I can’t believe the is a YA Thriller! This book has the small-town high school drama, the rich kids with lake houses, and a few suspicious deaths. I was not expecting the ending at all!
Lauren moves to a new small-town right before her senior year starts. She was more than happy to leave her past behind and move somewhere new when her mom found a new boyfriend across the country. She learns very quickly who the handsome and wealthy Cresmont Brothers are and their questionable reputation in town after each of the Cresmont’s girlfriends have been found dead within the same year. Lauren should stay about but she can’t help it.
The narrator was fantastic! I could not stop listening!
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the arc of The One That Got Away With Murder!

Thank you MacMillan Audio for the review copy of The One That Got Away with Murder. I enjoyed a lot of this audiobook as a solid suspenseful YA thriller. I admit, I basically did figure out the plot but that didn't impact the story much for me.

Big Thoughts:
1. This is a well crafted story though I felt the main character's backstory was a little confusing/hard to get a grasp on; it was revealed slowly but I am not sure the slow reveal was really needed and if the backstory really made sense to the current story other than a few general elements and also just a general sense of trauma.

2. I am not a teen and never a teen athlete and while I understand that teens do a lot of experimentation, I could not wrap my head around a seemingly elite level soccer player smoking a pack a day... Little details like this made sense to some parts of the character but also did not make sense (and I am not sure how many youth today smoke packs of cigarettes versus vape but that's a quibble). For me when details start to not make sense my engagement decline.

3. There is a style/tone shift later in the book that.. didn't work for me. It was jarring on audio and didn't seem necessary to the story. The voice acting was great, well done, but it was a device that I didn't enjoy as the writing style shifted and I didn't quite understand the resolution between what was happening and the concluding chapters.

So a 3 star book for me because I enjoyed a lot of it but it also didn't quite work. As someone who lived in State College PA for a few years I also have some quibbles with details in the book (the waffle shop is not a late night post party place for example, I never knew anyone who would have said they live in happy valley but I also was there as a grad student, not as a teen living in the surrounding area...so I might be wrong in my comments in some ways).

A quick and easy high school aged thriller. Death starts hitting too close to home for high school students in The One That Got Away With Murder. Main character Lauren starts at a new school and quickly becomes entangled in the mysterious happenings that have resulted in two dead girls. Lauren struggles to fit in while getting closer to one of the suspected murderers. She begins to dig deeper into the deaths, and chaos starts to ensue. Narration and production was great.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, author Trish Lundy, and NetGalley for providing me the ALC in exchange for my honest review. This audiobook will be released on April 16, 2024.

3.5 STARS

Genre: Upper YA Mystery-Thriller

Brief Summary: A new girl has moved to Happy Valley. Lauren O’Brian begins a new year at a new school and starts a casual relationship with the infamous Robbie Crescent. Rumors buzz around about Robbie and his brother being murderers. Lauren wonders if this might be true, while also dealing with her own personal baggage and secrets.

I found the book’s pacing at the beginning odd. The author skipped the introductory portions of the new girl experience and beginning of the school year. At first I was worried because I didn’t feel that invested in the characters, but the author did have us get to know them as the plot progressed. By the second half, I was really enjoying the chaotic amateur investigation as well as Lauren’s effort to deal with having a new soon-to-be stepdad.

This is the variety of YA where the teenagers are partying, hooking up, doing drugs, and fairly independent. Our female protagonist is a mess, in that she is having to deal with a lot on multiple fronts of her life. The teen drama overwhelms the mystery-thriller plot—or maybe just gives the plot a distinctive flavor.

The second half gets good! The twists were fun and interesting (although they weren't cleverly set up or foreshadowed unless I majorly missed things). I'm interested in seeing what Trish Lundy might write in the future.

NARRATION: Helen Laser and Joshua Quinn give solid performances. The texture and quality of their voices seemed appropriate for their characters’ ages.

So I actually really enjoyed this especially for a YA thriller because it had a more mature vibe but the audio was fantastic. It kept me hooked and it went so fast! It was a good length that kept me engaged and wanting more. It felt a little anticlimactic and I totally figured out whodunnit but STILL I really liked it for a good distraction!

Publication date: April 16th, 2024
Page number: 384
Audio length: 9 hours 30 minutes
Narrator: Helen Laser, Joshua Quinn
Genre: domestic thriller
POV: multiple
Setting: Pennsylvania

Teens with secrets. Other teens turn up dead.

Twists and turns keep you guessing- until the very end!


Thank you to author, publisher, NetGalley for advanced audio copy. This is an honest voluntary review.

Man I love a good who done it! The bodies are adding up and two brothers are the prime suspects. If date one, you’ll be next or that’s what they say. They both proclaim to be innocent but with a big time lawyer for a dad are they really? Well one brother is determined to set the record straight. If they are not to blame then who is? This book will hook you and keep you turning the pages. The twists are mind blowing! I’m so glad I read this! Thank you for allowing me the opportunity.

I loved the narration with this one. This is a little more spicy than your typical YA novel but it is indeed a YA thriller. Our girl is hooking up with a hot volunteer at her mom's work. She is new in town after a fire at her last school burnt her boyfriend to a crisp.
She is working to make new friends but she also ends up in the middle of some awful murder mysteries.
I think one kid died in in my high school and it isn't a tiny school district. This poor school is dealing with multiple deaths. I feel for the teachers and students.
I had a great experience listening to this.

This is a dark teen thriller with 3D characters and twists you don't see coming!

Premise - a new girl with a dark secret in her past moves to a new town for a fresh start. She falls for a charming rich boy... only to learn that said boy and his brother have an unfortunate streak of luck. Their exes tend to die. Yikes! Is she next?

The twists were twisty and I thought the bad guy of the story was well-done. It sent a warning for any parents reading this, as well as a warning for kids in a similar situation. Sometimes it's good to be a little cautious and have that worry disproved, rather than trusting too soon and having a disaster happen.

The dark secret, on the other hand, was too built up for me - when we finally learn what it is, it was so anticlimactic after all it was talked up to be. I thought this girl collected severed heads under her bed or something and then it turned out to be quite mundane, something that wouldn't have ruined her life in the current climate.

Note: some adult fans of YA like the category for its generally 'cleaner' content and this is not one of these. There's rampant drug abuse, alcohol abuse by minors, teenage sex, and a sprinkle of self-harm. It mostly served the story (at times it felt a little excessive to me, but not too too voyeuristic) so I didn't mind, but just something for YA readers to be aware of.

📚 Series or Standalone: standalone
📚 Genre: thriller
📚 Target Age Group: YA
📚 Cliffhanger: no

✨ Recommended For: fans of 'One of Us is Lying'

💕 Characters: 4/5
💕 Writing: 4/5
💕 Plot: 4/5
💕 Pacing: 4/5
💕 Unputdownability: 4/5
💕 Enjoyment: 4/5
💕 Book Cover: 4/5

Thanks, NetGalley and Henry Holt, for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars rounded up! I really, really enjoyed this book. It is so fast paced and kept me guessing from start to finish. The story never drags, and keeps the reader/listener engaged throughout. I genuinely had no idea what was truly going on until it was revealed. I LOVE unpredictable twists in a thriller, and this book definitely delivered. Lauren is likeable and the narrator delivers the dialogue in this book perfectly. I highly recommend this book!

Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this advance copy!