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You’re Dead to Me
Author: Amy Christine Parker
Source: NetGalley
Publication Date: Dec. 10, 2024

This story is set in the great state of Florida, where Gators roam the swamp. Our lead protagonist is senior high school student Ruby, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks attending an exclusive high school as a scholarship student. In YA books, scholarship students are bullied for being poor, and Ruby feels scorned. Ruby gets payback by starting a TikTok page that reveals some of the deadly small-town secrets of the wealthy and elite. But when her ownership of the gossip girl’s post is uncovered, she is targeted for death. Think Carrie meets Gossip Girl in a gator-infested swamp town, where prom is held on a private island. Phew. It was a good story, but I wasn’t sure what the paranormal part of the story was all about. One thing is sure: someone will not come out alive from this Prom. #YoureDeadToMe #mystery #thriller #teens #YA #murder #poorVsRich #Horror #YoungAdult #meangirls @netgalley @delacortepress
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I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the opportunity to read this novel.
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Thank you to PRH and netgalley for the eARC.

I really enjoyed this book. I don't normally read horror, but this was pretty well done. I will say you suspend your beliefs a little bit as some real unorthodox and unbelievable things are happening (besides the supernatural stuff). However, my teenage self would have been in love with this book!

Ruby, a scholarship senior at Oleander High School has a chip on her shoulder and an attitude to match—which she puts to good use as the infamous local anonymous gossip blogger ReputationKiller. When she’s outed as the voice behind the account, the entire school turns against her.
But after she’s scared witless by a vision of her own ghost dressed in a blood-splattered prom dress, she is faced with an awful truth. Someone out there doesn’t just hate her—they want her dead. With less than a week until the prom, Ruby starts investigating. Turns out Oleander Bay isn’t the picture-perfect resort town it appears to be. With so many secrets, scandals, and people hell-bent on covering them up at all costs, the murderer could be anyone. Can Ruby beat the clock counting down to prom—and her death—and survive the night?

This fast paced YA thriller is perfect for fans of Karen McManus and Sara Shepard. There is also the paranormal aspect for the paranormal mystery fans out there. There is a wide cast of characters everything from from ones to root for (Ruby) and plenty to dislike. The mystery kept me guessing until almost the very end. Overall this is a solid 3.5 rounded up to a 4.

I enjoyed this, although there was nothing necessarily shocking, it kept me fully entertained throughout the story. The paranormal aspect added something different to the story. If someone has YA age readers in their household, I think this would be a good read for them.

Thanks to NetGalley for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a true suspend belief thriller that’s YA. It was wildly unrealistic with kids living in hotels to serial killers running wild. It was a pretty chaotic read and not in a good way sadly

First i would like to give a huge thank you to Random House Children's and Netgalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.


3 stars


If you want a story that is Gossip Girl, Haunting of Hill House (the Netflix series) and Happy Death Day all rolled up into one this is the book for you!

Scholarship Private school Senior, Ruby has been running an anonymous gossip blog ReputationKiller exposing the popular group one member at a time in scandalous ways sometimes leading to other getting taken down with them. That is until until her own ghost corners her scaring her bad enough to accidentally leave her burner phone holding all thing ReputationKiller in a public location getting her caught. Seeing her own murdered ghost (in a prom dress no less) makes her realize people out there may just more then hate her but even want her dead.

With less then a week until Prom Ruby must figure out who is going to kill her and how to stop it. Things arent going to be as easy as it was before when no one knew who she was now that her identity has been posted all over the internet including who her future targets were going to be. Her perfect resort town is discovered to have many secrets, scandals, and people hell-bent on covering them up at all costs, the murderer could be anyone. To make the rick higher there is a killer going around dubbed The Mannequin Man that has been killing people around town getting closer and closer to where Ruby lives leading to a town curfew.

Can Ruby beat the clock counting down to prom- and her death- and survive the night? Will what she discovers along the way make her change all her plans or encourage her even more and solving this case.

You're Dead to Me by Amy Christine Parker is a whirl wind ride of horror. I couldn't put down this YA novel following high school outcast and anonymous social media gossip Ruby, who comes face-to-face with her own ghost dressed in a blood-splattered prom dress. With less than a week until the dance, Ruby must unmask her killer—or die trying.
The plot was interesting and well done, it made me hungry for more.
I was honestly so into the book and couldn't stop reading it.

