Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Pretty Dead Queens.

I don't read a lot of YA books anymore because I'm too old now.

I did request Pretty Dead Queens because I love the title and the premise was intriguing.

Seventeen-year-old Cecelia Ellis has relocated to a quaint town called Seaside to live with her estranged grandmother, a famous mystery author, after the death of her mother.

Seaview may look picture perfect, but it hides a tremendous amount of secrets most of the locals fear getting out, including Cecelia's own family.

When a local beauty queen is murdered before Homecoming, Cecelia plays Nancy Drew, hoping her own murder investigation will distract her from the grief and sorrow she's still struggling with over the loss of her mother.

Cecelia soon discovers that some people will do anything to keep their secrets, even murder their own family.

Despite the cool title, the plot is pretty formulaic; a picturesque town hiding killer secrets and a killer; Cecelia and her coterie of privileged friends are mostly pretty and popular; Cecelia spends the right amount of hormonal time obsessing over the hotties in her group, Ben and Gabriel.

The narrative started out well; new girl in a new town, famous grandmother, legacy of a dead beauty queens from decades ago, but the plot became bloated with characters, the locals, everyone knows who everyone is; then the inordinate amount of secrets each individual had, it was a lot and too much.

I called the twists and whodunit but then I read a lot of books like this so it wasn't difficult.

I just made an educated guess in the beginning and I was right.

I did like Cecelia's voice, and enjoyed the author's writing style and tone as well as the ending.

I'm grateful I was given the opportunity to read Pretty Dead Queens.

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

From reading the description for this book, I was ready for a quirky tribute to Murder, She Wrote, but I found myself missing Jessica Fletcher. I enjoyed reading The Ivies, so I was excited to read Alexa Donne's next title. However, this one didn't impress me as much. Pretty Dead Queens starts out with Cecilia Ellis coming to the small town of Seaview to live with her grandmother after her mother passes away. Cecilia's grandmother is a famous murder mystery writer who used the murder of a potential prom queen from the 1970's as her source material for her first book. As Cecilia begins at Seaview High, she becomes friends with the in crowd and at homecoming another murder happens eerily similar to the first murder from the 70's.

The rest of the book is trying to figure out who did it with a lot of red herrings. Meanwhile, the murder is pretty apparent by the middle of the book. This was pretty much a miss for me, but maybe for others this might work.

Cecelia's mom was estranged from her mother. But when Cecelia's mom dies from cancer, she has to leave her LA area home and move north to a small coastal town to live with her grandma. Cecelia's grandma is a wealthy, popular mystery writer. Her first book was based off the local murder of the homecoming queen. It's still her most popular book and they made a movie about it. Cecelia doesn't really know her grandma, but she seems pretty cool and not very strict. She starts school right away and fits in with the popular kids. She starts becoming friends with all of them. She even starts dating her grandma's intern that's in her grade. She's grieving her mom, but things are going well. She has a date to homecoming. One of her new friends is on homecoming court and will almost likely be the homecoming queen. The night of the football game, Cecelia finds her dead in the pool. She can't get the image out of her head and starts looking into who it could have been. Cecelia starts finding surveillance footage and information from another friend. That's when she finds out that her grandma's book was based on her own senior year with the murder of the homecoming queen. A man went to prison for it, so Cecelia thinks it must be a copycat killer. But what if it's not? She starts to listen to a few older people in town that believe the wrong person was convicted. Cecelia digs into the town secrets and starts learning things about the people around her. She realizes that people might kill to keep things secret. Cecelia starts to wonder if she's in danger.

I gave this book 5 stars. I enjoyed the storyline and the pacing was great.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for my earc.

small town murder??? SAY LESS!!! I have been obsessed with small town tropes and this murder mystery did a satisfaction for me! fits the ya genre pretty well and not too gory!

This was quite a delightful murder mystery set in a small town where murder is well known. A famous author has made a name for herself after basing her first successful book on the death of a homecoming queen. Now, 50 years later, there is a copycat murder that must be solved. This was a solid four star read for me until the last 20% off the book when I was thrown off course, which changed it to a five star read. This is the 2nd book by Donne that has surprised me so I look forward to whatever she writes next! Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion!

