A fun YA slasher/thriller, this book was entertaining and had a supernatural edge to it. It kept me reading, excited to turn the page.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book!

4 stars — Creepy, twisty, and full of slasher-movie chills

Last One to Die is a spine-tingling YA thriller with a supernatural edge, perfect for fans of fast-paced mysteries, eerie settings, and jaw-dropping plot twists. Cynthia Murphy proves once again why she's earned the title of "CEO of plot twists"—this book keeps you on edge from beginning to end.

Sixteen-year-old Niamh (pronounced "Neev"), freshly arrived from Ireland, is just hoping for a fun and fulfilling summer drama course in London. But it doesn't take long before things start to go very wrong. Girls who look like her are being attacked, the city suddenly feels a lot less safe, and her placement at a spooky Victorian museum only amplifies the sense of dread. When she meets charming, mysterious Tommy, she finds a much-needed distraction… or maybe a new reason to be afraid.

Murphy builds a deliciously eerie atmosphere, weaving together urban legends, gothic vibes, and classic horror movie pacing. The Victorian setting, complete with creepy artifacts and lingering ghosts of the past, is the perfect backdrop for the mystery that unfolds. There’s also a satisfying balance of real-world danger and paranormal tension that keeps you guessing—right up until the last page.

Niamh is a likable, grounded protagonist—smart, independent, and believably scared but determined to uncover the truth. The friendships and romantic elements feel natural and never overshadow the thriller core, and the chapters fly by thanks to sharp writing and steady momentum.

My one critique is that a few of the supporting characters could’ve used more depth, and some twists leaned slightly into convenience over logic. But honestly? It’s a fun, chilling ride that’s not trying to be overly literary—it’s here to entertain, and it does exactly that.

Final thoughts: Last One to Die is a fast-paced, creepy read perfect for fans of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Rules for Vanishing, or vintage slasher films with a modern YA spin. Read it with the lights on—you’ve been warned.

The Last One to Die seems enough like your typical YA thriller. Our main character, Niamh, is in London for the summer to study drama, and ends up at the center of a series of brutal attacks. She finds bodies, is present when girls are attacked, and slowly realizes that all the victims all look like her. Almost instantly, my issues began. Why wasn't she immediately made to go home? Why aren't any adults connecting the obvious dots she is? Why is she just wandering to work and back, alone and unarmed? I know I'm an adult, but I guarantee teen readers would notice these things too. Also, there's a romance that's flimsy at best, and predictable at worst. Finally. the supernatural element is tied in enough and comes from n0where in the end. It's all very frustrating. The reader questions the decisions of everyone, from Niamh to her parents to the one police officer that seems to be doing anything.

Ultimately, this might work for teens who are new to the genre. Maybe fans of Natasha Preston and other Wattpad books will enjoy this. It just didn't work for me, on many levels.

𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘
𝑻𝒊𝒕𝒍𝒆: Last One to Die
𝑨𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓: Cynthia Murphy
𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘:
This suspenseful thriller had me hooked right away. The story follows a group of friends on a vacation that quickly turns deadly when one of them starts targeting the others. Cynthia Murphy keeps the tension high with plenty of twists that kept me guessing who I could trust.

I liked the dynamic between the characters—flaws and secrets made them feel real and complicated. The pacing was steady, and the suspense built steadily toward a satisfying, nail-biting finale.

If you enjoy a fast-paced, edge of your seat thriller with a killer mystery at its core, Last One to Die is a great choice. I couldn’t put it down and recommend it to anyone who loves a good suspense story.

I made it 17% into the book, and I'm not interested in finishing it. I might read another book by this Author, but I wasn't interested enough to finish this one

This review is gonna be rough but I wanna be respectful because i do appreciate the hard work that goes into writing a book. This book made me feel like i was reading an episode of Scooby Doo Where Are You? I thought i was reading a YA thriller.....suddenly i was reading i was reading Ouija boards & the occult. the book just didn't make sense. no one has noticed this wizard hasn't aged?!? for YEARS?!?! The narrator sounds like an immature obsessive creepy individual throughout the entire book. I know its YA so maybe people that age will like it, but i read plenty of YA & usually LOVE what i read....i did not care for this.

Wonderful story, great character development, great writing! Highly recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it

Welcome Back!

We are somehow halfway through July already and it feels like summer is flying by (but that is totally okay because I love the fall and winter). This past week the weather was a bit chaotic where I live so I decided to stay in and do a ton of reading. On my Libby account, I had an audiobook loan for the Last One to Die, I saw that this book is between 5 and 6 hours on audio and immediately decided it would be my next read!

SPOILERS AHEAD

Niamh has lived in Ireland her entire life but has always dreamed of going to London and after a lot of hard work she is going to go for a summer program! Her parents have agreed, and her younger sister is super jealous but Niamh could not be more excited about this opportunity. However, when she finally arrives at her summer program she runs into a girl who is afraid of heights and begging to switch rooms with her. Niamh agrees because she honestly does not care and is just so excited to be here but this swap results in some mixed-up baggage. Niamh decides to take the mixed-up bag down to the girl only to find that she is dead. The girl’s death is reported and Niamh as well as her family are on edge about her staying but she is not going to give up her dreams now.

I did listen to this entire book but looking back I honestly feel like I should have DNF’d the book. I enjoyed the first part of the story so much and loved learning about Niamh but then this book took some weird turns and despite the length seeming short, some parts of the story felt very drawn out. I do want to point out that I really loved the audiobook narrator and thought they did an amazing job. I will definitely read something more from this author in the future. (I have read other books written by this author in the past and really enjoyed them, so maybe just this one was not clicking for me)!

