This is a pretty standard thriller that kept my interest but might not be one I remember over the years. It's easy to binge and I liked the mystery aspect. The narrator did well and voiced the characters in a way that kept my attention.

Nearly 10 years ago, on Christmas Eve, several grad students lives were changed forever and 3 of them wouldn't see Christmas morning. The book follows one of the survivors who's with a secret as news of a film to be made about that night breaks.
Ultimately, I enjoyed this book. I liked That we had somewhat of an unreliable narrator in Charlie. Her infrequent blackouts and the use of her therapy sessions to build tension throughout the story was great. There were many parts that felt predictable, although I was pleased with the final twist.
Unfortunately, this book suffered from pretty rich white people with problems.

I had high hopes for this book. I’m a librarian and I ordered a copy for the library. I couldn’t wait to read it so I went ahead found the ARC. The story follows Charlotte Colbert, who survived a multi-murder at her fancy grad school. She is obviously traumatized, but she is also whiny, selfish, and absolutely unbearable to listen to. I was expecting more of a thriller, but this is mostly a super long stream of consciousness following every annoying thought and word that Charlotte thinks and says. It was kind of confusing and hard to follow, there was not much character development, and I wanted to put it down multiple times but decided to press on anyway.

In the end, it was not the best or worst book I’ve ever read. The plot was interesting, and there were some twists along the way, but it ultimately fell flat.

I was so invested in the story for the first half, but then it started to lose me. There were some parts that were really good and made me want to keep reading, but by the end I just wanted to be done with it. I'm sure the story telling will get better as other books come out.

Keeping track of the characters was difficult when there was no real meaningful character development coupled with choppy writing. The audiobook narration was irritatingly hard to follow with the cringey change in accents. The twists weren’t anything memorable or thrilling.

This book definitely won’t be for everyone, but if you’re looking for a very slow burn storyline with multiple characters and timelines - this might be the one for you. I’d recommend reading it over listening though as it’s very hard to follow via audio.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an ARC audiobook in exchange for my honest review. And since I’m being honest I want to say that this audiobook would have been a DNF if it hadn’t have been an ARC that I felt like I had to finish in order to review. I felt the characters were flat, I couldn’t even remember who was who. This definitely wasn’t a thriller in my opinion, it was more drama. A very slow burn drama, so slow I thought it could have been about 3 hours to get the story across. I didn’t care for the narrator, I felt her voice was whispery and it was irritating, I wish she would have just talked normal. Even so, the story itself was boring so me not caring for the narrator doesn’t effect the star rating. Everyone has different opinions, but unfortunately this one was not for me. Sorry Charlie, but I don’t care about your past or the movie being made that forces you to go back to it.

On a positive note, this line made me laugh:
“On your birthday, you get cake. You know that”

This was very resonate of Luckiest Girl Alive. They seemed very similar. But i struggled with this one. Partly because the narration was hard to follow and the accent changing frequently. The time changes and things. This one just wasn’t for me

Thank you for the ARC. I could not finish the book because the narration pained me. The frequency and intensity of voice alterations combined with the pitch was overwhelming.

Everyone Who Can Forgive Me is Dead by Jenny Hollander had me engaged the whole time. I used the audiobook version from MacMillian Audio, narrated by Marisa Calin. Her tone of voice kept me engaged. She did well in how she delivered the book to the audience.

Charlie Colbert is a successful magazine editor who had to rebuild her life from a traumatic event that happened nine years ago, known as Scarlet Christmas. Charlie's life was forever changed after a tragedy that took some of her college friends' lives. Throughout the book, Charlie is trying to figure out what happened that night as she blacked out. She feels she was the cause of why so many people were dead. On the 10th anniversary, a movie is supposed to be coming out to bring light to what happens, and this throws Charlie into a tailspin. She doesn't remember much but doesn't want the truth to come out.

