Pretty Dead Queens was a fun read that I am sure my YA readers would love. Cecelia moves to a small, coastal town and lives with her grandmother. She hasn't seen her grandmother since she was little when there was a falling out between her mother and grandmother. After her mother dies of cancer, Cecelia must spent her last year of high school at her grandmother's estate. When a homecoming queen is murdered in the same manner that a previous homecoming queen was murdered, There's a ton of characters who make potential suspects and while I feel like Cecelia's investigation and behavior is a bit predictable, the book stays suspenseful and fun. My students will love this book!

** spoiler alert ** OKAY SO this book has been in my tbr for a while so I decided to just download it since I was in a mystery-y mood without realizing the author was the same author as the Ivies which I dearly hated 😭😭😭

Premise: Cecelia's mom dies of cancer, she goes to live with her grandmother who her mother was estranged from in a small town. Her grandmother, Maura, is a celebrity with many well-known murder mystery novels. She starts dating Maura's assistant Ben while lowkey being attracted to bad boy and token POC Gabriel. Maura's first novel and claim to fame was based on a real-life murder that happened to one of her friends in high school, with the killer now locked behind bars. However, fifty-some years later, a copycat murder occurs, killing one of Cecelia's new friends and traumatizing her since she discovered the body. She now believes that the killer may not be behind bars after all. Basically (major spoilers), she realizes that Ben, her boyfriend, killed the girl bc he had access to the nitty-gritty details of the OG murder as his father was the sheriff back then. He did it since he felt that her dad (the mayor) killed his mom (house caved in due to bad soil foundation or smth IDK). Cecelia figures this out, has him arrested, runs back home, yay! Except she realizes that Maura gave Ben an alibi to the police, and realizes Maura was the original murderer and murders people to see how the methods work out for her novels. They fight and she kills Maura and gets a ton of money and a sweet mansion to herself, yay!

First off, the writing. Honestly, it was pretty juvenile. The opening about her not crying when her rabbit broke its back or wtv honestly made me cringe! The book read like a Wattpad novel at the start tbh, evened out after the first couple of chapters though thankfully (or maybe I just got used to it hmmm)

Secondly, the actual murderer (referring to Ben rn, not Maura). It was *so* obvious in so many ways that Ben was the murderer. First off, he literally TELLS CECELIA that the murderer often tries to involve himself in the investigation. Secondly, it made no sense from a plot standpoint to have Cecelia date Ben and genuinely like him while also thinking he was dorky and being weirdly attracted to Gabriel. Honestly, I thought Cecelia was gna date BRONTE (Gabriel's sister) bc she kept talking about how pretty she was, and then it made sense with the introduction of Gabriel, so clearly Cecelia and Gabriel were endgame, making Ben need to be so irredeemably terrible - which obviously meant he was the killer. Also, he kept trying to deflect suspicion onto Gabriel which I didn't like Gabriel is wholesome!!

Moving onto Maura being the original murderer. I honestly thought of it @ the start as a reason why Cecelia's mom cut off contact and then I was like nah the author wouldn't be *that* cliche. But oh, she was. TBH, a disappointing letdown, and was just meh. It would've been so much cooler if it was LITERALLY anyone else. This trope can be pulled off well, but there was little to no interaction with Maura throughout the novel that it just really didn't make any sense/I couldn't bring myself to care.

This is just a nitpicky thing but Luke and Caleb hiding their relationship since it was a "closeminded town" made no sense to me since two of the main side characters (Amber and Bronte) were literally publicly dating and nobody cared ?? It was even said that Bronte was popular enough that if she ran for homecoming queen, she could probably win. Just a plot inconsistency that didn't really make sense - just seemed like the author wanted to cast suspicion on Luke but didn't know how.

The ending was super rushed. From realizing Ben was the killer to realizing Maura was the killer to killing Maura to her dating Gabriel and working with the FBI was super short - they literally all happened within the span of a few pages. I would've liked to see her relationship with Gabriel develop a bit more in the aftermath of her trauma with Ben + Maura, as well as just the small town shenanigans and gossip that would've developed after everything came to light.

Compared to The Ivies, this book was definitely worse. The Ivies at least had a fun boarding school, almost satirical twist on it, whereas this book was just bland, predictable, and bad.

+2 stars bc my girl Cecelia is a BTS stan

so this was a really really good book
not just for YA readers either
I enjoyed the mystery and twists it threw at you
YOu felt like you along side of the characters trying to place everyone and everything to solve this mystery
I really think soooo many people will love this book

I got this book as an ARC from Net Galley and am thankful to have gotten a chance to read it
I thoughts above are voluntary, my own and honest

First off, I’ve read every single one of Alexa Donne’s books and I’ve loved all of them. She’s an auto-buy author for me. And … this one might just be my new favorite of hers. I loved this book and have already recommended this book to many.

