14 Ways To Die had an intriguing and unique plot. I was really excited to read the book and overall enjoyed the characters. However, I found that although chapters were short, the book itself felt so long. It wasn’t a page turner necessarily and it was odd to me that so many characters were introduced and then quickly taken away or had no character development whatsoever. I definitely understood the point of trying to make Jess suspicious of everyone but it honestly confused me. Near the end I was extremely lost. I did enjoy that some loose ends were tied up like Mr. Collins and the relationship with Jess’s dad but it took a long, winding path to get there.

Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book is supposed to be for fans of, A Good Girl's Guide to Murder. I would agree, except that I think if you loved, A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, this book will likely fall short for you.

The premise of the book is that Jessica Simmons applies for the chance to have her life documented as a series on YouTube. Once a week for four weeks, her life will be recorded from the minute she wakes up until midnight. If all goes well and she has the highest ratings, she will get to keep filming for three months. She uses this opportunity and platform to search for the serial killer, known as the Magpie Man, who killed her mom.

My biggest issue with the whole book was that she spent the majority of it antagonizing the serial killer and there weren't any actual leads she followed or clues she checked out until the very end. She didn't interview people or go back to the crime scene. She didn't follow up on any cold leads or anything. She just let herself be recorded going to school, talking to news outlets, and mostly antagonizing the Magpie man by calling him pathetic. At one point she decides to use herself as bait to draw him out. There were never really any suspects until the end and when we do learn who the killer is, it all fits together a little loosely. I didn't find out the killer and go, oh, I see where that now fits throughout the story. The ending had to spell it all out for you why he/she killed everyone.

I do think the story held some valuable lessons, such as the positive and negative influences of social media. After the serial killer murders his 14th victim early, Jessica comes face to face with the mother of the victim and incurs her wrath and heartbreak. The mother blames Jessica and her YouTube show for the death of her daughter. Jessica didn't fully realize what might happen when she decided to remind the world of the Magpie Man and his murders. It also has a good lesson about learning to live past the grief. Jessica, her father, and the others "left behind" learn that it's important to keep on living and moving forward and not drown in their grief.

I'm not sure how I feel about the validity of this book in the sense that the protagonist did no real sleuthing to find the killer. It felt like the killer more or less fell into her lap after a series of events. If it's going to be put in the same category as, A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, it fell short in comparison.

I was hoping this would be as good as a good Girl's Guide to murder which is one of my absolute favorite books or even as decent as one of us is lying but it really just did not hit it for me I found myself constantly skimming and putting it down and having to go back to it definitely took me a lot longer to finish than anticipated

This book still gets a few things right and I do have to mention that I am not a teenager I am almost 28 so sometimes certain books that are in the ya drama are big Miss for me but I can't help but give them a shot. Still a sucker for them even when more often than not they don't always work well for me.

So overall it really wasn't that bad I think it will work a little bit better for a younger audience and maybe a younger audience that hasn't read a lot of thrillers and mysteries and obsessed with books about murder kind of things the ending was pretty anti-climatic.

i think I'll round from 2 stars to 3 for the sake of the genere issue and there's no .5 star ratings.

The premise of the novel seems fairly simple; Jess's mother was murdered ten years ago by a killer known as the Magpie Man. Now, in an effort to find and catch him, she is becoming the star of a youtube reality series, hoping to use social media and her fame to finally get justice.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read, if highly unrealistic. The use of social media, and the ideas and commentary of what we put online and how we reveal ourselves to outsiders (harmful and benign) was interesting, but I struggle with the idea that a parent would allow a child to participate in something like this knowing that it could attract the attention of a serial killer (or even just the attention of less dangerous weirdos). I mean, Jess is filmed in her home and school in each of her series episodes - even for the average non-murderous human, she wouldn't be difficult to find. However, the idea is really creative, and I enjoyed being inside Jess's head as she made decisions that seemed realistic for a teenage protagonist. The ending was fun, although it felt somewhat disconnected from the earlier parts of the novel - the reveal of the murderer was a twist but also felt somewhat like a letdown. The other thing I personally struggled with was the chapter length - there were 100+ chapters because they were all so short. Honestly, I think the novel might have felt more cohesive if there were fewer, longer, chapters.

While I enjoyed reading 14 Ways to Die, I don't know that this is a novel I will return to for a second read.

