How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine

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Scream meets Happy Death Day in this terrifying stand-alone horror novel from YA scream queen Danielle Valentine.

"This terrifying book reads like a horror movie. No, wait. It has the suspense and shocks and screams of TEN horror movies in one. Great nasty fun!" —R.L. Stine, author of Goosebumps and Fear Street

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.

CW: Murder, Gore, Death

If there is one thing I can honestly say about “How to Survive Your Murder” it’s that while it isn’t a totally unique concept, the execution is pretty amazing.

The reason I say the concept isn’t totally unique is that it has the “going back in time to fix things” trope – something found in books like “Again, But Better”. I know some people don’t care for that particular trope, but I don’t mind it if it’s done right. Trust me when I say it’s done right in this book.

One of my favorite things about this book is the main character – she’s a horror-movie loving nerd, an expert on Final Girls. Thrown back in time to try to figure out who the real killer was and maybe save her sister, she runs up against some very interesting twists and turns.

This is one of those books where you’ll come to a point and say “I know who did it!” but trust me, you don’t. You absolutely don’t. Not until it’s time for the final reveal and then you’ll know. Danielle Valentine knows how to keep the suspense going and how to put in enough twists and turns that you’re never quite sure what’s going on or who did the deed.

I highly recommend this book for mystery/thriller/horror fans who like to be kept guessing and love to have lots of twists and turns in their books.