Lyrical and evocative, brisk and compelling, Kill Creatures has me a little bit blue, but really stinking happy about it.

*Thank you to NetGalley & the Penguin Teen Canada influencer program for allowing me the opportunity to read this eARC.

**This review is my own opinion and has not been influenced by any entity.

Wow, this is a gripping, fast paced thriller that locked me in from the very first chapter. I love that it’s not a whodunnit, we already know who did it. Nan did it. Nan killed her three best friends, but we’re left grappling with the why, and that’s always the question that’s harder to answer.

From the first chapter I knew this book was going to be different, Nan staunching guilty - at least in her own head - and showing very little signs of regret or remorse about her actions, while still loving her friends was such a wild juxtaposition to read for me, and it only became more and more unraveled and unexpected as the book continued. Luce showing up, very much alive one year after Nan killed her, and throwing Nan into a panic and scramble to figure out where she’s been, what she knows and if the truth will come out was a genius way to tell this story.

I really appreciated the dual-timeline, and having things revealed in tandem as the story was told, and I loved Nan’s inner voice. Nan is never a particularly likeable character and it becomes more and more clear who she really is as the plot thickens around her. That being said, her being unlikeable, didn’t make me want to stop reading any less, in fact I think in this case it drew me in more, Nan was unlikeable, but the trio of Luce, Edie and Jane were so enticing and it’s easy to see how Nan lost herself in them.

While it’s clear that this book is written for a younger audience but some of it’s more obvious foreshadowing and breadcrumb-y plot devices, it still kept some suspense for me even through to the end of the book and I really do think this book transcends it’s young adult audience and is very much readable for thriller enthusiasts of any age.

I think my favorite part of the book is the epilogue, which I rarely ever say, but that little plot twist at the end really was like a cherry on top, a little bow to tie everything together and I’m so glad that it was there as a final word.

I am rating this book a 4.5 star, and I’m very pleased that I got to read this so far ahead of release, because this was such a fun read and will definitely be on my list of recommended thrillers in the future.

Rory Power once again delivers the best cast of teen girls - a complex blend of vulnerability, rage, and power. Full of twists and an almost darkly magical quality, Kill Creatures is perfect for fans of Yellowjackets and deeply complicated characters.

I loved Power's Wilder Girls, so when I saw an ARC of Kill Creatures, I knew I had to read it. Power did not disappoint - I was so hooked, I read the entire book in one evening. The complex characters, the thrilling turns, and the almost magical quality of the mystery kept me entranced.

While I think this is a perfect book for any horror fan's TBR, I have to especially recommend it for any fans of Yellowjackets. If you love the messy complexity of teenage girls and their relationships, this book is for you.

This book will leave you stunned speechless by the end of it, and I completely devoured it.
If you’re looking for a fast-paced thriller with an obsessive unreliable narrator, this is one you must definitely add to your shelves.
With each chapter the story only became more chilling, finding myself never wanting to pause as I became enthralled with the main character, Nan, and her thought process throughout. I mean, when the character basically begins with the most blunt confession saying, “The girls are dead. After all I should know, because I’m the one that killed them”, you can’t really pause there, can you? Absolutely amazing writing, and as my first of Rory Power, I wish to read more of her other works as she’s an amazing storyteller.
This was equal parts bone-chilling and intoxicating. I didn’t know what else to expect as the plot began unfolding and tension rising you could drown in it. If you’re looking for something deliciously dark to jump into, I cant recommend this book enough.

This was my first book by Rory Power and it made me SO EXCITED to read all her other releases! The premise was super intriguing and it grabbed my attention from its first chapter. I also really liked the writing style, there was some incredible quotes in here that made me wish i had a physical copy to annotate. Being in Nan’s head was definitely interesting, i just love this kind of main character ; delusional and a little messed up, i’m in. i did feel like the ending was a little rushed, but it was a fun time!

i fear i am not liking this as much as i anticipated 🫣 as much as i really wanted to hop on the rory powers train after seeing how wilder girls blew up, i was excited to give this a shot but it’s not keeping my interest and 46% through, i am deciding to dnf

YESSS dark vicious delusional girls! So so good - though Nan tells us she's the killer, there's still so much to unravel and it was so riveting. I love stories of murderous girls and this one killed it.

Kill Creatures follows Nan a year after her friends disappeared. Nan has always repeated the same thing. They went out for a final swim last summer. Her friends went ahead and never came back. A year later, Luce returns. Nan is floored. Because it’s impossible for Luce to return. She killed Luce last year along with Edie and Jane.

This was such a unique story. I don’t know if I’ve ever read a mystery/thriller where we know the killer from the start, and it’s the mc. This was such a twisty tale with plot twists I wasn’t expecting. It’s super fast paced and the setting feels so vividly alive. It’s the perfect book to read during the summer.

Nan is a fascinating main character. Spending time in her head was so interesting, especially with how she justified things and moved through the world and the friendships. Super fascinating. I loved the ending and the reveal for what really happened to Luce and that fateful summer night. Really great take on friendship and jealousy and revenge.

I’d definitely recommend you check this out if you like mystery/thrillers set during summer with a unique and gripping take.

Thank you to Penguin Teen CA and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

*Also, OMG the cover!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm in love and obsessed. So stunning!!!!!

I received a free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I loved Wilder Girls, but I had strongly mixed feelings about Burn our Bodies Down (all vibes and no plot), so I wasn’t sure which way this was going to lean. Interestingly, Power starts with an author’s note that basically explains that this is meant to be a much more straightforward book - everything will have a real-world explanation (this is the gist, to be clear, not the exact phrasing). It’s an interesting tactic - I know I’ve occasionally spent a whole book wondering when the monsters are going to show up, only to find out that there’s nothing supernatural going on.

