Two Sides to Every Murder had me hooked from the very first page. I found myself eager to uncover the mysteries surrounding Camp Lost Lake and the identity of the witch.

. The characters are well-developed and multifaceted, adding depth to the narrative as their secrets are gradually revealed.

I enjoyed the dual perspectives With each chapter alternating between different characters' points of view, the reader is given insight into the complexities of human nature and the blurred lines between truth and deception.

Thank you to Danielle Valentine, PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, and NetGalley for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

​Two Sides to Every Murder follows Olivia, born the night of the Lost Lake murders and Reagan, the daughter of the Lost Lake murderer. Sixteen years after the murders, the two girls find themselves back at Camp Lost Lake, which is now being renovated to reopen as a retreat, and both are looking for the truth of what really happened that night while trying to stay alive and finding family secrets along the way. This was a solid, fast paced story until the very last page and is typical of a classic summer camp murder mystery. The story is told in dual points-of-view and dual timelines ​a​nd although I really like dual POV, I did find myself getting confused from time to time. Also, some of the romantic elements didn't seem to fit. I know for a fact if I'm trying to survive someone out to murder me, I'm not going to focus on making out with some hot dude. Let's talk about the ending....I am not a fan of cliffhanger endings UNLESS there is promise of a second book. I'm like....did it really just end like that?! No epilogue..nothing...just the final page lol. Overall I really enjoyed this book. It would be a perfect summer camp read or just a quiet, dark and stormy night at home. Put this one on your TBR for June 25, 2024.

4.5 ✨

The Parent Trap x Friday the 13th

I binged this fast pace thriller within a few hours. It was a little predictable, but I couldn’t put it down because it had all the cheesy thriller tropes that I loved! This book is set in two different time zones and has three main POV’s that take place in 2008 and 2024. The 2008 POV’s had me in all the feels. I loved the summer camp vibes and the old school Halloween touch of this book. ⛺️

Thanks NetGalley and Penguin Group for the ARC

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
4.5/5 STARS

Genre: YA thriller/horror

Synopsis: Two girls return to a camp where they have ties to multiple murders from years ago.

This is my second YA thriller/horror by this author and I really enjoyed it! She takes her books to the absolute max of YA and that’s why they are so good. Sometimes YA books have a little too much teen drama for me and not enough suspense/plot. If you remove the teens from this book it could actually be an adult book and that’s why I like it. This was full of suspense and she isn’t afraid to kill characters off. Even though it was a little on the predictable side, I still enjoyed guessing how everything was going to unfold.
If you are looking for a quality YA horror/thriller, don’t miss this author! She also has an adult book which American Horror Story: Delicate is based on if YA isn’t your thing.

Thank you Penguin Teen for the ARC! 🖤

This was a great dynamic YA thriller that kept me fully engaged from start to finish. I loved the alternating timelines and perspectives and the summer slasher storyline.

I liked the fast pace and twists and think it's a fun summer read. Perfect for fans of stories like Pretty Little Liars or the Fead Street Saga.

I absolutely loved this!!!! It was gripping and the characters are extensive relatable and loveable!! The story was mesmerizing and kept me guessing til the very end

I found this piece to be exceptionally well-crafted, and I'm eagerly anticipating the opportunity to delve into more works by this author. Given its potential popularity among our library patrons, we're certainly looking forward to adding it to our collection

It was a fun read filled with plot twists, drama, and even a dash of romance mixed in there as well. Uncovering more and more of what really happened the night of the Lost Lake murders and both Olivia and Reagan learning a few new things about their family along the way.

Two Sides to Every Murder follows two teenage girls, Olivia and Reagan as they attempt to find out what really happened at Camp Lost Lake sixteen years ago and stay alive in the process. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, especially the different POVs and the past and present timelines. I felt like the story flowed well and was well-paced. I was so invested in the story that I finished it within 24 hours and honestly only put it down because I had to be an adult and go to work!! The ending was just.... ugh!! I really hope there is a book two because it cannot end that way!!
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers for the advanced e-book. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This YA thriller was entertaining enough and had some interesting twists. You didn’t have enough time to really connect with or understand the character’s and their motivations, so it was more of a surface level read.

I think this was... fine? It just really doesn't stand out to me within the slightly overcrowded genre of YA slasher. It's not even the only book I've read recently that is a YA slasher set at a summer camp where murders happened many years ago, and being compared to those others does this book no favours.

It's kind of generic, spends too much time on romance subplots that aren't that interesting, and the plot really drags in places. I'm not saying it's bad, or unenjoyable, it's just nothing special. If you're someone who can't get enough of this type of book, and you just want more of the things you enjoy, I think you'd have a good time with it.

<i>Thank you <b>NetGalley </b> and <b>Penguin Young Readers Group</b> for a copy of <b>Two Sides to Every Murder by Danielle Valentine</b> in exchange for a honest review!</i>

Olivia’s sister, Andie, has decided to clean up the cabins at Camp Lost Lake, an infamous forest where Lori Knight murdered three people seventeen years ago. She gathers up a team of high schoolers to help, including Olivia. Reagan, the daughter of Lori Knight, also shows up; she is certain her mother didn’t commit those crimes, and she’s here to prove it. This fateful and dangerous night will reveal secrets long forgotten, and the truth about what happened seventeen years ago.

This book was pretty alright; the plot twists weren’t very shocking, and it seemed a bit stereotypical. The romance also felt really displaced. Some things didn’t feel realistic either. It was a basic, simple, classic summer camp murder mystery. Not necessarily a bad thing, it just wasn’t the greatest thriller I’ve read.

This is probably one of the most <i>fast-paced</i> thrillers I have <i>ever</i> read. The majority of the book takes place during one day, and there was almost no filler, which was very enjoyable after my last read was almost all filler.