Goodreads Rating: 2 Stars

This was super interesting! I liked the MC and her quirks. The ending was really good and I wish I could read it for the first time again!

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

Cynthia Murphy's *Last One to Die* is a suspenseful and engrossing thriller that keeps readers guessing until the final page. With its tight plot and intricate character development, Murphy skillfully builds tension and delivers a gripping mystery. The novel’s unexpected twists and dark undertones make it a compelling read for fans of psychological suspense.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a digital copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

2.5 stars rounded down

This book was fast paced. It immediately starts off with our FMC arriving in London for an acting class(?) and changes rooms with a girl named Sara due to Sara being scared of heights. But when Niamh notices she has some of Sara’s paperwork, she thinks she’ll go ahead and take them to her instead of waiting to meet her in the morning like planned. As Niamh arrives in her old room, she finds Sara dead and some of her hair ripped from her scalp. As more and more girls are attacked, the more Niamh fears for her life.

This was an okay book. The plot seemed to be missing a lot of key details. The victims of the attacks were all supposed to look like Niamh in some way but for the life of me, I couldn’t describe to you how Niamh looks. For something to be such a key detail, it was really brushed over. The storyline seemed super jumpy and not clean. The whole acting school or whatever it was added nothing to the plot and just served to be there to provide one note of interest but was completely ignored.

I couldn’t connect with the FMC. Or any of the characters for that matter. They felt very one dimensional. There was no real growth or development. And the “love story”? I thought it was weird from the beginning. I knew something was up with it and it made the FMC seem super naïve(more than she should have been).

The horror aspects of the book were decent. Again, nothing that just stood out and said WOW. This author can write some graphic detail and come up with some nasty witchcraft. I wish there was more depth to the book and I feel like I might have enjoyed it more. It almost felt like a sequel and not a first. I felt as though a lot of important details were missing to make the twist at the end even better and not easily guessed. I guessed it the moment Tommy couldn’t walk her home.

Again this is completely my opinion and my thoughts on the book. No disrespect to the author or if you liked the book! This is just how I felt!

This one took me a bit to get into. It was a good thriller, but it wasn't favorite one this year. The way the accent was written didn't help either. I stopped and started the book a few times before I had to stop entirely

I thought this was really well written and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future. I think it will find readers at our library, so we will definitely be purchasing for the collection.

When Arthur Benton Stanhope III dies, he leaves the three closest women in his life to figure out what's next. His wife Sylvia is determined to marry their youngest daughter Adelaide off to a wealthy suitor so they can retain their lifestyle. His mother Junietta is determined to inspire them to pursue their dreams and true love. Adelaide doesn't know what to do it who to please. Throughout the book, both Junietta and Sylvie share many secrets from their pasts that led to who they are and what they believe now. While I can't elaborate on them without spoilers, they are numerous and powerful.
Lots of emotions from this. The two older women have tragic backgrounds and shocking secrets. Between their stories and their present Gilded Age, thirteen characters die. Yeah. Wasn't ready for that. The degrees of tragedy vary, including a couple that are particularly disturbing. But after getting annoyed at being provoked to sadness to many times by the first half (or just over) of the book, inspiring events began unfolding that almost had me crying in public while reading. This book is complex and thought provoking with a large cast of distinctive characters. I definitely would not call it light reading, but well done. I do wish we got answers to a couple open-ended questions and ideas, but they were comparatively small.

I thought this was well crafted, with unique twists and although it took me a little bit to get into it, it was a great read! One to add to your list.

Last One to Die by Cynthia Murphy

Thank you to @netgalley, @randomhouse, and @cynthiamurphyya for the opportunity to read this #advancedreadercopy in exchange for my #honestbookreview! This book is available now.

This was absolutely haunting - definitely not recommend this being your “while I’m in bed, read late into the night” book. This is targeted to be a young adult read but I definitely think that this would be enjoyable for any adult who enjoys thrillers. This had dark academia vibes as well as dual timeline and supernatural vibes. This for some reason triggered a memory of the vampire episodes (not a spoiler, by the way!) in Are You Afraid of the Dark? in the best ways. I highly recommend this for lovers of thrillers, dark academia, mysteries, and history.

TWs: loss of a loved one, st*lking, more

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ - 4.5/5

The set up here is decent put a bit heavy handed. Teen on her own for the first time caught up in murder and intrigue. It jumps right in with a murder in the first chapter which is promising. And it explores history and folk belief to some degree, bringing in the lesser known ideas of Spring-healed Jack. Ultimately, I found the twists too obvious and the final reveals a bit too far afield to really enjoy it.

2.5 stars

I missed the memo about what kind of mystery this is. If you read the synopsis, literally the first line is 'supernatural thriller', which would have been good to know, but oh well. I appreciated how this immediately dove into the thick of it, with police reports and people being attacked and killed. The pacing was decent, though around 75% I got a little bored.

I didn't love the killer reveal and felt some of it was obvious. I didn't know there was a paranormal element or a Jack the Ripper comparison, so that felt a bit out of nowhere to me. I also thought the main character was kind of weak, not well developed and made some poor decisions. This reads as younger YA to me.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Delacorte Press and NetGalley for the copy.

It was meh.

I think this would be more enjoyable at middle grade than HS level.

Someone who is new to the genre may like it? It just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review.

Good book with a few slower parts. Nothing that made me want to stop reading but definitely some slow downs.