Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC of Murder Between Friends in exchange for an honest review.

Three once best friends (Ally, Grace, and Henry) are on a mission to clear Henry’s brother, Jake, of a wrongful murder conviction, which is curious because it’s Grace’s eye witness testimony that sealed Jake’s fate at his original murder trial. After serving two years in prison, Jake is released on a technicality, but will be retried. While the town has already convicted Jake in their own way, there’s something that just never made sense to both Ally and Henry surrounding the circumstances of the case. Upon Jake’s release, Grace begins to question if it’s really Jake she saw outside of the victim’s house that night or if he was framed. Since Jake’s sentencing, Grace has been cut off from Ally and Henry since she is the reason for Jake’s conviction. In a moment of bravery, Grace decides to voice her concerns to Ally and Henry and vows to make it right by taking matters into her own hands and helps Ally and Henry try to track down the real killer.

Although this book is written for the YA audience as a way to dip their toe into murder mystery novels, this book was exceptionally well done and incredibly interesting and well written. I loved that you get the story from all three viewpoints and that there really is no main character. All three characters are well established and you feel a connection with each for various reasons. The end of the book is really where the author shines in that the ending is truly chefs kiss. There are so many twists and turns and most of them you do not see coming. Hats off to Liz Lawson because this was a great YA thriller to be enjoyed by all ages. Available April 22nd, I highly encourage you to pick this one up!

⭐️⭐️⭐️
Taking Matters Into Their Own Hands 🕵️ 🕵️‍♀️🕵️‍♂️
I liked this one. It kind of reminded me of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.
Henry, Grace, Ally
His brother has been in prison for two years for a crime Henry is sure he didn’t commit, and he wants to prove his innocence while out on a technicality while awaiting retrial.
Ally is all for helping Henry, and uncovering the truth.
Grace is regretting her part in the first trial and wants to do whatever she can to make it right and make it up to Henry.
But will the three of them make it out alive, or turn into the next headline?
Have you read this one yet? What did you think?

I read a lot of thriller and mystery books and I really enjoy finding more in the YA genre. I can't remember if I've ever read a Liz Lawson book before, so I will count this as my first one. Unfortunately, for me, this was just average. It was super predictable and typically, which is fine, but my big issues was that I couldn't connect with any of the characters. I think I would've liked if there were only two POVs, because having three made me not care about any. I know the POVs were used for the information, but in my mind there were just better ways to get there. I'm really glad I had a chance to read this through, and I will check out other books by the author!

This book reminded me of a good girls guide to murder, which was a pretty good book. I did enjoy the twists that came toward the end, but there were some unnecessary red herrings that didn't go anywhere.

This is a quick read, and there are enough twists to keep readers engaged. I enjoyed the small-town vibes, and there was an unexpected twist at the end. Overall, I enjoyed the story, though I did find Ally a bit annoying. And at times, it was a hard to keep her and Grace separate. Their voices were too similar. The pacing was a bit uneven near the beginning, but that balanced out as the story unfolded.

Murder Between Friends is about Henry's brother, Jake, who is in jail for murder because his best friend Grace testified that she saw him walk into their teacher's yard the night she was murdered. Henry and their friend Ally haven't spoken to Grace since she testified but when Jake is released Grace is forced to question what she thought she saw. The three friends start to investigate because they know Jake is innocent and don't want to see him return to jail--but what will it cost them to investigate when someone clearly wants them to stay quiet? If you like murder mystery this one is a must! I really enjoyed Lawson's other series, The Agathas, and was eager to pick this one up. I enjoyed the mystery though I found some parts predictable and ultimately I found the characters a bit under developed and lacking in nuance. For example, Ally was always described as annoying in her pursuit of the truth and even Henry was annoyed in her one track mind, which I never understood as someone who felt guilty that his brother went to jail an innocent man. These aspects weren't enough to keep me from really enjoying the book and mystery though and I'd definitely recommend it if you like the mystery/suspense genre! Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

It started a bit slow, but boy, oh boy, did it pick up!! I've been in such a funk with reading this year, but this was the perfect book to get me out of that. It was fast-paced, kept me on my toes, and with the different POVS, it kept my attention the entire time. Reminded me a lot of the Good Girls Guide to Murder series.

Grace, Henry, and Ally all used to be great friends. They all lived within walking distance of each other. Their friendship ended whenever Grace went on trial to help arrest Henry's brother, Jake, for the murder of their high-school's beloved English teacher. Now, two years later, Jake is temporarily released from prison due to a mistrial. Grace, Henry, and Ally all attempt to prove Jake's innocence.

