Title: Life is Short and Then You Die
Authors: Kelley Armstrong, R.L. Stine, Y.S. Lee, Melissa Marr, Amanda Witt, Rachel Vincent, Jeff Somers, Eileen Rendahl, David Bart, Jeff Soloway, Julie Tollefson, Joseph S. Walker, Anthony Franze, Barry Lancet, Emmy Laybourne, Jonathan Maberry, Stepehn Ross, Caleb Roehrig, Barry Lyga
Genre: YA, horror, mystery
Publication date: September 2019
Published by: Imprint
Source: Purchased hardcover
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Synopsis: Adolescence is a time of “firsts.” First kiss. First love. First loss. First job. The first taste of adult responsibilities, and the first look at an independent life away from both the restrictions and the security of home.
And in this case, a very different type of “first”: murder.
This short story collection of murder mysteries adds a sinister spin to the joy and pain of firsts that have always been a major part of life, whether it be high school cliques who take the term “backstabbing” too seriously, stumbling upon a body on the way home from school, or receiving a Snapchat message that promises something deadly.
Even though I haven’t read anything by her in a while, I love Kelley Armstrong and was very excited to read this anthology edited by her! In fact, the first story in the book was actually written by her!
But not only that, there are plenty of other authors I’m familiar with and love that also contributed to this anthology! So exciting!
But not only that, there are plenty of other authors I’m familiar with and love that also contributed to this anthology! So exciting!
Floater
At the beginning of the book, Kelley warned us about the traumatic things these teens would go through, but damn! I was not expecting this book to go so hard in the first story! I loved it! I don’t want to say too much, because spoilers, but I really liked this story! As the title suggests, it’s about a body found in a body of water, but that plot twist regarding said body? OMG. It was crazy! This was so messed up and so sad, but also so good!
The Day I Killed Coach Duffy
This short story was by R.L. Stine! I was very excited about that! Unfortunately, his books tend to be hit or miss for me, and this was not one of my favorite stories from the book. It wasn’t terrible, but I didn’t like it as much as I hoped I would. It had the signature R.L. Stine comedy, so I liked that. Lol. But yeah, this one was fine.
In Plain Sight
This was another one that was just okay. I felt like nothing much happened.
Daddy's Girl
This one I really liked! It was messed up, but it was good! I’m starting to see a trend here of me liking the ones that are messed up 😆
Summer Job
In this story, Pete is helping clean up a burnt-down house after his old babysitter was murdered inside it. This one was a good one. Pete was smart and the overall story was interesting.
The Boy in the Red Vans
Rachel Vincent is another author I haven't read anything from in a while, but I was so excited to see that she wrote a story for this book because I remember loving her books! And omg this one was so sad! I really liked it though! I kinda figured out the twist, but I really enjoyed the story anyway.
The Company I Keep
The poor kid in this story, his life was so messed up (which means I liked this story 😆)! He’s a boy genius but his mom killed his dad and brother and then his sister is apparently an absolute nightmare! This was a good story though! It was messed up, but it was also really beautifully written. I loved the metaphors!
Concealment
I was a little apprehensive going into this one because this one had to do with a school shooting, and at the time I read this, things were going down in the real world and it was just a lot. But I ended up really liking it! Yes, this one, too, was very messed up, as you can imagine. But the plot twist was insane! And the ending of this one was really sweet, which I appreciated.
Night of the Living Dog
This was another story I loved! There was a dog and a kid with a smart-ass mouth, and this one was just fun!
Murder IRL
This story was fine... tbh I don’t remember much at the time of writing this book. I remember it had to do with like a chat/social media thing? Idk, it was fine.
A Killer Story
In this story, someone goes out for a run and a journalist stumbles upon the body of a teacher. This story was also good. I saw this twist coming, it was disgusting, but it was interesting overall.
Gnat
Bullies, blackmail, potential murder... this one had it all! And it was fine. Lol.