I received an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve really been craving a good thriller recently and this book DELIVERED. It really kept me enthralled and guessing until the very end. There were so many times when I thought I knew who the bad guy was, only to be wrong.

My main issue with the reveal was there wasn’t enough build up to the person it was. Everything about how they were connected was dumped on after they were revealed and it seemed a bit random because they weren’t involved in the story before that happened. I would have liked a bit more clues dropped earlier on in the story, personally.

Overall, it was a great twisty story and I really enjoyed it!

3-4 stars. While this wasn’t my very favorite book, I must admit I found the story to be very unique, even though it was unrealistic (this is what I disliked), but also very much realistic in certain aspects! I did find it to be well written, with some intense parts, which definitely thrilled, chilled, shocked, and even made me slightly dizzy from the twisty turns! I would definitely recommend, wake ally to those that don’t mind it being the type you have to suspend disbelief with!

Will make sure to buzz around and use low Amazon reviewer number!

14 Ways to Die is a paced thriller that was told through great, easy to follow storytelling that had me hooked until the very satisfying ending. It will be on the list of summer book recommendations for my students.

I'm a big fan of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder and One of Us is Lying, so I thought this book would be perfect for me. However I found myself putting it down a bunch and coming back to it. I just couldn't get into the story no matter how much I wanted to like it.

The book ended up being completely surprising. I loved the cover and title, but when I began reading, I was a little bored. It took me some time to get into it, but once the book hooked me, it did not disappoint.

Jess's mother was murdered when she was 7. The murder turned out to be the first of a serial killer that Jess's dad coined the Magpie Man. Jess's whole life changed after that day. Her dad basically exists, and she's obsessed on figuring out who killed her mom.

Jess gets the idea to audition for a YouTube reality series that broadcasts everything you do for an entire day. This is completely out of her comfort zone, but this is her plan for catching the serial killer. She wants to use the show to get his attention. Call him out. Taunt him. And that's exactly what appears to be happening. A brick flies through her window. Printout outs from her mom's murder appear in her book bag. She receives threatening texts and online messages. Life gets extremely scary for Jess, but she's determined to find who killed her mom.

Once the filming begins, the action picks up, and you definitely want to know how Jess will handle everything. Relationships with her friends. Relationship with her dad. Not being murdered herself. This is the point I couldn't put the book down, and then ending was completely unpredictable.

I'm really liking how books are incorporating the use of social media lately, it makes for such a gripping and fascinating read! This book included! Being YA, it was a quick easy read for me but I enjoyed it immensely! Great writing, great story and twists & turns that I loved! Great ending as well, kept me glued! Thank you so much!

This book was good, but not great. I loved that the mystery kept me guessing and it had a satisfying conclusion, but other elements of the plot just seemed rushed or not fully fleshed out. For me it was trying too hard to be the next Good Girl's Guide to Murder or One of Us is Lying. And on a slightly more nit-picky note, the book was clearly supposed to be set in the UK, but there were so many Americanisms in it that I'm not sure why the publishers just didn't go all the way with the edits and just change the setting to be the US.

Book Review for 14 Ways to Die by Vincent Ralph
Full review for this title will be posted at: @cattleboobooks on Instagram!

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher.

It’s no surprise a new murder mystery ended up on my to-read list, and one that was compared to “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder”? Even better. That book made it to my top ten in 2020, so it made me eager to pick up “14 Ways to Die”.

That said, “14 Ways to Die” was so tonally different than that which it was compared to. Grief permeates the pages, both in Jess’ voice and her actions. She is grieving the mother she lost and never got to know, and she’s mourning the relationship she would have had with both her mother and father had her mother not been murdered.

I really was excited by the reality show plot, as well. It was really, really unique, especially in the setting of a murder mystery. That said, I wish we knew more about the other characters who were chosen for it! I know they weren’t /too/ important to the plot, but I still have questions!

I also wanted to know more about Ross and Hanna, and Jess’ childhood friendships.

That said, I did enjoy this book. I felt myself ache with Jess, and I would be eager to read any new release by Ralph.

