🤩 I loved this! 🤩

Omg this was so freaking good. I went into it somewhat blind (which is to say, I read the blurb a while ago & decided I wanted to read it, but when I went back to start reading it, I completely forgot what it was about 🥲). I thought it was a thriller of some kind, but the first part is more so a domestic drama- which I wasn’t sure if I was going to like, but even that was fantastic. When more of the thriller aspect comes to play, I was blown away.

I cried at parts of this; I laughed; I was holding on to the edge of my seat. I just straight up loved this. Talk about a genre-bender! Definitely one of my top reads this year.

𝑾𝒉𝒐 𝑰'𝒅 𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐:
Everyone! Just go in blind, and have a fun time!

Marshall Karp's Don't Tell Me How To Die plunges you into a world where the line between life and death is razor-thin, and the clock is ticking with every pulse. This isn't just a thriller; it's a high-stakes race against time, where every twist and turn reveals a new layer of danger.

Karp masterfully crafts a narrative that crackles with suspense, drawing you into a web of intrigue and deception. The characters are compelling, the plot is intricate, and the pacing is relentless, keeping you on the edge of your seat until the final, heart-stopping revelation.

Don't Tell Me How To Die is a gripping and suspenseful read that will leave you breathless. If you crave a thriller that combines sharp wit with relentless action and a mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end, this is the book for you.

Okay fine. Everyone that said this was five star book was RIGHT. I didn’t know what the hype could possible be about but eventually you get to a point in the book where you realize HOLY SH!T. It was the best moment ever.

I knew from reviews that this thriller would pack an emotional punch and let’s just say it was not the punch I thought it was. It was better!

This book took me on emotional rollercoaster at first and then when there was this shift, I clung to this book for dear life. Definitely one of my favorite books of the year!

Oh and Marshall is awesome and a cool author makes a good book that much better!

This was such a compelling suspenseful gripping story plot! It had me wanting to keep reading and so intrigued! Such a page turner and loved the way it wrapped around.

I don't even know where to begin here. I've never read a book like this. The concept was unique and it was executed brilliantly.

The first third of the book is ugly cried. I lost count of how many times to be honest. The second and third parts kept me absolutely riveted. There's a lot of heart here, beautiful, beautiful heartfelt passages that no one would expect from a book marketed as a thriller. The twists and turns here keep me reeling and I could not put this down.

This is one of those rare books you will wish you could read again for the very first time.

Off to find ever other thing this author has written!

LOVE this book. This was a first for me from this author and i will read more! Story sucked me in and i did not figure out the twist.

I went into this book not really knowing what to expect. I've never read anythng by Marshall Karp before, but the title certainly intrigued me. I am so glad I went for it because WOW! What a fantastically twisted and emotional ride this was. This is NOT your typical psycological thriller by any means, but in the best way possible!!!

This book starts out with a dead body appearing in a lake in the present time, then reverts back in time 26 years ago, when a mother and a wife dies at the age of 43 from a rare blood disease, leaving behind a loving husband and two adoring young teenage daughters. Before she dies, she warns her daughters that their father wil need a new "life partner" and that "women will flock to him like stray cats to an overturned milk truck. I'll die happier knowing the two of you will be there to love him, and watch over him, and...and..." Lizzie says, "Keep the bitches from digging their claws into him." Need I say more?

Fast forward 26 years later, Maggie, the oldest daughter, finds out she too has the same disease her mother had and is facing death in the very near future. Determined to follow in her mother's footsteps, she sets out to find her husband a new wife and from there, so many twists and turns, ups and downs in the very best way! I loved the teenage hijinx between the daughters because it was so true to real life and how they coped with the impending and ultimate loss of their mother. I loved how much they truly loved their father and would do anything for him! Lizzie had several perfectly timed one-liners that made me chuckle. I laughed, I cried and I yelled out loud so many times! Just when you are getting comfortable with what is happening, bam, another twist! You just don't know where this is going, but rest assured, the author ties everything up in a twisty little bow at the end, so you will NOT be disappointed!

I loved the characters so much and I truly enjoyed this twisty and heartfelt story. Highly, highly recommend!!!!

I'm giving this book 5 completely full wine glasses 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷!

Thanks NetGalley, Marshall Karp and Blackstone Publishing for the chance to read an advanced copy. Available now!

This book grabbed me right away with its sharp, addictive pacing and emotional family dynamics. I actually loved the beginning—it felt layered and real, especially the bond between the sisters and their mission to protect their dad.

The premise is unique: Maggie, now a mayor and mother, learns she has the same fatal illness that took her mom and sets out to find the perfect woman to care for her family after she’s gone. It’s heartfelt, with a twist of dark humor that keeps the pages turning.

Some moments did feel a little far-fetched, especially later the twists in the story, but it still entertained me all the way through. It’s like a popcorn thriller with emotional depth—a bit messy at times, but hard to put down.

