Intrigued by the title, cover, and premise, Murder Between Friends was the first book I read by Liz Lawson - and it won’t be the last!

This YA is a story full of loyalty and tests of friendship. Who can you trust? Who’s lying? There are underpinnings of romance, in a teenage crush sort of way. I’d say this story is mainly a mystery with a few good twists.

We follow a few main characters and get 3 POVs. I love a book that has multiple POVs because it really brings the story to life and sheds a new light on the characters. I will say that at around 83% I got pretty confused. One of the main characters - Ally - started randomly calling another character “Fraser.” However, they were called a different name earlier and finished the chapter with a different name (I won’t say the name because it could be a potential spoiler). I actually had to go back to the beginning of the chapter to see if I actually just read the name wrong. I also did a search of “Fraser” on the kindle and only the few instances came up - the ones that just appear to be the mistakes.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children’s Delacorte Press for the chance to read and review an ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"Murder Between Friends" is a gripping and suspenseful novel that intricately explores the complexities of friendship intertwined with the dark themes of loyalty and betrayal. The author expertly crafts a narrative filled with unexpected twists, keeping readers on their toes as they delve into the investigation surrounding a student’s conviction.

The pacing is commendable, with the story gradually building tension and raising more questions as the plot unfolds. Each chapter leaves you eager for more, and just when you think you’ve figured things out, the author skillfully redirects your thoughts, throwing in breadcrumbs of clues that lead to shocking revelations.

Overall, "Murder Between Friends" is a thought-provoking read that will keep you engaged until the very last page. It's a perfect blend of mystery and psychological drama that will leave you questioning the nature of truth and trust in friendships. Highly recommended for fans of thrillers!

I received and advanced copy, in turn I am leaving an honest review.

Murder Between Friends is a fast-paced and emotionally layered young adult thriller that explores the complexities of friendship, memory, and justice.

The novel centers around Grace, a teenager whose testimony years earlier put her best friend’s brother behind bars for the alleged murder of a beloved teacher. When he is unexpectedly released on a technicality, Grace is forced to reexamine what she saw that night—and whether she was wrong all along. As the former friend group is pulled back together under tense and painful circumstances, long-buried secrets begin to surface, and the line between guilt and innocence becomes increasingly blurred.

Lawson masterfully balances multiple perspectives and timelines, immersing readers in a web of emotions and suspicions. The narrative is engaging from the very beginning, driven by sharp dialogue, quick pacing, and characters who are flawed, relatable, and often chaotic in the most authentic way. The teenage detective energy—though often impulsive, adds a sense of urgency and rawness to the story, and the plot twist was both surprising and satisfying.

With its emotional depth, layered characters, and compelling mystery, Murder Between Friends is a standout YA thriller that keeps readers guessing while also exploring the consequences of broken trust and the weight of truth. Highly recommended for fans of character-driven suspense and fast-moving drama. Thank you to NetGalley, Liz Lawson, and Random House Children’s Books for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

“A gripping and emotional thriller that proves even your own memory can’t always be trusted.”

Murder Between Friends by Liz Lawson was a fast-paced, intriguing, emotionally charged whodunnit thriller that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. This was my first time actually reading a book from the author, and I’m so glad I got the opportunity to do so. This exciting YA book was a perfect blend of mystery, thriller, romance, along with mistaken identity. A huge thank you to Random House Children’s/Delacorte Press, the author and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy of the book.

The premise for this suspenseful, slow-building thriller starts with three teenagers Ally, Grace and Henry who were once friends. Two years prior a murder occurred in their neighborhood, and then Grace’s testifies against Henry’s brother, Jake during his trial for murder of their English teacher. This divides the friends. Ally and Henry can’t stand Grace now. And Grace is rethinking what she really saw on the night of the murder. But when the case is declared a mistrial and Jake’s conviction is overturned. The three former friends just might get a second chance. They set out to investigate the murder. A new trial date is fast approaching along with Jake possibly being convicted. Can these old friends come together and trust one another enough to find new evidence to help prove that Jake is innocent.

Murder Between Friends is a riveting story filled with so many twists and turns that it kept me up late into the night reading with an ending that I definitely didn’t see coming, at all. If you like reading YA then this well-crafted, highly addictive, edge of your seat thriller is one that you should add to your reading list.

If you enjoy twists and turns that keep you guessing, this book is for you! This is a story of mistaken identity, false accusations, and no longer knowing what a witness truly saw.. Once the story starts to unfold, the book is hard to put down.

Another amazing book by Liz Lawson! Like The Agatha’s this was filled with twists, turns & great characters!

