14 Ways to Die | ARC Review

My Rating: 3/5 Stars

Title: 14 Ways to Die

Author: Vincent Ralph

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 384

Publication Date: 6/1/21

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Categories: Murder Mystery, Social Media, Young Adult, Contemporary

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

A page-turning thriller for the social media age, perfect for fans of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and One of Us Is Lying.

Ten years ago Jess lost her mother to the Magpie Man, an infamous serial killer who is still at large and planning to kill again. She’s going to use her new platform as the star of a YouTube reality series to catch him. That is, if he doesn’t catch her first.

Jess’s online show means that everyone is talking about her mother’s murder case. But fame comes with its downsides. The whole world is watching her every move. And it’s hard to know who she can trust.

Could the Magpie Man be lurking closer to her than she thought? Is he watching her right now?

I like the concept of using social media to find a serial killer by drawing them out. It’s also a scary idea but Jess was committed to finding her mother’s killer.
The story moved very quickly because the chapters were short and to the point.
It was difficult to pinpoint who was the Magpie Man so the author did a great job of hiding him from me, the reader. I had a few suspects in mind but I was wrong.
There were some parts that was thrilling and made me wonder if I would do what Jess is doing. My answer: NO. I’d be too afraid to go running out into the night to see who was out there creeping around my house.

Triggers: suicide ideation, murder scenes, grief
I like short chapters but at one point it made the story too choppy for me, it took me out of the story at times.
I didn’t connect much to the story maybe because we are in Jess’s head a lot and I wanted more clues about the killer. Honestly, when the killer was revealed, it felt anticlimactic.

The concept of luring a serial killer with a social media reality show is fascinating. For the most part I was engaged with the story and wanting to find out who was the killer but the big reveal fell short for me. I still think people who enjoy young adult murder mysteries will enjoy this one though.

📚 ~ Yolanda