After Cecelia’s mother dies of cancer, she moves to a small town to live with her estranged grandmother who happens to be a famous mystery writer. When a student at her new school ends up dead, Cecelia takes a page out of her grandmother’s book and takes on the case.

PRETTY DEAD QUEENS by Alexa Donne intrigued me with its premise, setting, and no f*cks attitude, but it ended up falling flat for me by the end.

While the amateur detective aspect is one that I LOVE, the amount of characters and motives became a bit messy in this book, and the reveal of the murderer was both obvious and tiring.

I think YA mystery fans will enjoy this one, but it left a bit to be desired for me.

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House, and Crown Books for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: October 4, 2022

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Alexa Donne for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Pretty Dead Queens, coming out October 4, 2022. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

17 year old Cecelia Ellis goes to live with her estranged grandmother after the death of her mother who dies from cancer. Her grandmother Maura is a famous author who lives in Victorian mansion as creepy as the murder mysteries she pens.

Life is ordinary in the California beach town . . . until the homecoming queen is murdered. And she’s not Seaview’s first pretty dead queen.
 
Cecelia and her friends decide to solve the copycat murder. Will they solve the case in time before one of them is next?

I’ve read the Ivies by Alexa Donne and loved it. I was even more excited to hear about this book. Murder mysteries are my favorite and I loved the Veronica Mars feel of the book. I also loved that Cecelia was into Kpop.

The twists and killer reveals were a little predictable, but I’ve read a lot of mysteries. It did go pretty dark though with the grandmother. That was pretty wild!

Overall, I love everything about the book! It had all of my favorite troupes. I love Cecelia as a character and was happy she made friends in her new home. Gabriel was my favorite! I was never a fan of Ben. He gave creep vibes and I’m not sure why Cecelia dated him so quickly. Even so, I love teen sleuth stories, so I wouldn’t change anything! It felt like an old teen sleuth story like Nancy Drew, but with a slightly more modern twist. So it just felt nostalgic.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys YA mysteries!

Rating: R (17+ audience)
Language: consistent swearing, offensive language
Content: Mild violence, innuendos, fade-to-black sex scene, no controversial topics
Age: older teen (17+) to adult

If not for the language, which is a personal preference, I would have rated this story 5 stars.

What I liked about it:
Though the murder incident didn’t take place to around the quarter mark of the book, I didn’t mind. The set up was interesting, getting to know the main character, Cecelia, and her assimilation into Seaview, after her mother’s death. The author’s voice had life that made for an immersive experience.

The plot was successful for a mystery. Now, I am not an avid mystery reader, but I like them as much as other genres I read, so I thought the mystery was effective in keeping me guessing. At times, I was certain who the murderer was, but towards the end, I was surprised to find how wrong I was. And there was another shocking moment at the end, which I will not reveal to keep this review spoiler-free.

What I didn’t like:
Again, the language. I felt it was excessive at times and every character seemed to have the same voice (swearing, offensive language). If not for mentioning their names, I would have been confused over who was speaking. I wish there had been less of the language and diversity of languages instead. It would have made a lot of the characters memorable.

One last thing about the language. I’ve read Alexa’s first story, Brightly Burning, and it was a complete contrast to Pretty Dead Queens on the language. Brightly Burning barely had any swearing or offensive language, if any, and when characters were expressing anger, shock, high emotions, pseudo words were used to replace the swearing. I thought that made the reading experience less jarring and brought the story, plot and character, out without biases or distractions. I’m not saying all authors should eliminate swearing, every writer has their own voice and style, but I don’t think excessive swearing makes a story more mature or adult.

Anyway, that’s enough about that. Though a good story, I would only recommend it to those who already read stories with the ratings listed at the beginning of this review. It’s an entertaining, easy to read, and convincing mystery that won’t disappoint.

***This book was given to me by Netgalley and Random House for an honest review.***

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC! “Pretty Dead Queens” was an immediate must read for me. A murder mystery about a copy cat murder of a popular girl? It checked off all the boxes. Alexa Donne’s carefully crafted world felt so real, I almost want to pick up a Maura Weston book! If you enjoy true crime, this book definitely will satisfy that itch.