(3.25 stars/5 stars)

Ten years ago, Jess’s mother was the first victim of the Magpie Man, a serial killer who has now stalked the streets for ten years, claiming another twelve victims. Now seventeen, Jess is determined to do everything she can to figure out the killer’s identity, even if it means risking her own life. In order to bring increased attention to the case, Jess tries out for a Youtube show highlighting teens with interesting stories. As Jess streams her daily life and talks about her mother’s case, her fans are not the only ones watching. Will Jess accidentally bring herself and her loved ones into the Magpie Man’s crosshairs?

Vincent Ralph’s 14 Ways to Die is a well-written, quick-read thriller with the unique twist of having a Youtube show be the focus of the plot. This fresh approach to storytelling makes the novel perfect for teens or anyone who enjoys the genre. While it does deal with some heavier themes that can’t be revealed without potential spoilers, these are handled well and are logical outcomes of the plot. Vincent Ralph is a welcome addition to the young adult thriller world. Recommended for fans of Caleb Roehrig and Karen McManus.

One for sorrow, two for joy....
At the age of 7, all of the joy was wiped out of Jessica’s life when her mother was the first victim of the Magpie Man.
Now, ten years later, Jessica has the opportunity to seek justice for her mother, and the Magpie Man’s other victims, in the form of a new reality TV/social media craze ‘The Eye’. But will Jessica’s appearance be a help or a hindrance to the justice she seeks...?

I’m a sucker for a good teen mystery/thriller; and this one didn’t disappoint! I was totally hooked and flew through it it. This one kept me hanging on until the end. Definitely worth the read!

This book ended up really surprising me! I had some difficulty getting into it at first, but once I did, it hooked me, and I didn’t see the end coming at all. Jess is a strong female character who realistically makes mistakes along the way, but she doesn’t give up her search for the Magpie Man, the serial killer who murdered her mother. Perfect for fans of mysteries such as A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.

Really enjoyed this one, would definitely recommend it to fans of mystery. It did seem a little unrealistic, but so is a teen catching a serial killer.

There are some things that 14 Ways to Die does very, very right and other things that it misses the mark on. I really loved the premise for this book because I feel like social media and vlogging are great assets to thriller and mystery stories. Some of my favourite delves into the genre have prominently featured those themes and used them as effective story telling devices…which is perhaps my biggest disappointment finishing this book.

The show that Jess is going to participate in is really well set up. We have Jess, who is the child of a woman murdered by an infamous serial killer and four other characters with huge secrets. Each character will get to be live for one day a week and slowly reveal information about themselves. You’re introduced to these four like they matter as they explain their hooks. There’s mystery shrouding one member in particular…and then they basically never matter again. Jess doesn’t really watch their shows or befriend them. They’re quickly written out of the story it almost feels a little ridiculous that they bothered to include them at all. The premise of the book feels like it adds up to nothing.

The pacing is a stronger point. At about four hundred pages that book have over a hundred chapters. This means most of the chapters are quick and easy reads. The book moves quickly from event to event which works heavily in it’s favour managing to keep readers on their toes. I was able to read the book in just a couple of sittings and was entirely engrossed. Ralph did an excellent job of making the scenes exciting.

However, I did feel like the ultimate reveal was anticlimactic. We were given many false starts, some that did ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS things for innocent people to do. I know thrillers and mysteries have to have red herrings but some of these went way too far and it’s to the point where almost every clue isn’t real and there is almost no way to identify the actually murderer before the big reveal. A satisfying mystery should give readers a chance to work it out at the very least.

Ralph’s depiction of grief throughout the story was quite powerful, especially through Jess’s dad. I wish we had focused more on that instead of on the show (which ended up not mattering much) or on some of the other plot threads that seem to amount to nothing. I really loved seeing Jess’s interactions with her father and how the shared loss and grief had shaped their relationship. I also loved seeing the different families who had lost someone in the same way and that’s another aspect of the book I wanted more off.

This is an excellent thriller, and although Jess’s actions throughout the book are dangerous and questionable I believed her as a character. She was desperate to find out what happened to her mother, and though EVERY adult in her life desperately needed to step up, I felt immersed in the story even if the ending didn’t leave me satisfied. For a debut thriller it’s quite strong, but there needed to be more foreshadowing and the premise needed better payoff.

SO GOOD. The reality-tv angle of this book is a little different, but it is an addictive thriller with great drama. I love when I can't see it coming who the killer is- and this book KILLED IT! I had to keep reading at the end because I felt the anxiety of the character! Will definitely recommend to teens looking for a creepy, graphic thriller.