I would like to thank Blackstone Publishing & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review

Told in dual timelines—Maggie at 17 and again at 43, facing the same rare illness that killed her mom—it was emotional, unpredictable, and full of drama. I wasn’t expecting the wild turns, but I was all in.

A fun, twisty read that earns a solid 5 stars from me. I’ll be keeping an eye out for more from this author!

I would like to thank Blackstone Publishing & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review

4.5 stars, I loved that book!
I really loved the past and present timeline in this and the plot twist completely got me by surprise!
I would say however that this is not much of a thriller but more of a drama (in my own opinion) and the only negative comment I could make is the mention of 9/11. To me it had nothing to do in that book honestly and it was just weird.
Besides that I loved the storyline and the characters, it felt like a really unique story and I might pick up more from this author!
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Damn! Run, don't walk, read this one today. This book kept me on my toes the whole way didn’t disappoint!

Don’t Tell Me How to Die by Marshall Karp is the ultimate mindf**k. At first, I was like ok well this isn’t really a thriller but I’m enjoying reading about these characters. Then, bam, the twists start and they don’t really stop until you read the last page. I found Karp’s writing to be captivating and the humor dark (just the way I like it). Guess I’m jumping on the bandwagon for this one!!

4.5****
What a journey this book took me on! For a mystery/suspense, the character development was incredible. I was so invested in everyone and everything, I never saw the twists coming. This is the first novel I have ever read by Marshall Karp and I am excited to read others.
Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

In a Nutshell: An interesting and twisty domestic suspense about a woman on a mission before her time runs out. Marketed as a thriller, but not a thriller for the most way. I did enjoy the regular twists and surprises, but hated the deliberate misleading. I would still recommended this, but not as a must-read. Be ready to suspend disbelief. This is an outlier review.

Plot Preview:
Forty-three-year-old Maggie Dunn has it all: a handsome husband who loves her and is also a successful surgeon, twin teens who have a great rapport with each other and their parents, loving extended family (father, grandfather, and younger sister Libby), and a high-profile job as the mayor of their town. Now, something she has dreaded since the last twenty-five years has finally been confirmed: Maggie is going to die soon. And of the same illness that killed her mother at the same age.
Cut to twenty-five years ago, when Maggie, just a high schooler, loses her mother to a rare disease. Before dying, her mother warns her that single women will swarm to their father and that Maggie and Libby should make sure that no one misuses him. Now, all these years later, Maggie feels like she too should ensure that she finds a suitable replacement for herself to take over after her death.
The story comes to us *mostly* in Maggie’s first-person perspective.

I don’t know what I expected from this book. I just jumped onto the hype-wagon, even though I am not a huge thriller fan, because almost all my friends gave this novel top stars. This story is not typical, I give you that. It offers a fairly enjoyable journey, but only if you don’t think too much about the deeper nuances. If you can leave your analytical caps aside, this can be a twisty entertainer. I find it to tough to part with my thinking cap, so...

Bookish Yays:
🔪 An excellent prologue with great promise.
🔪 The storyline of Maggie’s parents from a quarter century before – sweet. Not what I expected in a “thriller”, but it was a nice arc.
🔪 Many strong secondary characters. Lizzie is wonderful, and her bond with Maggie comes out strongly. I also liked Johnny Rollo’s character – probably among the few times I would count a shady druggie among my favourite characters of a book. Maggie’s twins, though in a relatively limited role, are impressive. I love how they actually act their age. Probably the only characters in the book to do so, other than Maggie’s dad and granddad, who are also amazing in their tertiary roles.
🔪 The timeline, with all events coming from time markers stating a period before/after "the funeral." Might be complicated to follow for those who don’t enjoy jumpy timelines, but I mostly enjoyed keeping up with the plot from across different timepoints.

Bookish Mixed Bags:
☠️ Is this really a thriller? The prologue shows signs of a mystery, but after that till about the final quarter, the book reads more like a normal domestic drama. (Not a thriller kind of domestic drama but the women's fiction kind.) Only the last section feels like a thriller. The cover and title seem to promise a much darker story.
☠️ Maggie is a man’s dream-come-true character in many ways, hence absolutely not convincing to me as a woman. Though I found some of her traits admirable, I don’t relate to women like her. So I couldn’t really root for her and found her behaviour unrealistic.
☠️ I thought this line from the blurb was exaggerated: “I have three months, and I plan to spend every waking minute searching for the perfect woman to take my place as Alex’s wife, and mother to Kevin and Katie.” It was not. While the plot handles this decently, it is still odd to read about a woman who wants to spend her final days searching for her substitute for her husband.
☠️ The story takes a long while to get going. It feels a bit episodic at times, with a distinct subplot tackled one at a time in sequence. Many times, I wondered where the heck the book was going. The subplots were mostly interesting, but too disconnected to feel like part of the same story.
☠️ There are quite a few twists and turns: some guessable, some unexpected, some good, some downright idiotic. All the twisty content is restricted to the second half, which further enhances the dramatic feels of the first half.
☠️ The ending, keeping aside shady morals and logical flaws, works excellently for the story. So the key question is: can you ignore shady morals and logical flaws? I can ignore the former but not the latter.