As the story develops, you go through different emotions with Charlie, trying to understand what happened all those years ago. In some spots, I thought the book was a little dull and didn't need all the information we were provided. At the start of the book, it was slow. I had to pay close attention to follow what was going on. There was a lot of build-up about the Scarlet Christmas just to be let down. I did not find that part of the book very interesting.

Overall, I thought the book was alright. I don't think it was a terrible read, but I wouldn't pick it up again to re-read it. Thank you, NetGalley and MacMillian Audio, for allowing me to listen to the audiobook and give my review. Thank you, Jenny Hollander, for spending the time to write this book. I look forward to reading other books by you.

what a story! though this book was hard to follow at times, I still enjoyed it. I liked the characters in general and felt badly for the stress Charlie was under, but the character development felt immature and the grad school friend group read more like a late high school or early undergrad friend group. The plot building and timeline flashbacks were generally a bit muddled, but that sometimes made it feel more like a real story, because the body really can shut down and make the brain forget huge chunks of time. Except even the resolution at the end was confusing to me. Charlie's therapist, Noor, was my favorite and the most realistic character. I hated Charlie's finace, Tripp, until the big reveal halfway through the book, but even then I was annoyed that him and Charlie have so many (imo pointless) secrets from each other. My favorite part was when someone said "but they can't forgive me. Everyone who can forgive me is dead." I laughed at that. Marisa Calin's narration and accents were entertaining and another highlight of listening to this story.
Content warning: there were 2 scenes that went into great detail about broken glass and blood that I personally didn't love.
(Thank you to net galley, Jenny Hollander and macmillan audio for sending me the audiobook to review. All thoughts are my own.)

I really wanted to like "Everyone Who Can Forgive Me is Dead".

However, I found it lagged at the beginning and the ending was a hurry up and finish. The pace seemed off for most of the book and the story was trying too hard, but only sometimes (if that makes sense).

I don't want to say that I hated everything about the book. The range of characters were nice, and it did keep me guessing as to where we were going throughout the book.

What I did not like about the book was the main character, Charlie, who I just felt was irritating and obnoxious. I also did not really care for the narrator of this book. Her cadence was off-putting, and I just struggled with her as a narrator in general.

I am thankful for an advanced copy of this book and even though I didn't 100% enjoy it, I am glad I had the opportunity to listen to it.

I have conflicted opinions about this book. I do think the 'thriller' aspect of it works, but a lot of it I was like "why?".

Charlie is a successful magazine editor, engaged to the heir of one of the richest families in NYC, everything is going great, until someone decides to make a movie about the 'Scarlet Christmas', the event that killed three people in her graduate school years.

Most of the book Charlie keeps trying to escape the memories of that day. Then she convinces herself that she was the killer. Well, then you - the reader -thinks 'ok, she was the only person who survived so only she'll know if she was the killer or not', only to find out later that in fact most of her friends are still alive and thriving and the three victims were adjacent to her friend's group. The reveal was so weird.

As a side note, I have to ask "why are all the male spouses always so unbearable in murder mystery books?" Her fiance doesn't really care about **her**, he doesn't even want to know how she is doing.

Thanks to Minotaur books for the gifted copy provided through NetGalley, in exchange for my review.

This dark and twisty thriller focuses on Charlie, a survivor of what the media dubbed Scarlet Christmas when she was in graduate school. Almost ten years later, a former classmate is set to make a movie about the events of that awful night, and Charlie is desperate to a the movie from being made.

I started this one on audio, and had a very tough time getting into it in that format. The story utilizes interviews, articles, and other additions that made it difficult to keep track of where in the timeline I was currently. When I switched over to the ebook, I was able to enjoy the story much more, leading me to give the audio 3 stars nd the ebook 4.

The story is fascinating psychologically, with a main character who just cannot remember several events in the past and who is trying to push past that block and remember the trauma. Charlie is high flying journalist these days with a very rich fiancée who is the heir to a publishing throne, and we see a bit of how the other half attempts to solve their problems.

I found the beginning to be a bit slow, with a much stronger second half. The actual events of the night in question are eventually revealed, and I was surprised by the finale. A good slow burn thriller debut!

