Member Reviews
Well, WOW!! Stellar debut! I really enjoyed this one. This was a different take on the "final girl" type storyline. Charlie survives the multiple murders of her classmates and does not remember what happened. Who did it? Was she a part of it? We don't know. The story is about another survivor wanting to make a movie of the event years later after Charlie has found a nice, "normal" life. She has secrets and does not want them to come to light. We learn what happened through flashbacks, present day events and current therapy sessions. I finished this one pretty quickly and look forward to more from this author!
A rare novel that both keeps the twists coming without giving too much away or making it predictable. Hollander leads the reader to the conclusion with a series of present and past flashbacks, slowly putting together the timeline of a tragic and grisly evening. We see it all through the eyes of one very torn character, fighting between the life she had and the life she built after the incident -- and the secrets she still holds. An engrossing and entertaining read.
Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this book.
In this book we are following our main character, Charlie. When Charlie was in grad school at Carroll University there was a tragedy where three people died and three were injured. Charlie has been going to therapy since "Scarlet Christmas" happened about ten years ago. Stephanie, who went to the same university as Charlie and is the twin sister of Cate, one of the survivors of "Scarlet Christmas" throughout the story its kind of alluding to the fact that Cate died until almost the end when Cate and Gunner turn up to help Charlie, decides to make a movie about what truly happened during Scarlet Christmas and the big cover up. Charlie believes that she killed Elsie and Dee by accident. Elsie attacked Cate and Micheal by accident with a knife after Cate goes off because Elsie was flirting with Jordan, Charlie's boyfriend. This story is told through past and present timelines. Charlie doesn't remember what happened and then finally reveals why she didn't stay in touch with her fellow Carroll graduates and finally makes changes to her life. Charlie calls off her engagement to Tripp and makes changes to her job giving others more responsibility and not shouldering things herself. I found this story very interesting from start to finish.
A solid debut! I thoroughly enjoyed this intriguing psychological thriller. As the synopsis states, Charlie is a woman who went through a traumatic experience at her school. Her mind has blocked out the details of that night to protect her and she's done her best to move on with her life. But she still deals with anxiety and being triggered by certain things.
A former classmate upends her fragile existence by wanting to make a movie that will tell the real truth of that night. Charlie needs to make it go away and she also decides with the help of her therapist to remember everything she has repressed. Charlie is an unreliable narrator so she just might have her own reasons for not wanting the movie made.
What happened that Christmas Eve? Charlie is clearly traumatized but is she more involved in what happened than she's let on? I love that I never knew what to expect and the twists were shocking. Go into this with an open mind and enjoy the ride. I was impressed and I will definitely read whatever Jenny Hollander writes next!
Thank you St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the e-ARC.
I thoroughly enjoyed this engaging debut novel that had me intrigued from the start. This psychological thriller follows Charlotte, a powerful magazine editor-in -chief, who has rebuilt herself over the previous 10 years after she and her friends were part of a deadly Christmas Eve incident at their elite school of journalism.
Charlotte has spent a decade trying to keep the incident buried, having little memory of the events that transpired. She is uncertain of her role in the events, and remembers only lying to the police, which implicates her in the events of the evening. A new movie that is billed as 'ready to set the record straight' threatens to unearth her secrets. How far will Charlotte go to protect her new image?
The story is told from the protagonist's point of view with a 'then' and 'now' timeframe, and with the perfect amount of foreboding. I enjoyed the slow release of information and the numerous red herrings. The twists and turns are plentiful and the ending was a shock.
I will certainly be looking for future works this author. Thank you to the author, NetGally, and Minotaur Books for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.
This was a really fun thriller. And I will devour anything set in NYC. Highly recommend if you enjoy literary thrillers/university settings.
Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for the arc.
(4.75)
Everyone say thank you Netgalley for this ARC.
Not gonna lie, I was in a slump when I started reading this. BUT that no longer seems to be the case, this novel was just what I needed! Everyone Who Can Forgive Me is Dead is full of twists and turns and confusion that makes for a near perfect thriller!
EWCFMIS comes out on my birthday in 2024, and I will eagerly be awaiting a physical copy in February.
Thank you kindly to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for the gifted eARC to read and review.
This one was a bit slow for my taste, and then almost rushed toward the end. I liked the prose and the first person narrative, but the motive and pacing were a bit of dealbreaker for me. I struggled to finish this one.
This books starts out really strong. Charlie, a victim of Scarlet Christmas- a deadly murder spree at a journalism school, is trying to live her life years later, away from the speculation and drama surrounding the spree. However, when someone decides to make a film out of that fateful night, she begins unraveling; she can't actually remember everything from Scarlet Christmas, and she doesn't know if the facts she told the police- and herself all these years-- are actually what happened that night.
