A perfect little monster is dead, and everyone looks suspicious—but the wrong person will go down for it if Dawn doesn't solve the murder first.

Completely bingeable, this YA dual-timeline psychological thriller, PERFECT LITTLE MONSTERS, has past and present colliding in a shocking twist I did not see coming. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time.

This one is for you if you love:
- unreliable narrators
- revenge
- Mean Girls meets Girl, Interrupted
- books that keep you guessing until the very end

Mind the trigger warnings!
- suicide
- depression
- bullying

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC! Available May 7, 2024

thanks to NetGalley for the eARC

DNF at 41%

gratuitous depictions of bullying. felt unnecessary. ick.

Revenge at its best or worst? Told in alternating storylines, this is the tale of Hannah and Dawn. Hannah is being mercilessly bullied by the cool girls at her school, and Dawn is just trying to fit in. When the queen bee is murdered at a party--everyone is a suspect. Dawn sets out to find the killer. Lots of twists and turns and a surprise ending that I didn't see coming. Great read!

If you like YA & thriller then I would definitely recommend this book, but read with caution. I got an arc of it, which I really appreciated. Thank you netgalley for a chance to read this early. I really enjoyed the first half of the book. It was very well written, and a fast read. It did get a little predictable after a certain point and I was able to guess the plot twist, but thats a common thing with most thriller & horror. The issue I had with it was toward the second half though, where once again mental illness was the root of the problem. As someone who also struggles with mental illness and bullying, I feel like the ending was a little in poor taste. There's definitely better ways to end the story. If we are gonna go this route, let her win atleast haha. I did enjoy the writing, but it would have been a higher rating if not for the end.

This book was crazy! It was super intense and enthralling, I could not put it down. And the the plot twist at the end?! That was INSANE. It was so crazy I had to put the book down and just let my brain process it. It was so good and completely unexpected. I would definitely reccomend!

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. Perfect Little Monsters was FUN. Such a fun twisty & dark thriller, and I loved absolutely every minute of it. The atmosphere, the characters, the dialoged, everything was done so well, it felt really cohesive and kept me engaged. I can't wait to get my hands on Ms. He's next book! A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

This was a fun and twisty YA thriller. Everyone's a suspect in this fast-paced story which seeks to investigate the death of Ella, the Regina George of her highschool, who everyone dislikes. She was poisoned, and the last person who was seen giving her a drink was Dawn (main character) so now everyone's suspicions lay with her. Dawn starts to investigate on her own because, even though everyone had some level of dislike for Ella, Dawn needs to clear her name and figure out who killed her.
This was a really solid debut! I wasn't the biggest fan of the ending, but this was otherwise really twisty and well written! I was compelled by the mystery to flip those pages, and I liked Dawn's personality. I honestly found myself genuinely mystified at times, which doesn't happen much anymore since I've read so many YA thrillers!

New girl Dawn arrives at her new high school for her Senior Year. She is accepted in the cheerleading squad but she knows right away those mean girls are not going to be her real friends. Still, she tries to fit in and attends a party with the rest of the popular crew. And it’s all good until Ella, the Queen Bee of Sierton High, is found dead the morning after. She was poisoned. And the last person who gave her a drink was Dawn.
Now all eyes are on her so she starts her own investigation because, honestly, everybody hated Ella. So who killed her?

✨ 3,5 stars! ✨ I wasn’t a fan of the ending but I had lots of fun reading everything else. I understand this is the first book of this author so I will be waiting to read the rest!

What a fun, twisted read! I thought I had it all figured out more than once and was still wrong! Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read this early!

5 ⭐
There's nothing better than a book about getting revenge on the mean girl/s. Perfect Little Monsters was a rollercoaster of emotions and a page-turner. This was a pulse-raising story that kept me reading and intrigued---as each new detail emerged, and with each new chapter. I was shocked to learn who was responsible and why they were doing it like the twists and turns were crazy. This book left me speechless. It's the perfect revenge plot, and it has a great story line. And those last few chapter held the twist I didn't see coming. I can't wait to read it again next year when it's released.

What I Liked About It:
*the overall story
*the revenge plot
*learning the truth in the end

FAST READ with thriller vibes , twists & turns. Mean Girl vibes and high school bullying. The plot kept me invested the whole time and from the first page. I was definitely surprised by the truth of what actually happened. I was way off and left with my JAW on the FLOOR. Highly recommend.

It is difficult to review this book without giving spoilers. Did I enjoy the first three quarters of the book? Yes. Did I sense that there was something amiss? Yes. Was I disappointed by the last quarter of the book? Yes. Some may call this clever writing but I have read too many crime/mystery books to rate this more than a three star read.

I received this arc from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Perfect Little Monsters is a dark thriller that keeps you guessing, full of characters you'll love to hate. I trusted absolutely no one as I turned the pages of this book.

