Two Sides to Every Murder is a fast-paced, cheesy thriller set in the woods. The story is primarily told through the eyes of two teenage girls, Reagan and Olivia. One has lived nearby her entire life. The other has been on the run with her mother, who is wanted for murders there at Camp Lost Lake sixteen years before. When they get close to finding the truth about the murders, they find that someone is hunting them with intent to kill.
The events of the book take place in a few hours, which is always a plus for suspense. Despite their differences, I kept losing track of whether I was reading Reagan or Olivia's point of view. And there were reveals which weren't used to their potential. The biggest reveal would have fit amazingly with the cheesy slasher theme if the girls had used it to their advantage. Instead, it's just used to muddle the romance and for cutesy moments.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for this advance read.

Thank younto NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

This camp setting was perfect for this book. I lovedvthe cast of characters and the twists a turns.

The book kept me interested from start to finishe. Just when I was sure I had it figured out I would second guess myself.

Will be looking for more from this author.

Recommend.

As a woman who first saw “Friday the 13th” at a slumber party back in the ‘80s, I love a murder camp story.”Two sides to Every Murder” is a fun addition to the trope.

Everyone knows the story of Camp Lost Lake, where a killer clad in an old witch mask killed several people, forcing the camp to shut down. The suspected killer disappeared; the camp director gave birth in the parking lot— and now a podcast has raised interest in the mystery, just as a woman plans to open a business on the property.

Two teen girls, one the daughter of the accused killer, the other the baby born that murderous night, find their lives converging at the camp. Did police overlook evidence? And just who is the person seen skulking through the woods?

I read “Two Sides to Every Murder” in one sitting after planning to read a couple chapters before bedtime. A few hours later, I was rushing through the last pages. There were a couple twists I didn’t catch, and it was a worthwhile book to read in the dark in the faint light of my Kindle.

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

I don't even want to spend too much time reviewing this. It was utterly awful. Contrived, cliche, and completely unimpressive. I can't even recommend this as a good afternoon read sure to entertain. It was just not good.

Pretty good mystery! Some parts were predictable but still had lots of twists!
The characters were complex and this turned quickly from amateur sleuthing to thriller 😳
Think the movie Totally Killer minus the time travel & comedy lol
Olivia got on my nerves a bit. In fact, her whole family was pretty selfish but it didn't take away from me enjoying the plot and story.
We get snippets of the past while the girls investigate what happened and things were pretty twisted 😅
And that ENDING 💀
There's going to be a sequel, right? It can't end like THAT 😫 haha
Overall, really good and even a hint of romance among the chaos. For those who are into it, there's also LGBTQ rep too 👍

*Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

Okay, Danielle Valentine knows how to write a horror novel. There are so many red herrings, characters with questionable motivations, and a twin twist. A TWIN TWIST!! I guessed one of the big reveals, but was pleasantly surprised by the huge ending. I think she can't NOT do a cliffhanger ending. But honestly I love it, so no complaints. This book gives Friday the 13th vibes, only instead you're being stalked by an archer in a witch mask. The pure ridiculousness of it all makes it that much more thrilling. I wish we'd gotten a little bit of an epilogue, but c'est la vie.

This story felt very generic to me - it is about a camp where 16 years ago murders took place and we are now back at the camp where it is being turned into a different space where **gasp** murders start happening again.

This story has two povs (Olivia & Reagan) they are both at this camp for different reasons - Olivia to help her sister clean up and Reagan to find evidence proving her mother did not in fact commit the murders 16 years ago. We also get flashbacks of the events leading up to the murders in the past

There were a couple of twists that I felt weren't all that shocking and could be seen fairly early on. The one positive to this story is how quickly it moves - we get right into the action.

The characters aren't very likable and there are only about 2 victims during the story.

It's also very possible I am too old for this book as it is YA and I am 35 years old :)

I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. This book was kind of like The Parent Trap if the parents weren’t their parents and people got murdered. I liked how the author pulled in subtle hints at their other books that connected them. Thoroughly enjoyable and a quick little Sunday afternoon read.

This book was so fun! Even though it is a thriller I found the characters’ family secrets and relationships to be much more interesting. I loved learning about their pasts with the characters. As for the thriller part, it was also good and I didn’t guess many of the twists!

I finished this campy, mystery thriller in one day... The twist was slightly predictable, but it was fun theorizing the girls' true parentage and also the true killer. The pacing was a bit off, with things ramping up quickly, and I think I would've liked less background characters if it meant we could flesh out our main character's best friends and immediate family. This was a fun ride, Danielle's YA books always keeps my attention until the very end, and I love the fun references to her previous novel "How to Survive Your Murder."

I really wanted to love this book. I figured out who the bad guy/girl was about half way through. I definitely enjoyed the characters in this book and the relationship between Reagan and Olivia. Looking forward to her next boo. Thanks to net gallery and the publisher for this e-ARC.

4.5 stars

Thank you to Penguin Teen Canada for providing me with a gifted ARC to read. All thoughts and opinions are my own honest review.