“The awful truth is, if a man is rich or powerful enough, no one seems to call him on how utterly nasty it is to go after girls so much younger than he is.”

I love the song titles as chapter titles! I found myself singing the songs out loud as each chapter began. Other than that, though, I was on the struggle bus with this one. It started with a bang and I was very invested very quickly. And then the craziness started and it was a wee bit too off the rails for me.

If you are able to suspend a lot of belief then I think you’ll enjoy this! The horror aspect was well done and the adolescent friendships were authentic and heartwarming.

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House Children’s, and the author for the ARC.

I kid you not, this book had me hooked. I don't read horror thriller often, so this was a nice start for me to explore the genre in depth. Now, I liked the setting a lot - what with the whole concept of #eattherich being enacted by killing their reputation. The revenge arc was also pretty amazing. However, I must say, whenever Ruby made a stupid decision, I was ready to strangle her. What do you mean you are putting not only yourself in danger but also your besties? God forbid if anything happened to them.

There were some things that were a little off-putting. Especially how Ruby would call her mom, in the text, by her first name. Like, excuse me? (I think this might just be a cultural thing but oh gosh it bothered me a lot) Also, the whole paranormal thing would have been executed in a better fashion. Otherwise, the setting and the friendship really kept me going and I would surely recommend this book just for the emotions!

Thank you to NetGalley for this digital ARC.

3.5⭐️ YA thriller (if I was in HS I would probably rate this higher) with a supernatural touch and gossip girl level drama. This was entertaining and incredibly unbelievable, which added to the campy horror vibe of the story. If you want prom combined with a serial killer and horrible rich people this is the book for you.

This was an absolutely fun and creepy read! I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. This screamed I Know What You Did Last Summer plus Gossip Girl for me, and I had a lot of fun with this. My favorite part was any time the ghost showed up, and the author's pacing of that among the teen Veronica-Mars-style detective storyline were done so well. This book started off strong and stayed on that throughout, and just when you thought all was said and done - the author hit with a last bit action that rounded out this book so great.

Just go into this already - it was such a fun YA read. The book had great relationships, mysteries, scary moments, great friendships, and stuck through well with the development of characters. I can safely say I'm now an absolute fan of this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for a copy of this ARC. All opinions are my own.

📖: You're Dead to Me-a standalone

✍️ By: Amy Christine Parker-new to me author

📃 Page Count: 361 eBook

🗓️ Publication Date: 12-10-24 | Read 12-3-24

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, Random House Children| Delacorte Press, and Amy Christine Parker for this ARC ❤️! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions expressed are my own.

🌎Setting: Oleander Bay, FL

Genre: YA, Mystery, Horror

Tropes: revenge plot, small town, ghosts, dark academia

☝🏾POV: 1st person, single

⚠️TW: murder, bullying, serial killer, blackmail

💭Summary: Ruby is out to expose the misdeeds of the elite. She anonymously posts about the town's wealthiest families and their dark secrets. She wants justice from all their coverups and payoffs, but when she's exposed the town turns against her as she tries to foil a murder plot.

🚺Heroine: Ruby Tooler-18, scholarship student @ Oleander Bay Academy runs anonymous gossip blog "Reputation Killer" about the town elites' bad deeds. Her family runs Wonderpark resort for tourists included with an alligator pit.

🎭Side cast:

•Anton + Xavier-Ruby's BFFs, dating each other

• Magnus Bennett-part of school's most popular, wealthy, and entitled students of the "Bling Brigade." His father is a divorce lawyer Phillip Bennett

• Alexander Duquette-Ruby's crush who defends her against bullying. His parents own The Duquette social club where he lives alone.

•Nadine-Ruby's mother owns restaurant Nadine's Place @ Wonderpark. Ruby's biological father was a one-night stand that caused Nadine's divorce from her abusive husband, Stephen. She has a new boyfriend Hunter already moved in, who wants her to sell the park.

• Daphne-Alexander just broke up w/ her, but she still wants him. Her parents are Lizze and Ethan Cartwright.

