With the passage of the accelerated death penalty, time is running out for Frankie, convicted of murdering her best friend Cora King 20 years ago. With scant evidence and a prior conviction of a violent assault, the police pinned the murder on Frankie.

Years have passed and no new clues have surfaced. Frankie’s other best friend and Cora’s sister insists she’s innocent. Her daughter Nyla wants to know the truth, even if her own mother committed the crime.
So Nyla must return to the island where everything took place, searching out the dark truths to serve justice once and for all. With her new friend Sam, who’s father is also tied to the King family, Nyla’s determined to find out the shocking truth of her aunt’s death.

Court Stevens is a master storyteller! We Were Kings is a sharp murder mystery steeped with rich layers of dark family secrets. This book also has some fun Knives Out vibes as the brilliantly crafted main protagonist Nyla searches for the truth of who really killed her aunt and what lead her mother to run away from her well-know and wealthy family. Pushing herself out of her shell, Nyla decides to air the King family secrets for all to see with her Death Daze true crime show, and hopefully, exposing the guilty party. However, what happens when the truth leads to more murders?

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction. I received a complementary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

It’s been a minute since I’ve been invested in a YA Mystery / Thriller as much as I was when it came to this book right here! Seriously, it was so good and when I wasn’t reading about it I was thinking about it. I mean, I did finish this in one day and probably two sittings within that day. If I could wipe my brain and read this book again, I would.

The book is told from one perspective and it comes from Nyla Wagner. She is aware of the murder of Cora King as her mom visits Frankie Quick, the one found guilty of it, in prison for the past twenty years but doesn’t realize how close it actually hits. I liked Nyla and that no matter the danger she was ready to defend Frankie more than anyone has ever tried to in the past. You could say this is stupid on her part since she gets death threats and so on but she was determined to find evidence and prove her innocent especially because Frankie didn’t have time with the accelerated death penalty act. She did play with fire a lot when it came to the Kings because that family is something else!

I was intrigued by a lot of the other characters as well since it felt like they were all hiding something. This made it easy to question anyone and everyone. There were certain lies that were told by a couple to keep Nyla safe but it goes to show that even good intentions have their consequences. If I had to pick a favorite character besides Nyla, I would go with Cassandra King. She was sassy and didn’t care about starting drama in the family and got a kick out of it, ha.

My only complaint in this entire book would be relationship development between Nyla and Sam. It moved rather quickly from flirting to having feelings for each other in a short amount of time. I do get it though since they are teens. Since it is a smaller part of the book it was easy to overlook and it’s not like I didn’t like them together. It just felt sudden.

When it comes to the plot, I honestly can’t say much! It would give a lot away and this is one of those books where you should go in blind like I did. I was smiling, shocked, and even crying throughout this book. It was a wild roller coaster ride and I wouldn’t have it any other way when it comes to books like this. I will say that it does talk about suicide so just be aware of that if it triggers you in any way. The plot also covers other topics like the death penalty, drug abuse/addiction, and another important one but it would veer into spoiler zone! I liked how these topics were discussed especially the death penalty because it has been a topic in the political world for many years.

The setting was cool for me since a lot of it was in Kentucky and surrounding states that I have been to as well as live near. It’s always fun to pick up a book that mentions actual towns or cities that you know!

Overall, this was a really great read and one that I absolutely enjoyed. It had my heart pumping in anticipation as to what would happen next and if Nyla would have enough time to stop the execution. If you are a fan of YA Mystery/Thrillers I would give this one a try! I don’t think you will be disappointed.

I got this book off of Netgalley this opinions are my own. Talk about complicated family dynamics! This book was a thrilled ride from start to finish! I was hooked from the first chapter, a family friend on death row whose death sentence just got moved up, couldn’t help but be intrigued! And Nyla is a great protagonist! She’s brave and daring and won’t stop until she finds the truth, all for a lady she’s never met! I also really enjoyed the connection between her and Sam they were drawn to each other right away! I like how she’s not afraid of the Kings either even though they are this powerful family! And Richard was just this adorable grandpa figure! Court Steven wrote a book so full of twists and turns I was on the edge of my seat the whole time! Can’t wait for this one to come out!

So, who killed Cora King?

I was desperate to know - but that wasn't the only thing that kept me reading. It was the writing style, the drama, the ethical dilemma's I was faced with, and the interesting themes of the book.

It's a classic story of death row with a very modern twist - can Youtube really help Francis Quick, who was convicted of killing her friend 22 years ago at the age of 18, and faces imminent death row?

It's been done in real life, so to see it come to life in a similar way on paper was very interesting and entertaining. The possible realism of a fictional story made it even more gripping.

The book was thrilling and was easy to read, and I didn't want to put it down. I'm looking forward to reading more of Court Steven's writing.