Like, I said, this starts out strong. It's enticing, fast-paced, and interesting. However, about 3/4 of the way through, there's a definitely drop-off. It's like the author was rushed and just threw in her outline and someone else bullet pointed everything. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4!
Really good read. The suspense of what happened that night and Charlie going through therapy to try to determine what “really” happened and thinking that she did something and lied to the police makes for an interesting read especially when she tries to talk Stephanie out of making the movie because she is afraid of what will come to light. The fact that her fiancé was involved with someone who was killed that night is really more than Charlie can handle, not that she comes out and says that but it’s something that really weighs on her. Totally recommend this book.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Hollander has written a gripping, fasinating, twisty novel that kept me guessing until the very end! I loved everything about it- the plot, the interesting well-developed characters and the ending! Would absolutely recommend!
3 stars
This was a little too slow to start. I found it difficult to pick back up, which is a bit of a turn off for a thriller. Once it starts picking up it becomes a little better.
I would say it isn’t really my style of thriller, I like fast paced exciting, not slow and mundane.
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Minotaur Books for this advanced copy! You can pick up Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead on February 20, 2024.
This book surprised me in the best way! I won't lie -- the beginning started a bit slow for me. I found it hard to relate to Charlie and wondered if this was supposed to be one of those stories where we don't trust/like the protagonist. But as she broke down her walls and started opening up about her experience, I appreciated her character much more.
Plus, these plot twists legitimately surprised me! SPOILERS AHEAD!
I fully believed Cate was dead for the entire book. I did NOT see the Elise plot twist coming, or the fact that Stephanie was involved with the murders. These twists elevated the emotional stakes for me and made me feel way more invested!
I'm also so glad that Charlie ended things with Tripp. I went back and forth on liking and disliking him, and ultimately, I agree that he wasn't right for Charlie.
I'm excited to explore more thrillers like these, and I encourage everyone to pick this one up come February!
Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead by Jenny Hollander
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Charlotte is an editor in chief at a thriving magazine and is engaged to her dream man. She has everything going her way, but the past won’t stay buried. She was a survivor of a killing spree when she was in college known as the Scarlet Christmas. When another survivor makes a movie about it, this threatens everything she’s built.
This is written from Charlotte‘s point of view with different timelines. Is a bit confusing at times, but don’t give up because it all comes together at the end! I really like the characters, the banter, and the fact that I didn’t figure out what was going on until the end! An engaging psychological thriller debut novel that was well paced and had me turning the pages from beginning to end! It’s definitely worth the read!
Thank you NetGalley, St Martins Press, and Minotaur for the advance reader copy and the chance to give my honest review!
This wasn’t my cup of tea it had a bit of a slow start and it was hard to follow for me. I honestly had to DNF it about halfway.
This debut started off a bit sluggish, with a cast that felt bloated and confusing at times, but improved as the story progressed. I struggled throughout the first half, but found that the second half read much faster and was far more engaging. I was sure that the "Scarlet Christmas" would be a whopper of a crime, but was a bit astounded by the small body count. It felt like a lot of drama over a fairly small murder. Solid plot, but the writing was a bit messy. I felt like this could have used another few reads by the editor. This one was just ok for me. 3.5/5 stars.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
This was a good thriller. I enjoyed the premise and the mystery definitely kept me on my toes. I didn't love the writing style though. The constant mentioning of each character's accent and how they pronounced words got old really fast. I liked the use of the past timeline to help tie the whole plot together and the twist was very good! If you can look past the repetitive mentioning of accents I would recommend this.
This is a very twisty book. I didn’t see who the killer was. It was a total surprise. I really felt bad for Charlie. She’s lived with guilt for years. By the end of the book a lot of characters are a huge surprise, especially Cate and Stephanie. This is a book well worth reading. I voluntarily read a free copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I received a copy from the publisher through Net Galley.
Book Review 🎤
Mystery Thriller
3/5⭐️
Pub Date 2/6/24
Thank you so much @stmartinspress @netgalley & @minotaur_books for my gifted copy.
•Charlie is the last girl standing from an incident known as the “Scarlet Christmas” that changed everything. As things begin to resurface through a production based on the incident- she desperately try’s to stop it and remember what she can’t.
I was so excited to be gifted this book. Truly I did enjoy it but it just wasn’t it for me. The story line was good but the writing style was not for me. I felt like there was a few times it felt it took a lot of words to say very little. Overall I enjoyed this book but was a little let down. I will say this is an awesome debut though and I look forward to reading more by this author.
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Thank you Net Galley, to the publisher, and the author for the arc. After fantasy, this is my favorite genre. I really enjoyed how thrilling the story is, and the pacing and two timelines made this story really intriguing, and definitely worthy of being called a page turner. The ending was also so wholesome.