Review: How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine

Title: How to Survive Your Murder

Author: Danielle Valentine

Genre: YA, mystery thriller

Publication date: August 2022

Published by: Razorbill

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: Alice Lawrence is the sole witness in her sister’s murder trial.

And in the year since Claire’s death, Alice’s life has completely fallen apart. Her parents have gotten divorced, she’s moved into an apartment that smells like bologna, and she is being forced to face her sister’s killer and a courtroom full of people who doubt what she saw in the corn maze a year prior.

Claire was an all-American girl, beautiful and bubbly, and a theater star. Alice was a nerd who dreamed of becoming a forensic pathologist and would rather stay at home to watch her favorite horror movies than party. Despite their differences, they were bonded by sisterhood and were each other’s best friends.

Until Claire was taken away from her.

On the first day of the murder trial, as Alice prepares to give her testimony, she is knocked out by a Sidney Prescott look-alike in the courthouse bathroom. When she wakes up, it is Halloween night a year earlier, the same day Claire was murdered. Alice has until midnight to save her sister and find the real killer before he claims another victim.

My rating: ★★★☆☆

If you don't come with me, I might die.
Those were the last words my sister ever said to me.

I have not had very good luck with these sorts of horror books where the protagonist is a huge horror movie fan. They always claim to be experts in the genre and then fail spectacularly at being a final girl when being put in that position. Maybe it’s because they’re in the middle of all the chaos, but it’s just so annoying how dumb they are. And the protagonist in this was no different.

I loved the concept of the book though! Alice’s sister is murdered on Halloween and Alice has the chance to go back in time and try and save her sister. Super cool concept! I love a good time loop/time displacement situation! And set during an epic Halloween party?? Yes, please! Unfortunately, this book turned out to be a bit of a disappointment.

So like I said, Alice didn’t make that great a final girl.

There was a reason I was so obsessed with horror movies: It wasn't just the jump scares and the fake blood. In horror movies, the girl everyone overlooked, the smart, mousy, virginal girl who had no business in the starring role—let's face it, the girl like me—got to be the Final Girl. The star.

And then she was the "star" and did what all those other dumb Final Girls have done! Sigh. Idk, maybe the book was just predictable. Every person she suspected to be the killer I was like, “Nah. It’s too obvious.” I figured out who the killer was way ahead of time while Alice was being blind about it. But maybe it’s because she was too close to the situation? I mean, her sister did get murdered.

But this was real life. No matter how well you know the rules, no matter how smart you think you are, you're never prepared for your life to turn into a horror movie.

Fair... But still 😆 For someone who claims to be a horror movie fan, she sure missed ALL the obvious signs pointing to the killer. But what do I know? It’s not like I consume horror media like it’s oxygen or anything...

And don’t even get me started on that ending...

I feel like it was trying really hard for a shocking twist, kinda like the ones you get at the end of some horror movies.

But it just didn’t work here! And it’s not that I mind a bleak ending, because when done right, those are good! But I just wasn’t a fan of the ending here. And I think one of the reasons was because there were SO many questions left unanswered. There were so many plot holes by the end you’d think the book was Swiss cheese.

Me looking for answers 😂

All in all, this book did not do a good job at outlining how to survive your murder. BUT if you would like to know how to survive a horror movie, might I suggest the book How to Survive a Horror Movie 😆

It was SO good! Lol. And I actually didn’t hate this book even though all I did in this review was complain about it 😆 Like I said, I liked the idea of this book. I also really liked that it took place mostly in one day, on Halloween night. It made for a very action-packed read, which I always love! I also loved the setting at the Halloween party—it sounded very cool! And I liked the mystery for the most part. But once my theory of who I thought the killer was developed, I was just frustrated at how blind Alice was being. But I’m actually GLAD that my theory was right! It was the only thing that made sense and it was actually a good twist! I would’ve been severely disappointed if the killer had been anyone else! Oh, and I also liked the love interest Wes for the most part. Though I do wish there had been more there. And I really appreciated all the horror movie references! That was fun. But overall, I just don’t think this book was for me. Which is a shame because I love horror as much as Alice does!

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