelation. It was an ending I didn’t see coming and it was so much better than I hoped. 10/10 I wanted to start it again as soon as I finished it.

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tiedwithabo's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

A good entry point for new mystery readers who want something classic but not stale. The story is sincere and pulls on your heartstrings in a way only grief can.

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swiveller's review against another edition

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3.0

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avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This book was good in some respects like the themes and issues it talks about. But both of the mystery solutions/murder(s) were SO OBVIOUS! I knew from the beginning who killed who. Overall it was just meh. I did like the theme of grief.

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lilacs_book_bower's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This held my attention and I enjoyed reading it, but I was able to guess the culprit. I liked a few of the characters, but most of them felt underdeveloped. There were a few plot holes, especially related to the solution and the climax that impacted my enjoyment, or I would have bumped the rating up a little higher.

I guessed who both of the murderers were and the main "twist" about the second murderer as well.

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jjstallone's review against another edition

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3.5

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sophiemar's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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alli_the_bookaholic13's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Thank you to TBR and Beyond Tours for an eARC.

4.5 stars

CWs: Murder, death of a parent (cancer), adult/minor relationship (minor details), descriptions of dead bodies (alluding to suicide), drowning

This was a really good, fast-paced YA Murder mystery thriller. I read it in one sitting, and I didn’t want to put it down. The writing style was easy to get sucked into, and the mystery and the secrets of this town kept me completely hooked. The author had me guessing so much, and while I figured out one plot lines answers, the other one surprised me.
Cecelia was a really good character. She was struggling with her grief over her mom’s death, moving in with her grandmother who is basically a stranger, and then having one of her new friends turn up murdered and being the one to find the body. Throw in a cute guy who is willing to help with her investigation, and Cecilia is dealing with A LOT. The author handled all of it really well. Cecelia was relatable, realistic, flawed, and her emotions came across really well. I liked her investigation and how she got to know her new friend group, and the emerging relationships that she was forming with them.
There was a lot of tension and secrets in the plot. The idea of a potential copycat killing of Cecelia’s grandmothers debut novel which was based on the “real” murder of Caroline Quinn which the town has mourned for 52 years was really fascinating. I liked that in digging into the current murder, Cecelia was finding answers about Caroline’s. And the ending was really intense!

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