The story was a tad stereotypical; you can probably guess the book's tropes after reading the synopsis. No cell service, a creepy forest with no way out, etc. These tropes aren’t bad but go in expecting to have seen/read something similar to this story.

I also felt the romance could have been more appropriate; it wasn’t needed in my opinion. I don’t think anyone would focus on making out while trying to survive a crazy murderer or try to get together with someone, nonetheless a total, complete, stranger!

Plot twists weren’t very surprising; I didn’t predict most of the twists, but they didn’t exactly ‘wow’ me like you’d want a murder mystery to do. The twists didn’t even seem very realistic to me either. [SPOILERS]- <spoiler>I find it hard to believe Officer Knight would simply kill her brother and an innocent teenager just because she was mad her nephew was having kids, and her brother wouldn’t be able to take care of their mom. I also don’t think Andie would accidentally murder Matthew and wait seventeen years to clear Lori’s name. In reality, all the plot twists don’t seem like they’d happen in real life, but these two especially stood out. The ending was also pretty weird; Matthew somehow survives that fall, and he just lives in the woods for seventeen years, killing innocent people who wander in the forest. I want an explanation, cause why would he do that? Why wouldn’t he want to see his family? Andie just standing there waiting to get murdered was odd to. Like, run girl!</spoiler>

Oh, and the POVS were VERY confusing at first. For the first 30%, I couldn't tell who was who; I think my Kindle kept mixing the chapters. Reagan and Olivia are both just teen girls so it was hard to differentiate at first.

I’d recommend this to someone who likes very fast-paced books with classic murder mystery tropes and doesn’t care much about a huge shocking twist.

Thank you to netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for allowing me read this book. I overall enjoyed the book and the plot

16 years ago, Lori Knight murdered her husband, son, and another teen at Camp Lost Lake. Now, Lori and her daughter, Reagan, live on the run. Reagan knows her mother is innocent and decides to return to the camp grounds to find proof.

Meanwhile, Olivia is reeling from the discovery that the man who raised her is not her father. The only place she knows to look for answers is Camp Lost Lake, where her camp director mother gave birth to her 16 years ago.

As the camp prepares to reopen, Reagan and Olivia are determined to uncover the truth. But as they get closer to answers, they realize that someone will do anything to keep the past buried.

Danielle Valentine is a hit or miss author for me. This book was a hit though. The action starts almost immediately and it doesn’t let up until after the final page. I did not want to put it down. Was it predictable? Yeah, I had most of it figured out. Was it a fun time? Absolutely.

There’s one twist in particular that I saw coming, but I was still so excited when it happened. I won’t go into detail because I don’t want to spoil it, but I was so excited.

There were some parts that had me rolling my eyes. Running from a masked killer? Don’t worry, there’s still time to make out with the hot person you met approximately 1 hour ago. These scenes definitely brought me out of the book a bit, but it’s YA, so I’m not going to be too hard on it.

Overall, if you’re looking for a quick, entertaining read, this book might be for you. It’s a wild ride and it was exactly what I needed at the time. It's probably more of a 3.5, but I'm rounding up because it got me out of a reading slump.

First off, thank you to Penguin and NetGalley for allowing me to review this early.

At first, I thought I was going to have the ending figured out. But I was definitely wrong. I didn't see the very end coming. Was this my favorite YA thriller? No, it wasn't, BUT, it was a lot of fun and action packed. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, and I will definitely be reading more from this author!

This was a very good book. I liked the sisters and how alike yet how different they were. Who really murdered the people at the camp and why. The book was suspenseful and had lots of surprises, it really left me guessing what was going on and who was killing people. It was 5 stars for me but I was going to take it down to 4 because I did not like what happened at the very end. After thinking about it, I decided when a book can have that kind of effect on you, it's because it's a good book and written well.

Two Sides to Every Murder is a fast-paced, cheesy thriller set in the woods. The story is primarily told through the eyes of two teenage girls, Reagan and Olivia. One has lived nearby her entire life. The other has been on the run with her mother, who is wanted for murders there at Camp Lost Lake sixteen years before. When they get close to finding the truth about the murders, they find that someone is hunting them with intent to kill.
The events of the book take place in a few hours, which is always a plus for suspense. Despite their differences, I kept losing track of whether I was reading Reagan or Olivia's point of view. And there were reveals which weren't used to their potential. The biggest reveal would have fit amazingly with the cheesy slasher theme if the girls had used it to their advantage. Instead, it's just used to muddle the romance and for cutesy moments.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for this advance read.

Thank younto NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

This camp setting was perfect for this book. I lovedvthe cast of characters and the twists a turns.

The book kept me interested from start to finishe. Just when I was sure I had it figured out I would second guess myself.

Will be looking for more from this author.

Recommend.

As a woman who first saw “Friday the 13th” at a slumber party back in the ‘80s, I love a murder camp story.”Two sides to Every Murder” is a fun addition to the trope.

Everyone knows the story of Camp Lost Lake, where a killer clad in an old witch mask killed several people, forcing the camp to shut down. The suspected killer disappeared; the camp director gave birth in the parking lot— and now a podcast has raised interest in the mystery, just as a woman plans to open a business on the property.

Two teen girls, one the daughter of the accused killer, the other the baby born that murderous night, find their lives converging at the camp. Did police overlook evidence? And just who is the person seen skulking through the woods?

I read “Two Sides to Every Murder” in one sitting after planning to read a couple chapters before bedtime. A few hours later, I was rushing through the last pages. There were a couple twists I didn’t catch, and it was a worthwhile book to read in the dark in the faint light of my Kindle.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I don't even want to spend too much time reviewing this. It was utterly awful. Contrived, cliche, and completely unimpressive. I can't even recommend this as a good afternoon read sure to entertain. It was just not good.