This book presents two main mysteries that, for avid readers of mysteries, are quite easy to solve within the first quarter of the book. However, I would recommend it to those who are new to the genre. It’s a good start to get into teen mysteries.

I had one main problem, while the writing style was pretty good. My problem was the main character in the story. She is perhaps one of the most unlikable characters I've come across in a long time. Which is kinda okay, because I don’t have to love a character to be intrigued, but she is insufferable throughout the book, with her egoistic nature and a penchant for prying into her friends' secrets while being reluctant to reveal her own. Her "mean-spirited" attitude towards others who ask her for her own secrets adds to her flawed personality, which startet to annoy me a bit. However, the author injects moments of humor that revolve around the character's flawed nature, which I found somewhat enjoyable. It's clear that Donne is aware of the character's flaws and attempts to add a touch of self-awareness to the story. But the main character was a bit too selfish and b*tchy for me.

Although I didn't enjoy this book as much as Donne's previous work, "The Ivies," I must admit that the final act of the book was fast-paced and exciting, providing some redeeming moments. All in all it was a good read, with a main character who didn’t do it for me.

I really love a good young adult mystery that has a tie to an older mystery. In Pretty Dead Queens, Cecilia has to move in with her grandmother, a famous writer, after her mother dies. The original mystery is the murder of the home coming queen in the 70s. When one of Cecilia's new friends is murdered in the same way, on Homecoming night, Cecilia becomes obsessed with finding the answers to why her friend was killed and who killed her. The pacing of the story moves pretty quickly, and I finished the book in two days. It was hard to put it down. The characters were interesting and well developed. I guessed a few things but there were plenty of plot twists that kept me guessing. I loved this book and can't wait to see more by the author.

"Seaview has a history of murders."

After the passing of her mother, Cecilia Ellis moves to Seaview, a small town known only through the popularity of her grandmother's, Maura Ellis, murder mystery books based off real-life events that took place in Seaview. When the town suffers through yet another tragedy, just another in the line of decades old tragedies behind it, Cecilia takes it upon herself to solve the case, never knowing who she can trust, and doing everything she can to get to the bottom of the murder.

I LOVE murder mysteries, so I was very excited to read this. With a somewhat large cast of characters, it wasn't uncommon for me to mix up the who's and the what's. I often found myself confused, forgetting the characters relations to each other, what they were involved with, etc.. Though I would say that may be more of a fault of my own than the author's. Apart from this, I had a thrilling time reading Pretty Dead Queens! Following alongside Cecilia, trying to solve just who exactly had killed the homecoming queen, through every twist and turn she went down was a delight. It really felt like at times, I was with the character myself, getting stumped with every new lead.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of Pretty Dead Queens in exchange for an honest review.

Great YA mystery about a teen girl who goes to live with her grandmother following her mother's death. Cecelia is trying to adjust to living with her bestselling author grandmother Maura when one of her new friends is found dead. Cecelia is determined to solve the mystery after learning that her friend was murdered the same way as a previous murder decades ago. There are two mysteries in this book and lots of characters to act as suspects. Readers will enjoy trying to guess whodunit.

Fans of Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen McManus and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by HoJay will devour this YA thriller.
👸🏻
After her mom dies, Cecilia has to move in with her grandmother, the woman her mother was estranged from most of Cecilia’s life. Her grandmother lives in a creepy Victorian mansion and is a thriller author who writes about murders similar to the one that happened in this very town decades before. Seaview High’s homecoming is on the horizon when she’s brutally murdered and Cecilia finds the body in the school’s swimming pool. There’s a copycat killer on the loose after pretty queens and Cecilia makes it her mission to find out who it is.
👸🏻
I really liked The Ivies and this was a great follow up! A new voice in the YA thriller genre and I’m pumped to read more from her!

CW: death, strangulation, blood, vomit, cancer, death of a parent (off page), murder, blackmail, underage relationship with a minor, affair/cheating, hanging, prison, homophobia

This was a 3.5 ⭐️ mainly because I figured out she twists early on. Still a good thriller!

The queen is dead! When the homecoming queen is murdered, Cecelia must dig up old family secrets to find out the truth. The homecoming queen dead and family secret trope is one that has been over done. While this did give a surprising ending and a pretty good reveal, the journey was not worth the wait. The characters were pretty flat and had no defining characteristics. The main focus of family secrets did not apply any depth to the characters either.

I’ve enjoyed several of Alexa Donne’s previous books, including Brightly Burning – her creative take on Jane Eyre (in space) and The Ivies – a YA murder mystery about getting into the “right” college. (imagine the girls from Chilton willing to do literally anything to get into an Ivy League college with no regard as to who may get hurt).

In Pretty Dead Queens, Donne takes us to a coastal California town where Cecelia has gone to live with her estranged grandmother after her mother’s death. They were strangers to each other, but making the best of it while Cecelia finds her place in the same high school her mother attended. She finds friends (and crushes) quickly but soon senses something percolating just below the surface of this small but mostly well-off town where everyone knows everyone. As did their parents and grandparents.

