A summer camp teen horror trope collides with repressed family/small town drama! Okay, so I am not a fan of teen horror movies, but this felt exactly how I imagine they are. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the book (obviously)! Super huge amounts of twists and drama that almost have nothing to do with the Witch of the Lake wandering around shooting people with arrows. I mean, there was enough here that it could have been an entire book without the bloody arrows! Other than the weirdly placed romantic interludes when people should have been focused on not getting killed, this was a page turner! And, keep turning the pages until the very end because unlike most epilogues that just annoy me with their little bows tying everything up, this was one twisted little ribbon!

5⭐️ “Two Sides to Every Murder” by Danielle Valentine - available June 25th, 2024

Where to even start…this book drew me in! Truly a book I could not put down. I love mystery thriller novels and I felt like this one was so well done. There were multiple layers to the mystery, conflicting motives regarding the truth coming out, and an intricate crime.

Whenever I read mysteries I usually write down my guesses before the 50% point to see how accurate I was while reading. For this, of my four theories to the mysteries I only got one right. For me, it meant Danielle Valentine did something very right!

Most of the story takes place on one day on the grounds of the old Camp Lost Lake, soon to be reopened under a new name; a campground previously closed since 2008 after a triple homicide by the Witch of Lost Lake. Sixteen years later, Reagan Knight returns to clear her mom’s name after a lifetime on the run. At the same time, Olivia D’Angeli, whose family own Camp Lost Lake, is trying to find answers to a recent truth she’s uncovered about her father not being her biological father. Their worlds collide at the camp when their goals become intertwined and the Witch of Lost Lake returns to finish what she started sixteen years ago.

🎯 YA Mystery Thriller
🎭 Dual POV
⏳ Flashbacks
🗂️ Cold Case
🪦 Buried Lies

⛔️ SPOILERS BELOW ⛔️

The whole time I read this once it was established our main heroines were long lost identical twins I just kept thinking “it’s liked a messed up murder ‘Parent Trap’!” That being said, them being identical twins and their parents being who they were are the only thing I guessed correctly. I was actually surprised and exclaimed ‘OMG that’s who did it!’ when it was revealed who the murderer was because I only realized a chapter or so before. The clues were all there but they’d been easy enough to dismiss during the first read. Even better was the extra twist right at the end that left a lingering eeriness to the whole story after it had seemed liked the case had been closed.

The only thing that had bothered me, but not enough to dock it any star rating, was the fact neither girl felt inclined to correct or question people when they first started being misidentified as the other twin. Especially, if you didn’t know the other person and someone just called you the wrong name with so much familiarity I feel like you’d question it a little. It did at a couple points prove a convenience for the characters, but at the same time I think shock could excuse the behaviour. They were after all being chased by a pyscho murderer.

❗️Disclaimer: I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.❗️

This was definitely YA, but I still really enjoyed it. I thought the camp setting was perfect. It's a great, quick summer read.

I think I may have just been the wrong target audience for this book but the synopsis sounded good!

This book centers around 2 teenage girls and a triple murder that happened at Camp Lost Lake 16 years earlier. Olivia was born at the camp that fateful night and returns to help her older sister reopen the camp for the first time since that night. Reagan leaves her mom in the middle of the night to search for answers at the camp, and her mom has been on the run since being accused of the murders. She is hoping to clear her name and find the real killer.

But once again a killer is on the loose on the first night volunteers and camp workers try to get everything set up for opening. A lot of speculation about who the killer really is was definitely twisty and not that easy to guess. There was a lot of unnecessary and forced romance that seemed weird in the middle of hiding from a killer. The characters were very one dimensional and I had a hard time keeping straight who was who. Olivia and Regan read the same. Also the ending was just the cherry on top with being ridiculous and not believable at all.

This is extremely YA, which is fine, but maybe just too young for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Just finished this and it was such a fun read! The beginning was soooo confusing since there were a ton of a characters but everything tied together really nicely! It just took some thinking to piece it together. I really liked the campy summer vibes and the mystery of it all. I could have been good without that last chapter tho…

Danielle Valentine is the master of creating a story that you just can not put down. This one was spooky and with a great twisty path. The mystery is strong and I really enjoyed reading this.