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Engaging and entertaining. A recommended purchase for collections where crime and thrillers are popular.

Thank you for a copy of this audiobook. I listened to the audiobook while read the book and I thought it enhanced the storytelling.

Everyone Who Can Forgive Me is Dead had me turning hooked as I wanted to understand what had happened on campus the night of Scarlet Christmas. Charlie has spend every day of the 10 years since the event pushing away the memories she has and more importantly trying to never remember what she has blacked out. As the book progresses we learn through visits to the past what lead up to the horrible night. In the present, Charlies is experiencing extreme anxiety and flashbacks as a result of finding out that a movie is about to be made about the event. As she races to remember what actually happened that night, she become increasingly more desperate and unraveled. I wanted to give Charlie a good shake. She pushed away so many people in her effort to protect herself, but even after 10 years with a therapist it felt like she had not even begun to process the event. There is a big ending twist and the story is wrapped up well. I felt a bit let down with by the reveal however and wished for a little bit more. Overall, this is a fun ride and a fast paced read.

I listened to this one and narrator Marisa Calin was perfect for the part. She portrayed Charlies emotions well and I was immersed in her terror at points.

Thank you Net Galley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Charlie is haunted by the night in her freshman year of college where her friends were murdered, now known to the rest of the public as "scarlet christmas". So as the ten year anniversary comes up, Charlie starts to feel and increase in her ever present anxiety. And when she hears an old friend wanting to make a movie of the night that haunts her, she is sent into a tailspin, and tries to figure out what actually happened that night.

I listened to this novel very quickly, and it kept my attention very well. The story was interesting, but I did find the main character Charlie to be a bit wearing at times. That being said I appreciated the number of twists that happened at the end and how everything became somewhat resolved. I would recommend to anyone that like murder mysteries, or thrillers.

I liked the story, but felt the ending was a little flat. Overall it was a good book and I would recommend it.

I don’t love unreliable narrators because I prefer female characters that are considered a reliable voice for their own experiences. So, with that said, I proceeded with caution and may not be the most ideal reader for this one. 3.5 rounded up.

Charlotte Colbert is woman rebuilding her life nine years after a traumatic event known as “Scarlet Christmas” at her elite graduate school. Back then, a tragedy took place, leaving many dead and Charlie forever marked by her connection to it. She fled the media frenzy and rebuilt her life, becoming a successful editor-in-chief and getting engaged to a prominent figure in the publishing industry.

However, her carefully constructed world begins to crumble when a film made by one of her former classmates threatens to expose the truth about that fateful night. This forces Charlie to confront her long-suppressed memories and unravel the mysteries surrounding Scarlet Christmas. The plot hinges on questions like:
* What truly happened on the night of Scarlet Christmas?
* Was Charlie only a witness, or was she more deeply involved?
* Can she reconcile with the past and find forgiveness, both from herself and others?
* Who can she trust in a world where everyone she knew was affected by the tragedy?
The narrative unfolds through alternating timelines, present-day Charlie navigating the fallout of the film and flashbacks to the events leading up to and following Scarlet Christmas. This structure allows readers to piece together the puzzle alongside Charlie, experiencing her emotional journey of trauma, denial, and ultimately, the possibility of healing.

Nine years ago, Charlie Colbert fled the life she knew and left it behind, never wanting to think of the Christmas Eve she spent in graduate school that the press and public refer to as "Scarlet Christmas”.
Now, she's the editor-in-chief of a major magazine, engaged to the son of the renowned publishing family. When a former class mate makes a film about “Scarlet Christmas” the life Charlie has made for herself is threatened and she will do anything to protect it.

Jenny Hollander’s Everyone Who Can Forgive Me is Dead will have you gripping you seat and biting your nails from the very beginning leaving you dying to find out what will happen next. Marisa Calin does an excellent job with her narration, giving emotional depth to each characters thoughts and dialogue. This is a definite recommend for fans of thrill writers like Ruth Ware and Riley Sager.