Anyway! Our main character is Nan. Last summer, her three best friends disappeared. Now it’s one year later, and the town is holding a vigil to say goodbye. Except on the eve of said vigil, one of the missing girls comes back. This is a bit of a complicating factor for Nan, seeing as she definitely killed all 3 of them. This isn’t treated as a spoiler - Powers mentions it in the author’s note, it’s part of the blurb, and Nan herself tells us in the first few pages. Again, it’s a smart strategy - we aren’t really dealing with a whodunnit. Nan…dunnit. The mystery is more where Luce was, how she came back, and how much she actually remembers. And also why Nan did what she did, especially since she’s very clear that she doesn’t feel any remorse about it. She’s also very straightforward about HOW she did it - smacked Luce in the head with a rock and let Edie and Jane drown in a dangerous rip current. Apparently Luce wasn’t all the way dead.

The narrative moves back and forth in time between the present day and the previous summer, getting ever closer to the day of that fateful final boat ride. We see Nan get pulled into the investigation by a *new* detective, who seems interested in interrogating Nan’s story in a way the previous guy was not (Nan told the cops that all 4 of them went out in the boat together, but she stayed behind to make sure it didn’t drift away while the other 3 went swimming. They just…never came back). We eventually learn the truth of what really went down that night, and although it is indeed grounded in the real world, it’s not quite as straightforward as you might think.

I mostly enjoyed this - I had a hard time putting it down, and I kept getting excited to pick it back up. And although I probably would have also enjoyed reading the whole thing from the detective’s perspective instead, I didn’t mind Nan as a narrator (and I think she’s an interesting character). The quibbles I had with it would give too much away, so I’ll have to save those for June!

Actual rating 4.25 stars

Messy. Toxic. Dark.

Nan is grappling with guilt and confusion after her three best friends vanished a year ago. At their one-year memorial, Luce, one of the missing girls, suddenly returns, which is weird, because Nan is pretty sure she killed them. Like, intentionally.

The way my jaw was on the FLOOR constantly. Nan’s unreliable narration keeps you guessing—is she losing her mind, or did Luce somehow survive the blow to the head? If so, where has she been for an entire year?

The toxic friendships, raw emotions, and shocking twists make this an intense ride. While more of Luce’s perspective could’ve added depth, the gut-punch of an ending will send you reeling, making it up to us, the reader. If you’re a fan of messy characters and psychological thrillers, add this one to your TBR.

Read this pretty much all in one sitting if being at my job and reading during quiet moments at my shift and finishing it all in one day counts as one sitting. This was really fun and utterly engrossing. I was fully invested and figuring out what on earth happened. I love mean girls, I love queer girls, and I love revenge, so this ticked all of those boxes for me. Points off are just for the fact that there could have been so much commentary on classism built into this that was not quite taken in the direction it could have gone to make it more compelling. And I wish there was more diversity within the girls since that also could have been an interesting dynamic. But in some ways, I am reviewing a book that doesn’t exist. I did like the small tourist town hell of it all, and for what it is, this is really enjoyable, and I had a great time with it.

I read and loved Wilder Girls a few years ago, so I was excited to read this one. Unfortunately, this was a predictable story that left me wanting more. I think a deeper look into the main character's forced amnesia/mental health would have been one way to better captivate the audience. It definitely held my attention though, so there's reason to believe others will love this book.

Not quite sure what I think about this book or how to review it. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but it was short and twisty enough that I'm not mad I read the book even though I just didn't really care that much about it.

This was exactly what I expect from Rory Power, and by that I mean I had no idea what to expect but I couldn’t put it down.

THIS IS SO WEIRD AND CREEPY AND CHILLING. I was unsettled. I feel like I can smell the canyon. I’m spooked. I’m gagged. The ending was so incredibly satisfying. Nan was such a well done and horrifying MC. The friendship between the girls was depicted so well. All of this is just immaculate. 10/10.

Urgh. I really liked 'Wilder Girls' and liked Power's second book, but this one was just an incoherent mess by the end. I barreled through the book in under three hours, so the writing was plenty immersive, but I kept thinking that the book would gel and make *sense*. Sadly, I was wrong, and the twists/reveals toward the end were either not twists, predictable, or wildly self-contradictory. I'm all for a zany thriller (please!) but this one just felt like a stutter-stop narrative where glaring gaps in logic just get broader the more you look at it.

4.5 stars. Finished in one sitting. I loved this twisty tale that’s just as much a thriller as it is dark commentary on teenage girl dynamics. There’s no better summary than this line: “The girls are dead. After all I should know, because I’m the one that killed them.”

Thank you to Net Galley for a free ebook in exchange for this honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's - Delacorte Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

It's been a year since Nan's three best friends went swimming and never returned and were presumed dead. However, Luce returns on the anniversary shocking Nan since she killed all three of them. A few twists.

Although it was hard to get into at the start, the double layer of the deaths and the reappearance made it an enjoyable book.

This book was a quick read, and kept me wondering what was going on throughout the whole text. Rory Power writes an twisting tale of "friendship" and murder through the eyes of Nan, the unreliable narrator. Nan's friends are murdered, and one of them comes back from the dead, threatening Nan's biggest secret.

This is a good read, and if you like books with twists that'll keep you guessing.

gripping and twisty if a bit predictable in some of its twists at points. a very interesting premise to start with , though. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.