• Detective Lombardo-investigating the Mannequin Man case


🤔My Thoughts: This gave off movie vibes from Heathers, Scream, and a little Carrie. Ruby uncovered Oleander's top-notch citizens' secrets that hurt people who didn't get justice. She was an amateur sleuth who saw first-hand the devastation of her actions. Magnus went through a lot with his father, and didn't deserve what happened to him. Daphne was a sympathetic character too because her family was ruined by scandal. Ruby's friends Alexander, Anton, and Xavier stuck with her through everything, and I loved the YA romance. Ruby and her mother's relationship went through it too because Ruby hated the men Nadine dated, and rightly so!

Range of emotions: 😬🤔🙄
🌶️: Spice 1/5-kissing only
😭: Emotion 4/5
❤️: Couple 4/5
⭐️: Rating 4/5

After being outed as the anonymous blogger who has ruined the reputations of many of the elite students at her Florida prep school, Ruby faces more than just the animosity of her peers. She is being haunted by herself-a ghost from the future-complete with torn and bloody prom dress. She's racing against time to try to solve what might happen to her before prom--all while dealing with an unsolved murder spree happening in her community. An interesting premise for a fast0-moving mystery. Hand this to fans of Tiffany D. Jackson or even Stephen King.

This is the story of Ruby, who has a business of ruining people's reputations. We follow her as she makes her last "hit" and then starts seeing supernatural things.
I think that there are going to be many people who love this book but it will definitely not be for everyone. I think that the characters are decently fleshed out, but at 33% in I am fed up with Ruby and the ways she is willing to put herself and her friends in danger.

Thank you, NetGalley and Delacorte Press, for allowing me to read this book early.

This story had a lot going on. This was entertaining and initially I was really enjoying it, but there was just so much happening that nothing really got the screen time it needed. As the story progressed, there was just so much happening that it made me disinterested in the characters and what was going on. I think that if the author focused in on a few major things that they wanted to talk about/have happen, then the narrative and plot would be much more compelling and keep you hooked through to the end.

This was a super entertaining YA Horror, it felt like Gossip Girl meets Scream. A lot of it felt a bit unrealistic but that's not unusual for this genre so it didn't bother me. I really liked the alligator amusement park!

This is a fantastic YA mystery! The setting of the Everglades is almost its own character, it’s very vibrant and creates an even stronger sense of tension, as the swamp plays into the mystery. I also liked the horror element woven into the piece, alongside the typical YA mystery tropes. The Wonderpark was also a unique and interesting setting that I really enjoyed.

The pacing and twists were well-done, and while I guessed one of them, I didn’t guess the other. I do always love being surprised!! I also thought Ruby was an engaging and interesting main character, and I enjoyed the take on the prep school environment.

I would say that some of the side characters did not feel very well-defined, despite playing a significant role in the story. I also thought there were some dropped threads, particularly surrounding Ruby’s past and the loss of her grandparents. I also felt that more threads could have been pulled together at the end. Overall though, this is tense and spooky and engaging. If you like other such YA mystery authors like Holly Jackson and Karen McManus, you’ll really like this book!!

This book is a crazy ride. I love Ruby. Having her being faced by her ghost throughout the story adds a dynamic spooky feeling and has some lovely foreshadowing. Ruby is just a unique character so true to who she is and someone who wants justice for those she deems have wronged others no matter the cost. What I love is that throughout the story Ruby finally sees that not every story is one-sided. Readers are going to get swept away by this story and I can’t wait to recommend it.
Thank you so very much to Random House Children’s and Netgalley for allowing me read an advance copy of this title.

I need to figure out where to begin; this book was a wild ride from start to finish. Ruby Toller begins seeing her dead ghost everywhere. She's unsure why but is determined to figure it out and stop it all costs along with her best friends Anton and Xavier. I loved their friendship. Its beautiful 🥰they provided Ruby with some much-needed laughter when things were getting tough. There were so many players in this scheme that you can't help but wonder if any other clues were missed. Alexander was a really lovely addition to Ruby's friend group, and I loved that he was so open with his feelings and didn't hesitate to help whenever he could.

That one secret revealed towards the end was not something I had expected, but I had a slight suspicion about it.

Thanks to the Publisher and Net Galley for allowing me to read this story!

Thank you NetGalley! I loved the premise of this book, what a different kind of story. It started out great and kept me entertained. But it fell flat with too much going on. I didn’t totally love the paranormal parts as much