We start our story with Cecelia Ellis, who after the recent death of her mother, moves in with her grandmother, a famous murder mystery author. Maura Weston has made the town of Seaview famous, with the plethora of books she’s created, her first, “Killer Queen” being the most famous. Over fifty years ago homecoming Queen Caroline Quinn was murdered, and Maura took that story and retold it, making the case and the town famous. When Cecelia discovers this year’s homecoming queen killed in a copy cat fashion to her grandmother’s book, she’s determined to solve not only this murder, but to find the truth about the Quinn murder.

Donne’s world building was incredible, and the way she gave such depth to her characters made the mystery all the more fun. The added bonus of the author and her mystery works only added to the intrigue that surrounded the people in this town. The twists were genuinely surprising, and I was left wondering at every moment who the suspect in either murder truly was.

This book gives off the vibes of “People Like Us” and “One Of Us Is Next”, so if you like either of those, you’ll love this one. Having it come out at the beginning of October makes this a perfect read for the Halloween season. Without a doubt, this is a must read book for anyone who loves the ya thriller and mystery genre.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review . I own about four books by Alexa Donne but haven't read them. I really enjoyed "Pretty Dead Queens" so I will definitely be moving her other books up my TBR. Readers who enjoy the Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson or the Good Girls Guide to Murder series by Holly Jackson will find a lot to enjoy in this book. I'm not sure if this one was meant to be a series, but I could see some potential there for a sequel. The basic premise is that Cecilia's mom passes away and she must go live in a new town with her grandmother who she doesn't know because of the strained relationship between the grandmother and her mother. Her grandmother is famous for her long standing mystery series (think Agatha Christie-esque) and is considered a huge celebrity in town. She even has her own fan convention. The first book her grandmother wrote was based on the real murder of a homecoming queen at the high school the grandmother attended. She was found dead in the school's pool. Now fifty years later, another homecoming queen is found in almost exactly the same manner. So we have the real life teen who was murdered fifty years ago, the fictional queen from the grandmother's first novel, and the teen murdered at the time Cecilia attends school there. I found the plot absolutely fascinating and I enjoyed the writing style a lot. My one complaint is that I guessed the new murderer pretty early on and I highly suspected the identity of the murderer of from fifty years ago. However the way things unraveled was quite entertaining. I definitely would recommend this book.

3 Stars!

This is a solid YA mystery/thriller about 17 year old Cecelia whose mother recently passed away, so she's off to go live with her famous author grandmother. Seaview is a quaint town in Northern California that was put on the map by Cecelia's grandmother, Maura, whose first novel was based off the prom queen being drowned, a true story.

I loved the author's writing and the pacing. I was a HUGE fan of Cecelia's voice and the hysterical references she would make. My neutral rating is based on the fact that I had expected more of a gut punch and was a little shocked at the predictability. To be fair, I read a lot, so maybe I've just gotten good at figuring things out.

I've already put The Ivies in my TBR list.

A special thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children's, and Alexa Donne for providing me with an ARC.

Two murdered homecoming queens in the same town five decades apart. Both drowned. Both found floating in the school pool. But how are they connected? The original killer is behind bars...or is he? Some people in the town of Seaview seems to think he's innocent. Has the wrong person been in jail the whole time? Or is this a copycat killing? One thing is for sure: Cecelia is determined to learn the truth of what really happened to both homecoming queens. But there's someone lurking in the shadows, determined that she never will.

Cecelia found the dead body of her friend not long after moving to Seaview High and soon throws herself into the investigation as a way of distracting herself from the grief she feels over her mother's death.
Strangely enough, Cecelia's grandmother -Maura- found the body of her friend 52 years ago. And Maura made no qualms on cashing in on the tragedy. Her fictional account of the murder has put the town of Seaview on the map and made it a tourist hotspot. (As well as making Maura a wealthy and well respected writer).
But what do these two murders really have in common?

This book was so good! Cecelia is a modern day Nancy Drew: smart, cunning and quick witted. But she's not the only character with a strong presence. All the characters were fleshed out and interesting. I really got attached to them and invested in their lives. Many of them have dealt with tragedy, and the concept of grief was handled very honestly and realistic.
Additionally, the plot was fantastic! I was on board hook, line and sinker from the beginning. There were a lot of suspects with varying degrees of motive, making it hard to guess who the villain really was. I love that it wasn't obvious. I also love how to old murder tied in with the new one. The plot was so well thought out.