A Different Hero's Day
So this poor kid who was recently diagnosed with ADHD witnesses a murder and kidnapping when he decides to do something about it. This one was SO freaking good! It was suspenseful and action-packed, and I really liked the main character! The ending was very intriguing, so much so that I went and looked at the author’s backlog only to find out that they hadn’t written YA except for this one?? Why?! This was so good! And then, when I wrote this review and I went to do more research, I found out that Anthony Franz is the pen name of Alex Finlay! I read The Night Shift by him last year and I really liked it too! This was unexpected. Lol. Anyway, I’m gonna go add all his other books to my TBR, brb 😆
First Party Back
In this story, our main character Drew went through a pretty big life experience and he was gone for a while. He’s back now and he’s going to a party where everyone is excited to see him... though there are some whispers among the crowd. This one was so sad but so heartwarming! I loved the interactions between the characters, and it was overall a pretty good story.
What I Did on My Summer Vacation
This one was interesting because our main character Dylan was on a job as a bodyguard (and yes he is a teen). It's a family business so he’s helping out watching out for a kid who got a kidnapping threat. He’s unsure whether he wants to go into the family business, but let me tell you, this kid is GOOD! He’s got moves! And he was really funny and just likable. The story itself was pretty interesting and had a plot twist I did not see coming! Poor Dylan went through some rough stuff, but I really enjoyed this one.
The Things We Don't Talk About
This story was another one with a difficult subject. It was heavy stuff but it was overall good, even if I wasn’t good by the end ðŸ˜
Enemy Lines
And this one had Nazis 🙃 Let me tell you, at this point in the book I was wondering how much more my mental health could take after all these heavy subjects. But this story ended up being good! The twist was predictable, but I ended up enjoying it, despite the historical setting which I’m not usually the biggest fan of.
Six Ways to Kill Your Grandmother
And this last story is by Barry Lyga! Before starting this I was like, “Hey! I love I Hunt Killers!” Little did I know that this short story is part of THAT series! OMG! I was not expecting to have an I Hunt Killers novella in this book! I was SO freaking excited when I realized that Jasper Dent was our main character! Ah!
So this story takes place way before the books, he’s only 14 years old, and as the title suggests, he may or may not be contemplating how to kill his grandmother 🫠To be fair, she's pretty terrible, and this poor kid is just messed up. In case you’re unfamiliar with the series, Jazz’s dad is an infamous serial killer, and growing up, Jazz was quite familiar with his father’s, erm, career choice. Messed up, I tell you. But I loved this! I felt so bad for poor Jazz and his terrible situation. This short story definitely made me want to continue with the series. I forgot how good it was!
Overall, I really enjoyed the entirety of this book! And I really liked the premise! Teenagers committing murder, witnessing murders, BEING murdered... Yeah, that one was a thing. It was so good!
At the beginning of the book, Kelley warned us about the traumatic things these teens would go through, but damn! I was not expecting this book to go so hard in the first story! I loved it! I don’t want to say too much, because spoilers, but I really liked this story! As the title suggests, it’s about a body found in a body of water, but that plot twist regarding said body? OMG. It was crazy! This was so messed up and so sad, but also so good!
The Day I Killed Coach Duffy
This short story was by R.L. Stine! I was very excited about that! Unfortunately, his books tend to be hit or miss for me, and this was not one of my favorite stories from the book. It wasn’t terrible, but I didn’t like it as much as I hoped I would. It had the signature R.L. Stine comedy, so I liked that. Lol. But yeah, this one was fine.
In Plain Sight
This was another one that was just okay. I felt like nothing much happened.
Daddy's Girl
This one I really liked! It was messed up, but it was good! I’m starting to see a trend here of me liking the ones that are messed up 😆
Summer Job
In this story, Pete is helping clean up a burnt-down house after his old babysitter was murdered inside it. This one was a good one. Pete was smart and the overall story was interesting.
The Boy in the Red Vans
Rachel Vincent is another author I haven't read anything from in a while, but I was so excited to see that she wrote a story for this book because I remember loving her books! And omg this one was so sad! I really liked it though! I kinda figured out the twist, but I really enjoyed the story anyway.
