Book Club Kit: You'll Be The Death of Me by Karen M. McManus
Please be aware going into this post that it is for people who have read the book and therefore contains some spoilers.
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About the book
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Genre: Teen/YA, Crime thriller, Murder mystery
Number of pages: 328
ISBN-10 : 0241473667
ISBN-13 : 978-0241473665
ASIN : B08VDZXMS6
Published: November 2021
Purchasing links: Amazon - Barnes and Noble - Indie Bound
Book Covers
Book Synopsis
Ivy, Mateo, and Cal used to be close. Now all they have in common is Carlton High and the beginning of a very bad day.
Type A Ivy lost a student council election to the class clown, and now she has to face the school, humiliated. Heartthrob Mateo is burned out—he’s been working two jobs since his family’s business failed. And outsider Cal just got stood up . . . again.
So when Cal pulls into campus late for class and runs into Ivy and Mateo, it seems like the perfect opportunity to turn a bad day around. They’ll ditch and go into the city. Just the three of them, like old times. Except they’ve barely left the parking lot before they run out of things to say . . .
. . . until they spot another Carlton High student skipping school—and follow him to the scene of his own murder. In one chance move, their day turns from dull to deadly. And it’s about to get worse.
It turns out Ivy, Mateo, and Cal still have some things in common. They all have a connection to the dead kid. And they’re all hiding something.
Now they’re all wondering—could it be that their chance reconnection wasn’t by chance after all?
About the Author
Karen M. McManus is a #1 New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of young adult thrillers. Her work includes the One of Us Is Lying series as well as the standalone novels Two Can Keep a Secret, The Cousins, You’ll Be the Death of Me, and the upcoming Nothing More to Tell. Karen's critically acclaimed, award-winning books have been translated into more than 40 languages and have sold more than four million copies worldwide. She lives in Massachusetts and holds a master's degree in Journalism from Northeastern University, which she mostly uses to draft fake news stories for her novels.
@thehoneypop did an author interview with Karen M. McManus about You'll Be The Death of Me where she discusses being referred to as “The Queen of Teen Crime”, the common themes of her books and more.
Book Reviews
My Review of You'll Be The Death of Me by Karen M. McManus.
I particularly liked the addition of the two jokers running a school YouTube news channel, their intermittent audio script added great humour to the story. Read the full review by @AnAverageLife88
McManus writes in such a way that you just want to keep turning pages and it’s not even in a ‘just one more chapter’ way. You’re not consciously prolonging a reading session, you just keep turning and turning. Read the full review by @Rebbie_Reviews
This book is full of twists, action, and mystery. You will not be disappointed. Read the full review by @cissova
You’ll Be the Death of Me wasn’t a perfect book by any means, but it sure was addictive as heck! Read the full review by @frappesandfic
I loved how the narration alternated between the three main characters and gave a different perspective and thoughts to events. Each chapter drew me into that character’s narrative but then often a curve ball is thrown in the next chapter completely changing my perceptions and suspicions. This meant I quickly became suspicious of everyone which was a lot of fun for me. Read the full review by @cats_herding
Awards
#1 New York Times bestseller
#1 ABA IndieBound bestseller
A USA Today bestseller
A Junior Library Guild Selection, Fall 2021
A YALSA 2022 Best Fiction for Young Adults Nominee
An Amazon Best Young Adult Book of December 2021
Discussion Questions
Can doing something illegal to help someone you love ever be justified?
Have you ever lost touch with a good friend? What's stopping you from reconnecting with them?
How can a teacher be a mentor and a friend without crossing the line into inappropriate behaviour?
What do you think would be good ways to resolve family conflicts especially between siblings?
What are your thoughts about teens helping out with family financial problems? Should they have a role in resolving them or is it an "adult problem" they should be guarded from?
Do you feel there is a difference in how female and male predators are dealt with?
Did you ever skip school as a teen? Did you get caught?
Quotes from You'll Be The Death of Me
“You can be right in principle and still wrong in approach.”
“Nobody should be that good at so many different things. It doesn’t build character.”
“Silence falls as we get lost in our own regrets.”
“We all make mistakes, right? And almost never see the fallout coming.”
“But are people supposed to abandon potential soul mates just because of a few socially constructed complications?”
“Plus, my parents have great insurance, and savings, and all those other things Henry talks about when he’s trying to convince me that I should get a business degree alongside an art degree. You need a safety net, he always says.”
“Oh, I have big plans. Netflix, ice cream, cutting Gabe out of all my pictures and burning his head. It’s gonna be a whole thing.”
“Here's the thing about powerhouse people: you have no idea how much they take on until they can't do it anymore.”
“My mother planned the first time she and Dad ever left me and my brother alone—for four days—with the same thoroughness and military precision she brings to everything.”
“It’s normal for people to grow apart when they reach high school, I guess, and it’s not like our friend breakup was some big, dramatic thing.”
“It’s normal for people to grow apart when they reach high school, I guess, and it’s not like our friend breakup was some big, dramatic thing.”
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