This was a fun summer camp slasher novel. It took me a little bit to get all of the people/story straight but then it was pretty predictable but still a lot of fun. I have to say that summer camp horror is one of my favorite horror tropes and with a camp called Camp Lost Lake was there ever a chance there wouldn’t be bodies? When the myth of the witch of Camp Lost Lake was born so was Olivia at the parking lot of the camp. Olivia has recently learned that her father isn’t her father and the only place she can think of for answers is the old camp that is being revitalized. Reagan’s mother is believed to be the witch of camp lost lake and she’s been on the run Reagan’s whole life. Ever since a podcast revitalized interest Reagan has lost her normal life. Reagan is headed to Camp Lost Lake to find the answers that can clear her mother’s name so she can have her life back. Both girls are in for some surprises and a whole lot of running. This was a fun and wild ride, one that would make a great movie. Definitely will be looking up this author again in the future.

This book is perfect to read over the summer. It’s a great summer camp slasher and i really enjoyed it.

I’m a big fan of slasher films with a camp setting and this book gave me all those vibes. I listened to the book in one day and it was a fun read and as usual Valentine left me with a nice shocking ending.

I thoroughly enjoy multiple points of view and going back-and-forth and time.
This was fast and engaging, and I read it in one sitting
I love that it’s like a camp slasher movie and is based off of Friday the 13th. I did not want to put this down, it is that good! The twists and turns were perfection. I have other books by this author on my shelf and now I can’t wait to read them

I received an early arc of Two Sides to Every Murder by Danielle Valentine through NetGalley. I really, really wanted to like this book, because I LOVED How to Survive Your Murder, but this one kind of fell flat for me. I feel like there wasn’t a lot of character development or reasons why we should root for them. I love spooky, camp murder mysteries, but the story was too far fetched, even for me. I will still continue to read Danielle Valerie books, this one just wasn’t for me.

#TwoSidestoEveryMurder #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley and PenguinTeen for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
In this exciting thriller, I found myself once again pulled into the YA mystery genre with so much excitement and love. It's like Karen McManus meets the Parent Trap - which just sounds like such a fun and unhinged premise but it's so good.
Told through the perspective of Olivia and Reagan, two long lost twins, as well as prologue-esque chapters that give us perspectives of other surrounding characters and suspects, the novel creates a very whole and complete story. We understand everyone's motivations (at least eventually, by the end) through a clearly painted story and ensemble - I think it would make a great movie.
Also, whether it's because of the writing or because I was reading late at night, I also did deeply feel the suspense. I was terrified at the characters when they were in danger or being chased - they also genuinely experienced the highs and lows of being involved in such an investigation which did make it more realistic. This was a very fast paced, high risk, suspenseful thriller. While for me I was instantly able to deduce the "whodunnit" part, it was still so enjoyable because the threads they needed to unravel to get to that ending were just as juicy and fun.
The only part I was a little confused by was the double plot twist ending that came after the epilogue. I felt I needed more time to process something like that despite already being foreshadowed about it, and that since I was attached to the characters, I wanted more closure :)
But in general, it was such a fun and exciting thriller, really meshing well with its theme and title. It's a quick but weighty read that I'd highly recommend to any thriller fan!

3.5 stars, rounded down to 3. This was OK -- a little over-the-top, a little hard to follow, but it IS a YA novel, so I guess I get it. Several different POV's, so it got a little confusing. Was it entertaining? To a degree, yes. Would I read more from the author? Perhaps.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being left freely.

3.5/
This was a fun, fast-paced thriller that is definitely geared more toward younger readers, but was still enjoyable. Keeping track of how the characters were all connected/related was more burdensome than with some others, but I appreciated the dual POV and flashbacks to the original murder. I was pretty nervous that a huge plot point was not going to be addressed and, while I appreciate it being handled, it was rushed and weird.

Thanks to Netgalley & Penguin Group for the eARC!

I couldn’t get into the YA dialogue in this one, the premise sounded interesting enough but I couldn’t get into the plot.