Bookish Nays:
💣 My BIGGEST issue with the book: The unreliable narrator trope of the annoying kind, where the narrator doesn’t tell you stuff until they decide to tell you stuff. Imagine a character narrating an incident, and many chapters later, taking you back to that very incident and giving you the complete picture of what happened. Never a fan of such deliberate misleading and needless secret-keeping! All the more irritating as the story is written in first person so we should have received all the deets on time.
💣 Sorry for this misandrist feedback, but there are many examples of “man-writing-woman.” This isn't an umbrella statement, and there are a couple of good women characters in the book. (Mainly Kate, Lizzie and Beth who have their share of positives though they are not perfect.) But the others – yikes! Many scenes reek of generalised misogyny. And I don’t know about other readers, but I found the man-writing-teen-girl content very awkward to read. It was more like wishful thinking than reality.
💣 Speaking of Beth, where is she afterwards? Why do we get to hear only about Maggie’s dad and granddad?
💣 Thanks to the episodic structure, the pacing feels very dragged. This might especially bother those who expect a pacey thriller from a book with such a title and cover.
💣 Too much casual drug usage for my liking.
💣 Vague spoiler: Wouldn't an experienced con artist change their name for each new con, especially if they've already been to prison for a similar crime earlier?


All in all, the book did have some positives, but
a. it is not at all a thriller as promised;
b. it is too slow and episodic to be gripping; and
c. the man-writing-woman content is quite offensive.
The first half was still quite strong for me, perhaps around 3.75 stars if I rated it for its storytelling than for its merits as a thriller. But the second half, which had more of the promised twisty thriller, let me down with the deliberately deceptive revelations by Maggie.
Recommended to those who read thrillers without overthinking and without asking hows or whys. Oh, and better if you expect a suspense-drama rather than a thriller.

2.6 stars. (3.75 stars for the first half. 1.5 stars for the second half. Averaged.)

My thanks to Blackstone Publishing for providing the DRC of “Don't Tell Me How To Die” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

I didn’t like this book at all! I went into thinking it would be a heart pounding thriller but it was not. There was a twist at the end but I’m not going to read a book that I don’t enjoy just to get to a good ending. It felt more like a family drama to me mixed with YA, and a lot of grief. I don’t understand why this has so many good ratings.

Stop your scrolling and take some notes, people!! This book will be one of your favorite thrillers of the year! I am so thankful to my friend Marisha for putting this one on my radar and I am now a proud card-carrying member of the Marshall Karp fan club.

My short synopsis:
Maggie finds out she has the same deadly blood disease that killed her mother. She and her sister had to deal with the “casserole ladies” trying to win over her grieving (and newly single) father and she’s determined to keep that from happening to her own children. Yep, she’s going to find her replacement before she dies. And that’s when the twists start twisting. What ends up happening will have you screaming from the rooftop, telling all who will listen to READ THIS BOOK.

This was a fun listen/read, thank you! New to this author but will check out more in the future. The story was engaging and overall enjoyed it!

Title: Don't Tell Me How To Die
Author: Marshall Karp
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Release Date: March 4th 2025
Rating: 4 stars
This book definitely kept me intrigued! I managed to finish in one sitting. I loved the back and forth throughout the story. Thinking you're getting the full story, but then a chapter or two later new information comes to light that changes or alters your perceptions and theories. Such a great read. Definitely recommend!

The cover and premise of this book grabbed my attention, but I didn’t fully know what I was getting myself into. I suppose I was expecting some rom-com with some dark humor and maybe some sad moments.

Wow, was I wrong. This books was non-stop twists and turns from beginning to end. The short chapters had me constantly telling myself “I’ll just read one more”. Every time I picked the book up, it was difficult to put it back down.

I don’t want to give too much of the plot away, but this book has a little bit of everything. Tear jerking moments, dark humor, thrills, mystery. Regardless of what you typically read, I think this one is worth checking out.

The first half didn’t quite feel like a thriller, but once it took off—wow, did it take off! I love stories with unexpected turns, and this one delivered. The tension builds slowly before flipping the script, and the ending wrapped up perfectly.

This book lives up to the Bookstagram hype! The characters are complex, the emotions raw, and the stakes high. It kept me thinking long after the final page.

Thank you, NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing, for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. If you love thrillers that sneak up on you, don’t miss this one!