This is a bit of a challenging review to write... I absolutely loved and devoured the first 75% of this book. This face-paced, suspenseful, who-done-it feels like if Mean Girls was a thriller. I could not put it down... but around the last quarter of the book or so, things started to take a turn for the worse IMO. First, I saw the twist coming from a mile away, which honestly isn't really the part that bothered me. I read a lot of thrillers, so predictability happens--I don't usually hold that against the author. I really did appreciate the centering around the harmful effects of bullying and the important issues around it. I think the author depicted what high school bullying *can* look like really well. My main issue with this book is around the depiction of mental health. The depiction of the MC's mental health near the ending left me with a bad taste in my mouth and honestly just felt.. harmful (I'm intentionally keeping this vague to prevent spoilers).

While I loved the first part of the book, I'm honestly still deciding if this is a book that I would recommend/promote on my platform. As someone who struggles with mental health (as well as some other reviewers I've seen bring this up), I'm just not sure that this was the best way to go for this ending. I feel like this book had so much potential and I'm bummed about how things wrapped up. I feel like there was absolutely a better ending (I can think of a view ideas myself) that did not weaponize/depict mental health and mental illness the way this novel ultimately did. I'm very curious to continue to monitor other reviews of this book, but for now, this one is an unfortunate miss for me.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is what I want in a YA thriller. The intrigue, the suspense, the excellent writing. I ate this book up in three days. So so good. When the queen bee of the high school is killed at a party, the MC, Dawn, (who was also at the party and is under suspicion by the police) tries to figure out who did it amidst a group of extremely dislikeable characters in order to clear her name and those she’s beginning to care about. Not only was this book entertaining but it highlights the effects of bullying and suicide in high school. A great and entertaining debut with extra depth to it. I cannot wait to read more of Cindy R.X He's books. She is an author to watch.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 rounded up

A fantastic debut! This book grabbed me right from the start. I couldn’t put it down. I had to know who the killer was. The book is told through multiple POVs.

This book is full of mean girl antics, high school angst, and lots of twists and turns. The pacing was perfect. The author did such a great job building the suspense. I was guessing what was going to happen until the very last page. I don’t want to say much more because I don’t want to risk giving anything away.

If you enjoy YA thrillers, then I highly recommend you pick up this book! You won’t regret it.

4.5/5 ⭐️

In the aftermath of the murder of Sierton High School's queen bee, Ella Moore, suspicion falls on her friends, each with a motive for her demise. The police focus on the new girl Dawn Foster, who was the last to give Ella a drink. Despite the damning accusations from Ella's friends, Dawn is determined to prove her innocence. As she investigates, she uncovers a web of enemies and a quest for revenge, racing against time to find the real culprit before more lives are lost and the wrong person is arrested.

Let me start by saying that Ella's character gave me Regina George vibes from Mean Girls. She was the villain of the story not the killer.

Hannah has truly captured my heart and I wanted to give her a hug (until you found out the truth). As for the friendship dynamic between Raquel and Dawn, their bond exudes warmth and sincerity throughout the story and even till the end. Also, I found myself wanting the emergence of the romance between Isaac and Dawn. Their interactions sparked a sense of anticipation, leaving me eagerly hoping for their relationship to evolve into something more but it never happened sadly.

As the story unfolded, I held onto the hope of a happy ending, only to be blindsided by the unexpected twist that shattered my expectations, leaving me reeling in disbelief.


Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for sending me an arc!

Why are books about mean girls so enjoyable? I think it is because I always wait for the moment they will get their just desserts! I never had to deal with mean girls and in these days with social media and cell phones, it must be horrendous . The girls in this story are definitely monsters including the girl who was the initial victim. I really did not see all the twists coming but the suspense was never ending!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Quick, one sitting read. New girl Dawn gets swept into a whirlwind friendship with the school's top Mean Girls--and she's torn between wanting to fit in and wanting to be a good person. Soon, Top Girl Ella winds up dead and everyone is suspicious. This one had me thinking I had it figured out pretty early on, so I appreciated when I realized the red herring.

Characters aren't all likeable--which I think is the purpose, based on the plot. I struggled most with the Aunt who just seemed to totally lack any sort of backbone, and the all-too-convenient friend Raquel who has skills and connections that sit a little too seamlessly into making the plot feasible.

Still, it's a strong book that the YA audience will devour---as long as everyone can set aside the MIA adults throughout the story.

Overall: 4 stars (I really liked it)

I'll tell my students about: language, alcohol, drugs, poison, bullying, abuse, attempted suicide, parental death, trauma

**Thank you to NetGalley & SOURCEBOOKS Fire, Sourcebooks Fire for the free ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.**

This book was SUCH a page turner. I finished it in a little over 24 hours. I was hooked from the beginning. It was a roller coaster ride, and the ending had me SHOOK. I need more books like this. It was so sad in parts, but the author is such a great story teller.