I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Two Sides to Every Murder by Danielle Valentine Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers on June 25 2024
Genres: Horror, Thriller, Young adult
Pages: 288
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Danielle Valentine’s latest will most likely be a hit with YA lovers, but for me it lacked depth and interesting characters. I’d call this one “slasher light,” so if you’re looking for something edgier, you might be disappointed as well.
I never would have picked up this book if it hadn’t been for the author, and now I sort of wish I hadn’t. Two Sides to Every Murder is a very confusing YA thriller that didn’t live up to Danielle Valentine’s Delicate Condition at all. There were some elements I enjoyed, but for the most part I can only recommend this to YA fans. I freely admit I’m usually leery of YA these days, so this review is coming from someone who doesn’t read a lot of it.
The story revolves around an old summer camp called Camp Lost Lake. Sixteen years ago, a series of shocking murders shut the camp down. A woman wearing a witch mask was caught on video tape killing two people with a bow and arrow, and a third person went missing and was never found. There was enough evidence to pin the murders on Lori Knight, but before she could be arrested, Lori took off and has been a fugitive ever since. Lori’s sixteen year old daughter Reagan doesn’t believe her mother could ever kill anyone, so she’s decided to go back to the camp and look for clues that might prove her innocence.
We also meet a girl named Olivia, who has just made the startling discovery that the man she thinks is her father, isn’t. Olivia knows she was born sixteen years ago at Camp Lost Lake, after the stress of the murders caused her mother to go into labor. Olivia knows all about the tales of the Witch of Lost Lake, and she knows a man named Jacob Knight was the witch’s first victim. Olivia thinks he may have been her real father, and she’s determined to go to the camp and find some kind of proof.
We also get flashbacks to June 13 2008, the night the murders took place, when a camper named Gia, a self-proclaimed gossip, saw the actual murders and caught them on tape. Unfortunately, Gia was also a victim of the Witch of Lost Lake, but she did manage to hide her camera before she was killed. The missing camera is the key to finding out the truth and the reason Olivia and Reagan have returned to the scene of the crime.
But the witch isn’t finished with her grim work. Someone is hunting the group of adults and teens who have arrived at Camp Lost Lake for the grand reopening, and Olivia and Reagan are in the killer’s crosshairs.
There are a ton of characters in Two Sides to Every Murder, and I had a tough time keeping them straight. Not only are there characters in both the past and present timelines to deal with, but some of them show up in both timelines. The story is mostly narrated in first person by Olivia and Reagan, with the chapters in the past written in third person. And Olivia’s and Reagan’s voices sounded exactly the same, unfortunately, so it was tough to keep their different stories straight. In the midst of so many characters, the author also throws in a bunch of complicated familial relationships. We know that Olivia suspects she has a different father, but there are many other questionable connections that are slowly revealed as the story progresses. Eventually all of this makes sense, especially when the killer is finally revealed, but there’s a lot of confusion before we get to that point.
But it’s not all bad. My favorite parts of the story happen in the present, as Olivia, Reagan and their friends are trying to stay one step ahead of the killer, who is literally hunting them with a bow and arrow. As far as thrillers go, Valentine has a firm grasp on what makes an exciting scene, and I found these chapters thrilling and tense. And if you’re the kind of reader who doesn’t like a lot of blood and gore, you might enjoy this a lot. I mean, how much damage can a bow and arrow really do? It’s all pretty mild as far as violence goes, so obviously the author was catering to a younger audience.
The reveal at the end, though, felt a little anticlimactic to me, and honestly, the killer’s motivation to kill didn’t really make sense. The author includes a final chapter with a strange twist that had me shaking my head, so yeah, I wasn’t a fan of the ending.
I think from now on I’ll stick to the author’s adult books and chock this one up to “tried it but it didn’t work for me.”
With thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
This one sounded really promising so it’s a shame it didn’t work out for you. I’m not a massive YA reader either so I’m wondering now whether I might end up with similar feelings to you if I gave this a try.
I’ve seen a lot of praise for this book, so maybe it’s just me, lol.
Too bad this book didn’t turn out better for you. For me there’s nothing worse than an ending that feels anticlimactic. Especially since it was about the killer’s motivation which probably was an important aspect of the story. Hopefully your next read will be a better one!
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Review: Dark Restraint by Katee Robert
The ending just felt silly to me, and then she tacked on a twist at the end that didn’t work at all.
I haven’t been particularly into YA lately either — I used to read quite a bit, but as a whole, it’s lost its appeal for me (mostly… there are still some authors I’ll always read). In any case — slasher light and an unsatisfying ending both make this book sound like one I should avoid. Great review though!
Thanks Lisa! Oh well, on to the next one:-)
Taking into account the fact that my mistrust of YA parallels yours, I believe I can safely ignore this one, considering its narrative pitfalls… And characters with the same voice never work well with me…
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…A DRIFTING SUN (The Exiles Trilogy #1), by Ashley Capes
It was weird how similar the two girls sounded. I definitely need to be able to separate characters from each other in order to enjoy a book:-)
I’ve been having trouble finding the motivation to read more horror, and it looks like this won’t be going on my TBR. Definitely need all of my books to have some depth, even horrors!
aimee can read recently posted…New Favorites and New Disappointments (June Reading Wrap-up)
Agreed! This had a bit of surface depth (not sure that even makes sense, ha ha) but it could have been so much better.
Given that you and I share similar experiences with YA I’ll steer clear of this one, though I very much hope the YA fans love it. I’m trying to find a good way of figuring out ahead of time which YA I’m more or less likely to enjoy, cuz I’ve loved some of it. When I get that figured out I’ll patent it and send you a lifetime license to it so you’ll never go wrong again. 🙂
Ha ha sounds like a plan! I know there’s a lot of good YA out there, but finding it is so hard…
Bummer you didn’t like it. Hope your next book is lovely! 🙂
Stormi recently posted…Two Bloggers One Series ~ The Precences by Heather Graham (Harrison Investigations #2)
The one I’m reading now is lots of fun:-)
Juggling too many characters and time periods is tricky. Bummer that this one didn’t live up to the previous book.
Diana @ Book of Secrets recently posted…THE LION’S DEN by Katherine St. John #20booksofsummer24
I’m not sure why I expected it to be as good, just wishful thinking I guess:-)
I’m sorry that you struggled with this so much. The idea sounds like it has potential but there’s nothing worse with a thriller than a weak ending. Even if you’ve enjoyed them up until that point it can undo a lot of the good. And that wasn’t even the case here. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed some of the authors adult offerings more.
I know it’s a risk every time I read a YA, but one day I’ll find a good one!
I’ll probably end up getting it for my students at my school library. But will skip reading myself. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, sorry it wasn’t better for you!
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature) recently posted…Audiobook/E-galley Review: If You Want Me (Toronto Terror #2) by Helena Hunting
I liked this more than you, but I did also think it was a confusing mess!
Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum recently posted…Book Review: How to Make A Horror Movie and Survive by Craig DiLouie
That’s a shame. I’m reading your review and nodding along and yet I enjoyed this (not as much as Delicate Condition). To me it felt a bit cheesy and tongue in cheek and made me eye roll so much I was positively dizzy. I think I was also simply in the right mood – and the slightly lighter blood fest also worked. I do recall feeling let down with the eventual reveal and the killer’s motivations though.
Lynn 😀
Lynn Williams recently posted…The Friday Face Off : The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak
Loved this book
I agree