CWs: blood, murder, injury, pregnancy

Wow this was a great take on the YA horror slasher. I’m loving that books like this are becoming more popular, and I think this one was done really well.
I liked that the chapters switched not only between Olivia and Reagan’s first-person POVs, but also a third-person POV of characters who were present in the lead-up to and the night of the original murders. This let me pick up on clues, and I successfully figured out the murderer, and some of the plot twists. This didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the story, and in fact I was excited that I’d gotten it right.
Olivia and Reagan are both looking for answers at Camp Lost Lake, and they found their answers. The story was twisty and engaging, and there was tension throughout because we didn’t know who to trust.
The pacing was really good, and the short chapters moved quickly. I flew through this one and didn’t want to put it down. The writing style was easy to follow.
I’d highly recommend this one to fans of horror and YA slasher-inspired reads.

I could not put this book down! I greatly enjoyed the characters of Olivia and Reagan and was rooting for them throughout. While I thought some of the twists were obvious it did not take away any of the enjoyment from the book.

There are always two sides to every story...and murder. This one is a dual timeline about murders that happened 16 years prior and present day where the same thing is happening again.

Reagan is on the run with her mom because she was accused of the murders 16 years prior at Camp Lost Lake and the camp is reopening so she is headed there to find some answers. She wants to prove that her mom is innocent in all of this.

This one has some super suspenseful moments and more deaths than you would expect. I was guessing up until the end but the ending left me wanting more! We can predict what happened in the final scene but I wish we could have gotten a little more from what all happened after one of the major events in the story!

4.5

Thriller readers take note: Danielle Valentine's TWO SIDES TO EVERY MURDER will be out on June 25, 2024! I read an advance copy of this young adult novel through NetGalley. This fast-paced mystery/thriller features two female protagonists: Olivia, who's searching for the identity of her biological dad and Reagan, whose mom was the only suspect in three murders that took place years ago at Camp Lost Lake. Now that Camp Lost Lake is reopening, both teens are drawn to the location in hopes of finding answers. Arrows fly and the chase is on as the killer will do anything to keep the truth from coming out. While I had an idea of the killer's identity as I read, there were many layers to unravel, which kept me hooked. The end includes a double twist (which I didn't guess at all) and an unusual wrap-up.

Wow, it really took me on a whirlwind trip back to Camp Lost Lake. Following Olivia, born amid a notorious murder spree, and Reagan, whose mom was accused of those crimes, the setup promised a juicy thriller filled with deep, dark secrets. The camp setting? Perfect for stirring up the old horror vibes reminiscent of classic slashers.

As the girls dig into the past, the danger escalates, making for some genuinely tense moments. However, I must admit, the plot twists were more predictable than I hoped, and the romantic subplot felt a bit like filler, detracting from the main thrill. Despite guessing some of the twists early, the overall journey kept me engaged enough to keep turning pages.

Valentine has a knack for creating an atmospheric setting, and her depiction of Camp Lost Lake did not disappoint. But, the last twist felt unnecessary and somewhat overdone, leaving me with mixed feelings about the ending.

Overall, it's a solid 3 out of 5 stars for me. "Two Sides to Every Murder" serves up classic camp scares with a modern twist, even if it doesn't completely reinvent the wheel.

Let me kick things off by saying that diving into "How to Survive Your Murder" was a wild ride, and the ending? Well, let's just say it knocked me sideways in the best possible way.

Now, while this one might not have hit all the high notes I was anticipating, it still held its own as a solid read. Sure, I managed to suss out a few plot twists, but hey, credit where it's due, right? As for the characters, I was left yearning for a bit more depth.

Overall, it was an engaging journey that I found myself immersed in. Huge thanks to Danielle Valentine and her incredible team for the ARC, and a tip of the hat to NetGalley for opening the door to this intriguing novel!

A great, short read about the horrific events at a camp in the woods. The story has many twist and turns, which lead the reader into a web of deception. But in uncovering the truth, the girls encounter danger of another sort. Great story with a shocking ending. I will look for more stories by this author and stay away from camps in the woods!

I can honestly say Danielle Valentine is becoming one of my favorite authors. This book was SO good and thrilling that I read it in one sitting.

I can't even count how many twists and turns there were in this book, and it all was connected so beautifully. The author really did a fantastic job of linking so many things together that the reader would have never guessed. I tried to think of something constructive to say, and came up blank. I absolutely loved this book and am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to review this! Thank you to Netgalley & Penguin Group for allowing me to read this incredible ARC.

Thanks so much to Penguin Teen amd NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was genuinely so different from my usual reads that I think that made me enjoy it more? You follow several characters, but mainly two: Olivia and Reagan, at a summer camp in the woods called Lost Lake. Sixteen years ago, a triple homicide occurred at the camp that causes it to be shut down for good, but now, Olivia's older sister is trying to re-open it in a different capacity for her company. Olivia is the former camp director's daughter, born at the camp on the day of the murders. Reagan is the daughter of the main suspect/fugitive, who escaped and was never found, and has returned trying to clear her mom's name.

This was a short read, but fairly entertaining if you're looking for that summer camp horror movie you've been missing out on since Friday the 13th. I enjoyed the flashbacks to the time leading up to/day of the murder from the victim's perspective, and while I did manage to figure out about halfway through who the Witch of Lost Lake was, I thought the way we got there wad a little far-fetched. But that's horror movies, right? And the twist at the end (the very very end, that is), I honestly didn't see coming and I need to know what happened next!

This was a really quick and entertaining read that started off with a bang, and didn't slow down until the very end. I had a good time and gave it 4 stars!