The town was rocked by the murder of one of her mother’s classmates years ago, and it looks like the killer is at it again. The only problem is he has been behind bars ever since. Is this a copycat, or was he wrongfully convicted? Cecelia intends to find out.

The book is well-paced and evocative. You can smell and feel the damp salt air. The relationships will likely throw you back into your high school years, whether it’s been five, fifteen, or fifty years since you shifted your tassel. I think I suspected nearly everyone in the considerable cast at one point or another, but I missed at least one because the ending was jaw-dropping.

I received this Advanced Reader Copy of Pretty Dead Queens from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. #PrettyDeadQueens #NetGalley

This was a very fast-paced mystery novel. I loved the twists and turns that this novel upheld. The only thing I did not like about the book were the characters. I could not connect to any of them because they were very shallow. Nevertheless, the mystery aspect was it best feature and it was cleverly done! I recommend this for fans of Pretty Little Liars!

**Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.**

What a strange journey I've had with this book. I received the ARC and was excited to get started and then my Grandmother became ill. She was diagnosed and died from cancer in the same week. She was my person. We were first responders together. I wasn't prepared to lose her or aware of how much I would miss her. I wasn't ready for this book.

If you're familiar with this book or it's author you may understand why I let it sit for months. I didn't request anything else. I didn't read at all.

I finally finished it today and reviews are hard because I'm still very numb. As others have said it's a well threaded story. The twists are wild and I think it pulls off exactly what it set out to.

The only negatives I found were some gimme points that were skipped over for ease of plot. For example students not being questioned until the following Monday after a murder. Not held for questioning, not watched over the weekend. Just free to get together with enough time to get their story straight if they needed one. A community shaken to its core but still willing to hold its Homecoming Dance after the funeral for its queen. Brave enough to leave the pool open. We're talking, not a single piece of police tape barring your entry.
They didn't even drain the pool after pulling a body out. Gross me green, like seriously.

I also found the cast of characters so massive and the time we had to get to know them so short that I often couldn't remember who was who and it didn't help that everyone sounded exactly alike. Ben and Gabriel. The Sheriff and the Mayor. Elaine and Grace. I can't keep track of all these people. To get through the book I had to give up on keeping them straight all the time.

As for 'whodunnit' I pegged the murderer on the first page they were introduced.

It wasn't as good as The Ivies, but I would read another.

Pretty Dead Queens is a YA mystery that is full of twists, it focuses on Cecelia who moves in with her grandmother after mother falls ill. Her Grandmother is a mystery author and one of her most popular books is about
the murder of a homecoming queen. But then the murder happens in real life and Cecelia attempts to find the murderer. Pretty Dead Queens kept me guessing the whole way through and I did predict the ending. Fun read!

Alexa's PRETTY DEAD QUEENS is a California coastal mystery, in which a girl's new small town is struck by a killer whose murder is pulled straight from the pages of her grandmother's bestselling book. The story started and ended strong, but the middle was hazy. Overall, it was a solid, enjoyable story if somewhat predictable. Some of the characters within Cecelia's friend group were two dimensional, generic, and forgettable. I struggled to relate to them, or care what happened to them, but they didn't get in the way of the story. The story didn't draw me in. Sometimes, I got bored and had to force myself to keep reading.

I guessed the the copycat killer, but the final plot twist caught me very much by surprise. For that, I'm adding an extra star.

WOW! This was such a fun and exciting YA thriller! Pretty Dead Queens is about a murder that happened years ago and a teenager that is trying to solve a copycat killing. This book was fast paced and heart pounding. And, the best part was THAT ENDING! OMGosh! Great YA thriller.

I like books that keep me guessing and this was one them. While I usually like my mystery thrillers not in the YA genre, this was surprisingly good.

Pretty Dead Queens by Alexa Donne is a well-written and intriguing book that keeps the reader engaged from start to finish. The characters are well-developed and multi-dimensional, making them relatable and easy to connect with. The plot is well thought-out and filled with twists and turns that keep the reader on their toes. The main characters grief adds a unique touch to the story and provides a fresh perspective on well-known events. The writing style is descriptive and vivid, allowing the reader to fully immerse themselves in the world of the book. Overall, "Pretty Dead Queens" is a highly recommended read and I LOVED the ending!

Pretty Dead Queens by Alexa Donne, is one of better mystery books I read this year. I found some plot points to be annoying, along with the big twist in the end. That tries to play the reader, as you don't know what actually going on moment. And tries to throw this crazy twist which in my opinion I didn't like and could have been executed better.i do think you should check this book minus how I feel about the ending it was good time up until. the third act.

Thank you to netgalley for providing an e-galley for review. Pretty Dead Queens has many Agatha Christie and Murder She Wrote easter eggs for the older fans and those new to the genre happy. This was a fun read with those twisty red herrings all over the place. Fun and enjoyable.