The Company I Keep
The poor kid in this story, his life was so messed up (which means I liked this story 😆)! He’s a boy genius but his mom killed his dad and brother and then his sister is apparently an absolute nightmare! This was a good story though! It was messed up, but it was also really beautifully written. I loved the metaphors!
Concealment
I was a little apprehensive going into this one because this one had to do with a school shooting, and at the time I read this, things were going down in the real world and it was just a lot. But I ended up really liking it! Yes, this one, too, was very messed up, as you can imagine. But the plot twist was insane! And the ending of this one was really sweet, which I appreciated.
Night of the Living Dog
This was another story I loved! There was a dog and a kid with a smart-ass mouth, and this one was just fun!
Murder IRL
This story was fine... tbh I don’t remember much at the time of writing this book. I remember it had to do with like a chat/social media thing? Idk, it was fine.
A Killer Story
In this story, someone goes out for a run and a journalist stumbles upon the body of a teacher. This story was also good. I saw this twist coming, it was disgusting, but it was interesting overall.
Gnat
Bullies, blackmail, potential murder... this one had it all! And it was fine. Lol.
A Different Hero's Day
So this poor kid who was recently diagnosed with ADHD witnesses a murder and kidnapping when he decides to do something about it. This one was SO freaking good! It was suspenseful and action-packed, and I really liked the main character! The ending was very intriguing, so much so that I went and looked at the author’s backlog only to find out that they hadn’t written YA except for this one?? Why?! This was so good! And then, when I wrote this review and I went to do more research, I found out that Anthony Franz is the pen name of Alex Finlay! I read The Night Shift by him last year and I really liked it too! This was unexpected. Lol. Anyway, I’m gonna go add all his other books to my TBR, brb 😆
First Party Back
In this story, our main character Drew went through a pretty big life experience and he was gone for a while. He’s back now and he’s going to a party where everyone is excited to see him... though there are some whispers among the crowd. This one was so sad but so heartwarming! I loved the interactions between the characters, and it was overall a pretty good story.
What I Did on My Summer Vacation
This one was interesting because our main character Dylan was on a job as a bodyguard (and yes he is a teen). It's a family business so he’s helping out watching out for a kid who got a kidnapping threat. He’s unsure whether he wants to go into the family business, but let me tell you, this kid is GOOD! He’s got moves! And he was really funny and just likable. The story itself was pretty interesting and had a plot twist I did not see coming! Poor Dylan went through some rough stuff, but I really enjoyed this one.
The Things We Don't Talk About
This story was another one with a difficult subject. It was heavy stuff but it was overall good, even if I wasn’t good by the end ðŸ˜
Enemy Lines
And this one had Nazis 🙃 Let me tell you, at this point in the book I was wondering how much more my mental health could take after all these heavy subjects. But this story ended up being good! The twist was predictable, but I ended up enjoying it, despite the historical setting which I’m not usually the biggest fan of.
Six Ways to Kill Your Grandmother
And this last story is by Barry Lyga! Before starting this I was like, “Hey! I love I Hunt Killers!” Little did I know that this short story is part of THAT series! OMG! I was not expecting to have an I Hunt Killers novella in this book! I was SO freaking excited when I realized that Jasper Dent was our main character! Ah!
So this story takes place way before the books, he’s only 14 years old, and as the title suggests, he may or may not be contemplating how to kill his grandmother 🫠To be fair, she's pretty terrible, and this poor kid is just messed up. In case you’re unfamiliar with the series, Jazz’s dad is an infamous serial killer, and growing up, Jazz was quite familiar with his father’s, erm, career choice. Messed up, I tell you. But I loved this! I felt so bad for poor Jazz and his terrible situation. This short story definitely made me want to continue with the series. I forgot how good it was!
Overall, I really enjoyed the entirety of this book! And I really liked the premise! Teenagers committing murder, witnessing murders, BEING murdered... Yeah, that one was a thing. It was so good!
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