How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine

How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine

Alice Lawrence’s life is a wreck—her family’s fallen apart, she’s living in a sad little apartment that smells like bologna, and, worst of all, she’s the only witness in her sister’s murder case. Claire, her sister, was everything Alice wasn’t: popular, gorgeous, and the star of the theater, while Alice was the quiet, horror-movie-loving science nerd. But they were inseparable—until Claire was killed.

Now, as Alice heads to court to testify against the man she’s sure killed her sister, something unbelievable happens. She’s attacked in the courthouse bathroom, and when she wakes up... it’s a year earlier, on Halloween night, the night Claire was murdered. Alice has until midnight to change the course of history and stop her sister’s killer.

This title absolutely grabbed me (and then the R.L. Stine quote made me feel strangely squeamish... just me?). I'm not big into horror movies or final girl concepts but the way it was written definitely seemed like something I could see on the screen. However... the ending?

Wait, before I go there, can I share something petty? I kept forgetting this book was basically set over a few hours (that infamous midnight deadline) because so much was happening. And I understand a lot can happen in a few hours, like in some of the horror movies mentioned in the book, but it just dragged out a lot for me. I kept wondering why, and then I realized it was the weather.

I know weather can change quickly, especially in fall and in Nebraska, but it went from being a perfect day with "all that glorious October sun" to, at the climax, "Snowflakes have begun to fall, the mushy, wet kind that are almost rain and melt the second they hit the ground."

Okay, I buy that it could start to snow on Halloween. Yet in the next paragraph, "The snow has almost covered the yard..." But didn't it melt the second it hit the ground? Because that was just said in the previous paragraph... 

I know it's petty in the scheme of things and not my biggest issue with the book, but it pulled me out of the climax to the point where I was flipping back to the front. I realize weather can change on a dime and it can go from sunny to snow in Nebraska, but explain the melting yet covering the yard.

NOW, to the juicy part. The ending. Spoilers ahead!

As I Descended

As I Descended by Robin Talley

Maria and Lily are roommates at Acheron, an exclusive private school on the grounds of an old Southern plantation. They’re also head over heels in love with each other, even though they’re keeping their relationship under wraps. Both girls want to continue their relationship in college, but the only way they can do so is if Maria wins the coveted Kingsley Prize - a scholarship that will let her attend the college of her choice at no cost.

Maria is second in the class, and Delilah, number one, is just slightly better than Maria in every way possible: more popularity, more extracurriculars, better grades. Even with all the extra credit in the world, Maria’s GPA won’t top Delilah’s.

So the girls have to get rid of Delilah. And they know no bounds.

Lily buys an old wooden Ouija board off eBay and holds a seance with Maria, whose belief in spirits was instilled by her Hispanic nanny. The girls use the board to open the door to the spirit world - then forget to close it.

This twisted retelling of Macbeth is delightfully creepy and unsettling. The atmosphere the story creates is dark and spooky, and the suspense builds while the reader wonders what havoc the spirits will wreak on campus next. The history of the slave plantation on which the school is built adds depth to the story.

I loved Talley’s first book, Lies We Tell Ourselves, but wasn’t sure what to expect from her supernatural book. I don’t usually read supernatural stuff, but since I love her writing style, I wanted to give it a shot. I’m SO glad I did. This is the ghost story to end all ghost stories. It’s a very literary, very beautiful book. I would read anything by Talley.

I also reviewed this book for Memphis Reads.