I did have one small gripe. It wasn't enough to deduct a star or to kill my enjoyment of the book, but Donne strongly tried to compare this book to Twilight. She made reference to Cecelia being like Bella Thorne a lot during the first half....like an eyeroll-inducing amount. And a weird and forced love triangle a la Bella, Edward and Jacob was thrown in just to drive the point home. This is me being nitpicky, but I don't like when authors force comparisons to other books in their writing...Their writing should stand on its own merit. And-IMO-this book was better than Twilight (not to mention a different genre).

If you're a fan of YA mysteries, I definitely recommend this book. It's one of the better ones I've read, and I'm eager to read more of Alexa Donne's books.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Just like The Ivies, Pretty Dead Queens is a super fun high school murder mystery with loads of suspects and a very determined narrator. Also like The Ivies, there isn't a ton of character development. Many characters have their secrets revealed, but that's about the most depth we get from them, and Cecelia's motivation to investigate the murder is barely explained beyond the vague notion that she needs a distraction from her mother's recent death.

Despite this, I had a really good time reading this book. The plot was pretty predictable from early on, but I still had fun watching it unfold. The mystery itself was probably around three stars, but the rest of the book was so well paced and enjoyable that it brought it up to four.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book had hardcore A Good Girl's Guide to Murder vibes. The drama was super juicy but occasionally didn't feel true to form for a bunch of high school kids. I often found myself wondering why certain people were so forthright with a teenage girl who was a complete stranger with absolutely no authority. Bronte and Amber are awesome and I love them. This was a page turner for sure.

Love these types of stories so i was super excited to start, who doesn't get interested about two dead Homecoming Queens! Kept my interest and enjoyed the ending. Seems this is setup for a sequel very nicely. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

Moving across the country? Check. Living in a creepy haunted mansion? Check. Solving the murder of you new schools Homecoming Queen? Also check. Cecilia has had a rough few months. After moving in with her author famous grandmother and starting a new school, Cecilia feels like her life has hit a low. But when students at her new school begin to mysteriously die, in the same way as the character's in her grandmother's famous murder mystery novels, Cecilia knows it is up to her to find out who the killer is.

Alexa Donne is one of the big names in YA mystery now and this book does not disappoint. I enjoyed this book more than her previous, The Ivies. This is your classic who-dunnit YA mystery with numerous characters, plots, and twists that leave you guessing until the end. I recommend this to fans of the genre or those looking for a quick and fun read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's for the ARC!

I devoured this book! There were thriller elements, suspense, mystery, and little pops of cozy mystery in there as well. This one successfully had me guessing until the end. Great read!

So, I’m just going to assume that this is going to be a movie one day. It’s just got that perfect cinematic style to it. It will be the kind of movie staring some ethnically ambiguous pretty people, a wonderfully creepy setting, and just enough jump scares.

It’s simply fun.

I was very happy with this suspenseful YA novel. Though I’d figured out one thing way too early, there were some pretty big surprises to come! The writing is clever and sharp, the characters vibrant, and the plot is nicely nuanced – especially when it comes to grief.

I thoroughly enjoyed this and, yes, I’ll watch it if it ever gets picked up by Netflix or something!

• ARC via Publisher

3.5 stars
This was a fun read overall. It's a bit formulaic, but still fun to read. It definitely has a young adult feel to it, so if you like Veronica Mars/Nancy Drew- type thrillers you will love it!

Pretty Dead Queens follows Cecelia Evans after her mother's death as she moves to Northern California and in with her famous murder-mystery author grandmother. Once Cecelia arrives, she quickly makes friends with the popular group of kids at school, including the frontrunner for Homecoming Queen, who appears to be murdered the night before the Homecoming Dance. Cecelia quickly turns to investigating with the help of her friends and with her grandmother's book as inspiration, since the murder happens to follow the plot of her grandmother's first novel closely (and the murder of her grandmother's best friend decades ago!).

I thought the plot of this book had a lot of promise, and I thought the writing and pacing were well-done. However, this book ultimately was not the thriller I wanted it to be. Nearly every twist was predictable, and the number of characters in the book at times felt unwieldy. Some plot points also felt unnecessary.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for my free ARC of this book!