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.
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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.
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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.

👸Book Review😵‍💫
Pretty Dead Queens
By: Alexa Donne
⭐️⭐️⭐️/3.5 stars

Eh...maybe I should call it, YA books just aren't for me?! 🤷‍♀️ I need more thrills and chills and it's kinda hard when it's usually based around a high school. And let's face it, I work at a high school so I'm terrified of teens everyday 😂. I'm kidding....kinda.

Cecelia Ellis has tragically lost her mother to her battle with cancer. She now has to go live with her grandmother, the infamous author, Maura Weston.

Her grandmother's book is "loosely" based off of the murder of a homecoming queen which actually did happened when Maura was a teenager. And now it has happened again to a current student that was running for queen! Is this a copycat or is this the original killer who the community thought had been convicted and locked up?

Although Cecelia is new to the area, she's caught right up in the middle of all of the drama. So why not try her hand at her own investigation? She's close to those being questioned already, including who might end up being the murder...😱 Kinda called it early on in the book but it wasn't terrible!

I really enjoyed this YA thriller. It was fast paced and fun snd I loved the murder she wrote vibes of it greatly. I was stumped throughout snd absolutely shocked by the reveal of the killer. I cannot wait to see what this author comes out with next.

After losing her mother due to cancer, Cecilia Ellis goes to live with her grandmother, a bestselling mystery author in Northern California. When her grandmother was a teenager, the homecoming queen was found dead in the gym's pool. She based her first book on the tragedy and it became the town's legend. When Cecilia finds the current queen dead in a copycat killing she begins her own investigation with the help of some classmates. Like all small towns there are secrets which the residents are determined to hide at all costs. This YA thriller had a Nancy Drew girl detective vibe to it that I found engaging. The cast of classmates were well developed and I liked that the focus was not on peer pressure and rivalry but rather comraderie. We follow a twisty path with some surprises encountered along the way. The final chapters were intense almost nail biting to the shocking denounement.. The final chapter seemed to leave open the possibility of more adventures...can only hope. I would recommend this edgy YA thriller to any reader who enjoys a solid crime novel.

Overall, Pretty Dead Queens is a solid YA mystery thriller with great characters and fun twist and turns! I wish it was a bit longer on the investigation and digging into the town secrets, but in general, I really recommend this one if you’re looking for some Nancy Drew x Agatha Christie to read!

Cecilia moves in with her famous author grandma after her mom dies
Her grandma's books started after a murder in high school. Soon Cecilia is living the same story and she decides to investigate herself
I figured out who the killer was closer to the end of the book.