Murder Between Friends is a fast-paced thriller with a great plot and character development. The characters were all also complex with well developed backstories. I also didn't find any of the POV's to be boring or less interesting than the others.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley, Liz Lawson, and Random House for the eARC! This was such a fantastic psychological thriller from start to finish. Fast-paced and perfectly plotted, with a major twist at the end that completely blew me away! An absolutely great read!

Read this as an ARC. I thought the beginning was a little slow and was filled with so much detail and dialogue it was almost hard to keep interested. I will say however I was not expecting this book to pick up the way it did. The ending was definitely not one I was expecting. Worth the read, but not my favorite.

If you like A Good Girls Guide to Murder and other similar books, I think you would like this. Although as an adult reader, some of the actions of the characters made me frustrated, as a high school English teacher, I can also related because I see young adults make poor choices every day. I would definitely recommend this to my students.

4.25
Three high school friends work to solve a murder of their teacher. The story alternates between the three of them. Henry is the brother of the convicted killer, Jake. Ally is his best friend and Grace was their friend until she testified against Jake. After serving two years Jake has been released on a technicality. They have limited time before he goes back to court to be retried.

This one hooked me pretty quickly and kept me invested the whole way thru. I finished it in one sitting. I didn’t expect the last twist. I’m definitely going to be recommending it to friends.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s Books for providing me a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I never wanted to put this book down! This book had me in constant suspense, and just when I thought we had it all figured out there was another twist! Never would’ve guessed the outcome!

I especially enjoyed that the book was told from 3 different POVs so you really got to know the characters and understand their thoughts. Absolutely loved this fast paced, easy to read thriller.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

I am beyond glad I got the chance to read this book early. Thank you so much!
I absolutely LOVED this book! The character building and the plot building were spot on, and the twists were PHENOMENAL and kept coming right to the end!
If you are on the fence about getting this book...GET IT!

Didn't love it, didn't hate it. I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review. Honestly, this book didn't hold my attention. Very predictable and continued to the end to see if my "sleuthing" skills were correct.

4.5 stars

I had such a fun time with this book! Anytime teens are solving mysteries? Sign me up!! I really enjoyed the mystery itself and the pace of the book - the twists kept me engaged and I was dying to know what was going to happened next.

My only issue was I did find Ally, one of the povs, kinda annoying and I didn’t particularly like her parts of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review

"Murder Between Friends" by Liz Lawson is a captivating 5-star read! Three friends—Ally, Grace, and Henry—have their worlds torn apart when a beloved teacher is murdered, and Henry’s brother, Jake, is found guilty and sent to prison, partly due to Grace’s eyewitness testimony. Thirteen months later, Jake is released on a legal technicality while awaiting a new trial. Now, the three friends must try to mend their fractured relationships as they work together to uncover the truth and prevent Jake from being sent back to prison.

The story is told from the alternating perspectives of Ally, Grace, and Henry. Each character is grappling with their own inner demons while also trying to piece together what really happened the night of the murder. There's plenty of drama—between the trio themselves, with their high school peers, and within their families. I thought I had the murder figured out, but a twist caught me completely off guard.

There were quite a few grammatical errors throughout, but since I read an ARC, I assume those will be corrected in the final version. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was my first by Liz Lawson, and I’m definitely looking forward to reading more from her!

Thanks to Random House Children's | Delacorte Press, Liz Lawson, and NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to read this ARC and share my honest review.

I really enjoyed the story and trying to figure out what part each character played in the situation. It makes you wonder how one would react if we were in Grace's shoes and we truly believed that we had witnessed something, and then to realize years later that perhaps we were wrong and try to right our wrong. Of course, there were times when the characters' actions irritated us, but that makes it believable, as they are high school students. I think this is an excellent YA book, and you want to read a thriller that revolves around solving a murder while trying to repair friendships.


Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for the e-arc!

What a tangled up mystery. Three friends, Grace, Ally and Henry have had a rough two years. Henry's brother was convicted of murdering their English teacher and the only witness was Grace! Written in the POV of all three characters as they try to sort through and figure out what really happened that night and who really is to blame.
I felt like this book was geared toward the YA audience with some strong profanity thrown around. The story pacing dragged and I kept waiting for things to pick up but they never really did. The story could have easily been half as long and still had all it's twists and turns. A solid 3 out of 5.

Two years ago, Grace, Ally, and Henry were all friends. Then Grace and Henry started dating, Ally’s dad tragically died in a car accident, and their beloved teacher was found murdered, allegedly by Henry’s brother, Jake. When Grace testifies that she saw Jake at the teacher’s house the night of the murder, her relationships with Ally and Henry are over. Fast forward 2 years, Jake is let out of jail due to some technicalities and a new trial date is set. This spurs the three former friends to reunite and start investigating.
This quick read was one that grabbed my attention at the beginning and made me not want to put it down. Full of twists and turns, the resolution completely surprised me. Highly recommended for teen readers 4.5 stars