Listen. I went into Murder Between Friends thinking, “Oh cool, murder and secrets, I’m in,” but what I got was so much juicier than expected. Like, layers of drama, betrayal, and a whole lotta “who the hell can I trust??” vibes. These characters were messy in the best way—like, pass-the-popcorn messy.

I didn’t love every single twist (one of them had me going really?), and a couple characters made me want to scream into a throw pillow, but honestly? It still slapped. The tension stayed high, the ending landed, and I had a blast the whole time.

Perfect for fans of friendship gone fatally wrong, secrets buried deeper than a Sephora sale bin, and that delicious feeling of watching it all implode from the sidelines. Would recommend with wine and your most untrustworthy bestie.

This started off slow but once the story gets rolling this book was hard to put down. I was definitely invested in the mystery of finding the true killer, it was a bit predictable at times but I didn’t mind. There were also a few big twists toward the end that I definitely didn’t see coming! I also liked the multiple PVOVs and the friendships between the three main characters Grace, Henry, and Ally. Although this book is YA I still enjoyed it and definitely recommend reading!

They were friends for life, Ally, Grace and Henry, until Grace testifie against Henry's brother, Jake, during his trial for the murder of a teacher. Then Jake's conviction is overturned due to a mistrial.....and wow, what a reason. As these three frienemies review the murder investigation, clues come to light that could prove Jake's innocence, yet Jake is not willing to let them help. Then the story takes a couple of left turns and we're left wondering why?
The mystery is held throughout the book, clues are there but adding them together can lead to a new suspect with every chapter. This story flew, it's fast paced with chapter breaks that make sense. The characters are invested in the ending so there's no confusion with their goals. The ending....definitely surprising.

A special thanks to NetGalley, Delacorte Press, and Liz Lawson for a free digital ARC of this book!

When I began reading this book, I wasn’t that impressed. It seemed a little cheesy in my opinion. But as I continued reading, the story really took hold of me. I haven’t read too many murder mysteries, but I will say that this was a pretty good one, for young adults. It kept me on my toes the whole time, new information on every page. It made me believe I knew who the murderer was many times, only to be wrong again and again. Big plot twists like the one at the end of “Murder Between Friends” often fail me- I either guess them way too early, or they come completely out of left field and make the rest of the story worthless… but this one really did pleasantly surprise me!

I usually don’t connect with stories where teenagers are way too mature or constantly outsmart adults (mostly because when I was that age, my peers and I were nowhere near capable of something like that), but for “Murder Between Friends”, it worked- the writing and execution of this book made it realistic. The way they solved the mystery was entirely plausible, squeezing little bits of information out of various people and piecing the clues together seamlessly- there weren’t any of those crazy jumps that ruin the flow of the book by making you ask how they came to that conclusion. There were also just some really good dynamics in this book- between teachers and students, friends, siblings, parents, and peers- all of which made the story feel even more natural and drew me further into this world that Liz Lawson created.

I would have liked there to be a clear explanation behind the rose in her hands, though, especially since it’s on the book’s cover. (Also, I’m sure it was fixed before publishing, but my version of the ARC was unedited and therefore had a name discrepancy which made a portion of the book confusing, haha).

I'm very torn on how to rate this book and how to review it. There were a lot, and I mean A LOT of errors throughout this book that I'm leaning towards this was partially written by AI. A lot of mistakes that I have a hard time believing an author would make, and not catch sooner. Sentence structures were off at times, too. At the beginning, it wasn't as noticeable, but the further you get into the book, the more errors there are. As an example, "I would not put my normally hands on her". What the heck does that mean? That is an actual line from the book. I would have rated this a lot higher but I just can't get over the thoughts that there were several parts written by AI.

The story is fine. With books like these, characters with a lack of development tend to become suspicious. It was a decently engaging story. Even though I was pretty sure I had it figured out, I was still curious as to where it could go.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's for this advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.75 stars rounded to 4, because the characters stayed with me, and I felt I knew them! The author did an excellent job with characterization.

I felt I needed more though about Ally and her motivation for trying to save Jake for two years, when everyone else gave up on him. That bugged me.

I’m happy to say I figured it out!! 😄 Overall, I enjoyed the read and finished it as quickly as possible!

Thank you, NetGalley, Liz Lawson, and Delacorte Press for the eARC.

I am so indifferent about this book. Did I like it? Yes. Were there slow parts? Yes. Was the ending fairly predictable? Yes. Did it keep me interested? Yes.
So, say all that to say…give a try yourself because I don’t know what to think about this one 🤣

YA novels are normally not my thing, but I enjoyed this one. It was written in a voice that was more adult and I enjoyed the story and the characters.