17 years ago at Camp Lost Lake murders took place and a child was born. Reagan and her mother have been in hiding ever since because her mother was accused of the crime. Olivia was born that night and wants answers from the past. Camp Lost Lake is reopening and Reagan and Olivia are going back. Their lives collide and chaos erupts. This was an edge of your seat read with plenty of twists and turns that I couldn’t hardly put down. Thanks NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP for this eARC that will be released June 25,2024!

I read this in one sitting! I really enjoyed it, I couldn’t put it down. Definitely would read other books by this author, this was my first. I was surprised by the ending and would recommend this book to anyone who’s interested in YA thrillers. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the advanced copy.

Two Sides To Every Murder by Danielle Valentine when Olivia goes back to lost Lake she doesn’t remember being there the first time it was where she was born and where all the law about her family started but when she found out that her dad wasn’t her dad it made her a question not only her life but her heritage and bloodline so now she is back trying to put the puzzle pieces together but what Olivia doesn’t know is there’s a whole lot of the puzzle she has no clue about. Reagan is also heading out to lost Lake because all her life she’s been on the run with her mom who was accused of the murders at the camp and she cannot reckon that with the mother she knows and loves. OK let me just say this book started really strong and having have red delicate condition I couldn’t wait to read this one because I loved that one now having said that I do want to say wants a romance triangle started I really wanted to DNF the book and after getting to the ending and I do want to say I was totally shocked by who the killer was but not enough to rate this any higher than three stars. I love yeah teen horror but found this one to be very immature I thought the girls actions both of them were very questionable I did love the premise and part of the ending but a lot of the ending not so much. I wish I could say but I cannot as I don’t want to ruin the book. As I said I loved delicate condition and thought that was a great read and I will definitely read another book by this author knowing she is capable of great books but only recommend this one with a read at your own risk warning. I did think Reagan and Olivia were definitely characters you can root for I love the whole which at the lake scenario but the love triangle and part of the ending was just to be ridiculous along with some of their dialogue. I want to thank G. P. Putnam books for young readers for my free arc copy via NetGalley. Please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

First of all, thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the advanced copy of this book.

This YA thriller is a must read for someone who enjoys a good thriller. It kept me guessing who the witch was and if people who were supposed to be dead were truly dead. Some of my predictions were right while some were wrong.

I WAS trying to stick to only queer texts for June and Pride Month, but this book has intrigued me for weeks and #NetGalley just approved me for an ARC. Here's Danielle Valentine's "Two Sides To Every Murder."

["Most people’s births aren’t immortalized in a police report—but Olivia was born during the infamous Camp Lost Lake murders. Seventeen years later, Olivia’s life looks pretty perfect . . . until she discovers the man she calls dad is not her biological father. Now she wants answers about her bloodline, and the only place she knows to look is Camp Lost Lake.

Most people don’t spend their formative years on the run with an alleged murderer—but Reagan did. In the court of public opinion, her mom was found guilty of the deaths at Camp Lost Lake, and both of them have been in hiding ever since. But Reagan believes in her mother’s innocence and is determined to clear her name.

Luckily for Olivia and Reagan, Camp Lost Lake is finally reopening, providing the perfect opportunity to find answers. But someone else is dead set on keeping the past hidden, even if it means committing murder."]

For starters, because I have to get this out, these lovely ladies are 16/17. And I knooooow its 2024, but when the opening chapter (when the og murders took place) said that it was 2008.. (x_x) God, that seems like only a handful of years ago, not 16/17, but Ooookay.

I loooove how Olivia got a chapter, Reagan got a chapter, and then someone from 2008 got a chapter (it kept alternating between suspects and victims and seemingly unrelated people). It really helped drive the novel forward.

As did the sheer NUMBER of suspects in this thing. Each time you're like "Ha! THAT person did it! I'm sure of it!" Danielle (the author) introduces yet another person who has sketchy motives or a sketchy past or a less than coincidental connection. Loved that for us. ;)

And the plot twists? Don't get me started on the plot twists. My freaking god, those plot twists. Some were predictable, but some were just straight up :O vibes (its 2008, yes I'm adding emoticons).

Quote of the Day: "Here's a thing not enough people talk about: thinking you might die doesn't actually make you less horny."

Also, turns out, there was a bit of gay in here after all. <3

#twosidestoeverymurder #daniellevalentine #thriller #yathriller #murdermystery #yamurdermystery #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks