Published: 27th December 2018 | Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Books| Source:Publisher via NetGalley What? No.” Juniper scrunched up her face. “It’s probably on Saturday. I’m watching Rudolph with Olive.” Olive was her baby sister, and now that the kid could walk, Juniper was pretty much on permanent call. She chose to think of it as practice for when she was actually on call at the hospital of her choice. Better get used to functioning on two hours of sleep, right? Chelsea Pitcher is able to do this by placing them in the perfect situation to build tension and by having different parts of the book dedicated to following them and the struggles they deal with individually. Through this they cease to feel two dimensional, and more like the perfect players in a deadly game. I received this eProof for free from Simon & Schuster Children's Books via NetGalley for the puposes of providing an honest review. The characters Niamh interacts with, all have warmth and by the end of the book, personally felt like they were my friends. I trusted them, I loved them, I adored them, but should I have trusted all of them?

The players: five students. Columbia-bound ex-valedictorian Juniper, stage-loving Ruby, golden boy Parker, school bully Brett, and outcast photographer Gavin. I thought that the characters were written beautifully and had that three dimensional element of feeling real to me. I loved Ruby. I thought she was so enthralling as a character, she was by far my favourite. I am a huge fan of horror, mystery and crime fiction. When I was an avid reader, before having little bear, they were my genre of choice. I wish I had done more research as I actually didn't realise this was a YA thriller and I am normally let down by those - they seem to be romance driven and just not very good, in my opinion. Anyway, I have digressed a little. One of the other features of this book that is very typical of the genre is its narrative structure: the perspective changed in each chapter, alternating between the five protagonists. This technique can be very effective when the plot involves lots of lying and betrayal, which this one did - the same situation can be told from different characters' points of view, and it makes for a good way of exposing the truth bit by bit. However, it wasn't particularly well executed. The chapters were not labelled according to which character was telling them, and since all five characters were in one place all together for the majority of the book, it was not always clear which of the five was narrating.However, ultimately, the characters weren’t well developed and I did not feel a connection to any of them and the mystery element was predictable. There were very little subtleties surrounding who we should like and who we shouldn’t which meant that there could be no big reveal on who the villain was. The Ringmaster & Dollface revealed. So I was absolutely correct in guessing that Shane’s sister was behind the party. That was a given. But I never could’ve guessed that Ruby was the Ringmaster. I had my suspicions about her being involved but that was immediately done with when it was revealed that Parker was working with Brianna (Dollface/Shane’s sister). I’m one of those readers who likes to guess the whodunnit ending, usually satisfied when I get it and love it when I don’t. But there is a middle range, where correctly guessing the who, but the surrounding events of the reveal are still a surprise; and it’s always fun. This book was the latter.

The story is all over the place and constantly cuts between the past and the present. Which I understand is necessary to the plot and the story BUT it’s honestly easy to figure out the truth of what happened at Dahlia Kane’s Christmas Party and as to who really killed Shane just from the first mentions of the party and the little pieces of info given to us by the characters. You really don’t need to read the whole book to figure out who did what. The writing goes between pretty good and not so hot, but the plotting is all over the place. The bad guy was so obvious they may have well have spent the entire book smirking and twirling a moustache, the events that lead to the final confrontation, well frankly I'm not really clear on to be honest but that's possibly because I stopped paying proper attention. Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s/Delacorte Press for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.I though this book was going to be a murder mystery, which I guess it was I just hadn't realised it was a supernatural one. Last One to Die by Cynthia Murphy is the first book I read this year, and my first 5 star as well. I am now confident that 2021 won’t be that bad. I knew I was going to enjoy it, I just didn’t expect to enjoy it this much. Huge thank you yo Kaleidoscope Tours and Scholastic Press, for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for my review. I loved Ruth and Derek. Ruth is the librarian at Niamh’s school and she is an absolute star. Sweet, kind, and makes sure that Niamh has someone to talk to. Someone to care for her while she is in a strange country with scary things happening around her. And Derek was just wonderful. I love the guy, he was always there for the kids in his building, and made sure to protect Niamh whenever he could. Made sure that the police couldn’t go too far. It was fantastic. Juniper Torres woke with a smile. Today was the day. She knew it, though there was no particular reason to think today would be different. The sun wasn’t shining. The sun was barely even up, but it didn’t matter much. The universe was speaking to Juniper directly, lighting a fire in her veins and making her heartbeat thrum. It whispered to her in a soft, lilting voice: Much like Riverdale, the story is exaggerated in a way that makes some parts completely unrealistic, but that doesn’t bother me as it is a fiction book.

Juniper dug her phone out of her purse. She told herself these thoughts were random, the musings of a girl who still desperately needed her morning caffeine, but deep down, she knew the truth. After everything she’d done to Ruby, she wanted to believe in the possibility of redemption. I enjoyed the book's opening and the fast-paced execution that brought me closer to giving it four stars. However, the ending was a bit meh, a little far-fetched for my taste. I was expecting a more reliable conclusion that made sense, so I decided to lower my rating to three stars. The story . . . was dark and full of conflict and passion and so many twists. No one is who they seem and everything was captivating' NetGalley user Parker Addison is the school’s golden boy. He’s rich, good looking, everyone’s dream friend. But he’s also jealous and controlling, and obsessed with Ruby, even though she doesn’t want him as a boyfriend again. Brett Carmichael comes from a struggling family, too. His father was once a professional boxer, but now his hopes for a bright future have faded and it’s down to Brett to succeed where his father failed. Brett’s also Parker’s wingman and would do anything for him. Gavin Moon is the outsider, never part of the popular in-crowd at Fallen Oaks, despite being a talented writer and musician. Disclosure: This book was provided to me by Edelweiss free of charge in return for an honest and unbiased review. This book is scheduled to be released on December 11, 2018 by Margaret K. McElderry Books.What was able to truly stand out to me about this novel was the way that the characters were written. Each one was their own archetype from the Lone Wolf to the Beauty Queen. With trembling hands, she typed out the message, Did you submit me for the Burning Embers Scholarship? Ruby’s number was still in her phone. She couldn’t bring herself to erase it, which was definitely ironic, considering the thing she’d erased from Ruby’s life. We’ve all seen this idea done a million times but what matters is what is done with those archetypes to make them more complex, to make them more compelling.