 |
Reviewed by: Becky Hibbert, Elementary School Librarian Title: Pretty Dead Queens Author: Alexa Donne Publisher: Crowne Books for Young Readers
Year: 2022 Good for Grades: 9-Adult Genre/Type of Book: Murder mystery
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: Murder Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: I read Donne's debut novel "The Ivies" and when I found out she had written another one, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it! If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be: Things aren't always what they seem in this twisty mystery set against the backdrop of an idyllic coastal town, and the cost to figure it out might be too high for new girl Cecelia Ellis...
|
Review:
I'm a sucker for a good YA mystery, and after the enjoyment and brain workout I got reading "The Ivies," I knew I'd be good to go with her newest effort. Pretty Dead Queens is a single POV murder mystery set in a coastal town in California, and Cecelia Ellis has come to Seaview to live with her estranged grandmother as her mother has recently passed. Her grandmother is a famous mystery author, and she and Cecelia get along fine at first. Cecelia gets into the groove at school and makes friends quickly, but things quickly go awry when Cecelia finds a body at her first homecoming. And oddly enough, the murder resembles one from over a decade ago *and* one of the plots of her grandmother's books, a bestseller turned movie about a homecoming queen murder.
This was truly a book that had me guessing the whole way through. It's definitely one of the better YA mysteries that I've read, and the diverse cast of characters was very well-rounded. Since Cecelia has recently lost her mother, it's heavy on the themes of loss and bridging old wounds. There are a lot of characters and in less-deft hands it would have been difficult to follow along, but Donne's characterization made it easy for me to keep track of who was who. The pacing of the story was quick and kept the story moving along, and the clues were enough to keep me distracted and on my toes! Would highly recommend for a HS library!
Number of party hats:
Find more about Pretty Dead Queens on Teachingbooks.net
For more information about this book, see the Publishers Website