It took me a while to get into but man it was worth the wait. The story is perfect for YA Mystery fans. Think One of Us is Lying but better!

This was a fun YA thriller! It was full of twists and turns that kept me on my toes throughout the read. Thank you to Netgalley for this e-arc.

I loved this mystery! An easy recommendation for teens or adults who like an evenly paced plot with well-developed teen characters and some nice big red herrings and reveals. The last quarter was especially riveting and the twists so exciting. I also enjoyed the absence of swearing which is another plus for clean reads fans.

Thanks to netgalley, the publisher & author for the ARC. The twists and turns had me guessing multiple times! I would have never guessed who done it! So glad I got approved for it & I cannot wait to buy my daughter a copy. She is a huge fan of Kathleen Glasgow (who is a coauthor for many books w/ Liz Lawson, and also last name of a teacher) I loved the descriptive scenery & absolutely everything & cannot wait to read More by this author!

📖 Title: Murder Between Friends-standalone

✍🏾 Author: Liz Lawson-new to me author

📅Publication date: 4/22/25 | Read 4/21/25

📃 Format: eBook 384 pgs.

Genre:
*YA-high school
*Mystery/Thriller

Tropes:
*friendship
*amateur sleuths
*family drama
*small town gossip
*journalism

👆🏾POV: Multiple

⚠️TW: murder, corruption, cheating-not h/H, bullying/harassment, small town, drug-dealing

🌎 Setting: Brawner, VA 10/2025

Summary: Two years after the murder of their English teacher, three BFFs Ally, Henry, and Grace fell out and now they must work together to solve this crime the right way.


👩🏾 Heroine: Ally Copeland-missing her deceased father

👩🏾Heroine: Grace Topham-witnessed the perpetrator and put them prison

👨🏾 Hero: Henry Hanson-his brother Jake has been in jail for the crime for 13 months

🎭 Other Characters:

*Miriam Applebaum-teacher who was murdered
* Jacob "Jake" Hanson-Henry's brother
*Lara Topham-Grace's sister
*Evan Miller-Lara's fiancé
*Mrs. Flowers-Miriam's sister

🤔 My Thoughts: I was entertained from start to finish. There were many twists and turns in this murder conspiracy that everyone held back secrets. These kids were resourceful and brave against the powerful and unethical.

Rating: 4/5 ✨
Spice level 1/5 🌶️kissing only

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, Random House Children's| Delacorte Press, and Liz Lawson for this ARC! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions are my own.

dnf at 37%

no rating 😜

14+

content to the 37% mark

romance: 3/10 (mentions of past relationships, mentions of hooking up, mentions of kissing)

cursing: 4/10 (shit, bitch, damn, hell, f-ck a few times. it’s pretty non frequent.)

violence: 5/10 (killing and blood 🤷‍♀️)

other: mentions of drugs and a scene where they’re sold on page. mentions of alcoholism. mentions of smoking

tw: loss of parent


- OVERVIEW -

i’m ngl. this just wasn’t holding my interest.

at first i was sucked in. it had a strong beginning, but after around 12% i just couldn’t focus. idk if this was to do with the plot or if that’s all on me (probably the latter if i’m being honest). but it didn’t feel like i was reading a book i liked. it felt like i was slogging through thick mud.

if you were to ask me what stood out to me in this book, i would say ‘the phone numbers’. lwk idk if the numbers are real but i was curious to see what would happen if i dialed them 😀💅

all this being said, i would possibly pick this book up again in the future when i’m in the mood for a thriller. but as a mood reader, thrillers just don’t sound good to me rn. if i had the wherewithal to read this book at this point in time, chances are i would enjoy it

but i have neither time nor energy nor desire to. :(

-ZE WRITING-

i will say, i loved it. the prose was nice and the pacing was pretty good.
i read the agathas a few years back which was co-written by liz, and i loved it. it was one of the first thriller books i’ve read so i’m no stranger to her writing. it was nostalgic in a way

i have no hate for this book, in fact, i would recommend it if i knew if there’s any other content in the second half


- PLOT -

annddddd my usual youtube clickbait title description of the book 😋

my boyfriend’s brother’s in prison and it’s all my fault *shocking*

that’s not a spoiler btw bc it was in the first chapter and it might also be in the summary but i haven’t read it 🥲😅
but the whole point of the book is a friend group gets broken up bc one of them testified against the other friend’s brother and gets him in prison 🤠

- CHARACTERS -

ngl none of them made an imprint on me.
ally was selfish and has trust issues
henry is TOO trusting
and grace reminds me of my friend lon 😭


- CONCLUSION -


🤷‍♀️ you should read this if you want to