Rock Paper Killers follows five teenagers from Dublin as their lives and secrets begin to unravel during a summer in the remote coastal college that they have travelled to to cram for their language exams. When the group of friends discovers that a girl one of them used to bully is assisting at the college, tensions rise, and the friends struggle as they’re cut off from the rest of the world as the social, academic and familial pressures finally become too much.

This book is really addictive. I started it one night with the intention of reading just one chapter, and I’d finished the whole thing the next day because I was so desperate to find out what happened next. It’s the reverse of a murder mystery where the question is not ‘who did it?’ but ‘who’s the victim?’ and it gives the story such an intense, page-turning quality that I enjoyed every minute.

The cast of characters is fascinating. All five are introduced in quick succession so I did find myself struggling to remember who was who for a large chunk of the book but, by the end, they all felt so well-developed as individuals that I didn’t find the multiple perspectives off-putting at all. Rupert was my personal favourite, though I also loved Amber, and the addition of the off-the-rail mean girl, Kelly, as a protagonist did definitely add an unpredictable element all the way through.

I’d definitely recommend this book to fans of Karen McManus and Holly Jackson, and it’s already one of my favourite reads of the year. The only slight downfall for me was the ending which, although it made a great twist, I did have to read a few times to fully grasp as it did seem a little rushed. That aside, I did really love this book and am definitely interested in checking out Alexia Mason’s other books as well.

tried this 3 times and every time I got bored and DNFed it's sad as sounded like it would be good but I just found it confusing and boring

Overall, this was a fantastic read. I love the fact that I had no idea who would die, no idea when they would die and no idea how until the end. It was only at 90% (I was reading on kindle!) through that I started piecing together what could happen. I got parts right but the rest I was well off!

The start was quite slow and I am still deciding if I like that or not! I felt the introduction to the characters was a bit fast though because it took a while to understand who the characters were and what their family situations were. Once the main characters LB, Lockie, Kelly, Amber and Rupert arrived at their destination, it kicked off and became very chilling and suspenseful!

All the ideas in this book are flawless. There are so many small things that are mentioned, you half forget about and then they come back round towards the end. It is a very clever book! The epilogue was so effective and left me with so many more questions!

I liked the Irish setting and as a British reader that was very interesting. I thought that the way the characters are bought together by staying at a summer camp to learn Irish was very skillful and again, as a British reader, that is something I haven't had the experience of.

The character of Amber was probably my favourite. She likes reading tarot cards, in fact it becomes a little obsessive, she is anxious and as a whole just very believable. I would have liked to have seen Rupert's character developed more but LB had a great story line.

I love that this book made me question each of the characters and that it didn't give you all the answers, which just added to how chilling it was. I still don't know exactly what happened and who to blame. Or if there should be someone to blame!

It is interesting how this book is not written from multiple perspectives but does still change the viewpoint. It got slightly confusing in places but once I was used to it switching it was fine!

I definitely recommend this for fans of Karen. M. McManus, although it is a thriller and not a murder mystery so you don't actually see the how the crime was committed, only the build up to it. It definitely has a very similar vibe to One Of Us Is Lying though!

** This review will be posted on zbestbooks.blogspot.com on 6th March 2022.It will also be added to Goodreads. **

It's very rare that I give a one star review...but this book truly deserved it in my opinion. The writing was incrediby chopping, switching from POVs so constantly I had whiplash. It was also simultaneously basic (it felt like a teenager had written it in a bad way) and still confusing. This was meant to be a mystery thriller...and the only mystery is how this got through to be an ARC. I hate being so negative but I can't find any good points to speak of. I skimmed through to the end, to see where the mystery came in and it was ridiculously short and barely explained.

At the end of the day, there are far more better books out there.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rock Paper Killers sounded like the kind of thriller that would be right up my street. Unfortunately, it was really difficult to get into and what should have been exciting was often confusing.
The action - and I use this term loosely - centres on a group of teens who are sent to a summer school in an old asylum to cram for their upcoming Irish exam. For the majority of the book they go to lessons and wander round this building, hinting at tension between characters but giving us little.
One of the group ends up dead by the closing stages of the book. We know this in advance, but there’s seemingly little preparation for this stage. We’re given minimal information about the characters that could explain these later events, and some of the potential interest is glossed over.
By the closing stages we had moved into a setting that made it clear we were going to see the death. However, by this stage I could have quite happily seen any of the characters in this position and not been concerned, and the actual description of the death was so choppily done that it felt like a ‘blink-and-you’ll-miss-it’ moment.
There was a vague attempt to create intrigue around the cast of characters with hints of previous issues. By this stage though it felt like too little too late. Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this, but it would need serious revision to make it into the kind of book it’s clearly trying to be.

Rock Paper Killers
By Alexia Mason Published by Simon Schuster Children's UK

This YA fiction set in a three week duration of Irish School races through many tale telling teenage arguments with differences of opinions. The story jumps from each character telling tales full of manipulative conversations about who knows what about each other which looses strength and conviction.
I felt it took an age to really “get going” and lacked the need for more mystery, spooks and spirits, despite the backdrop of an old disused asylum.
The diversity of the characters is a reflection of the modern world we live in and I felt the author gave each of them their own identity and voice, which in itself is an amazing accomplishemnt with so many 'same age' characters.

Joanne Bardgett - Year 3 teacher of littlies, lover of books
#Netgallery
#Simon_kidsUK

There's a lot of potential in this story and a fascinating background. Unfortunately I found the story confusing and it didn't work for me.
Not my cup of tea
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

(Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for and eARC in exchange for an honest review)

I hate writing negative reviews but this book just wasn’t good.

I went in expediting a mystery thriller and ended up with a plot that was literally just 4 kids sitting an exam. That was it. Nothing else happened until the very end which felt super rushed. There was potential in the ending but some of the key parts and the reasoning behind why the characters acted in that specific way where never mentioned before so it left me feeling super confused. The characters where all very surface level and there was no development or anything interesting about any of them.

I did like how it was set in Ireland and found the whole Irish school system interesting but that was about it for things that I liked. The writing was all over the place and there where a couple chapters set in the future that were super random and provided nothing to the plot (I’m still confused as to why they were included).

This YA (not quite but almost) locked room psychological thriller is set in Galway ata summer school for Irish children to learn Irish Gaelic.
The setting for this was inspring - a disused asylum and the cast of characters were both diverse and fascintating ranging from the daughter of a rock star, to a gay lad whose single parent and well loved dad is in his seventies to a girl with self harm and compulsive disorders.
It begins with a prologue which ends with a young unidentified girl falling off a cliff and dying at the hads of one of the group - by nature this reduces the pool of supects by half.
The various unreliable narrators made this a complex read, but overall I felt that too few clues were offered to really ground the novel and the characters motivations throughout the novel.
That said, I really liked the diversity of the characters and felt the author gave each of them their own identity and voice, which in itself is an amazing accomplishemnt with so many 'same age' characters.
The setting was inspired - what could be more creepy than a disused asylum with many unexplored corridors, bangs in the night and mystery.

First of all: this is a YA novel set in an Irish college in the Gaeltacht. Do you know how long I've been wanting a YA novel set in the Gaeltacht? AGES. It's a distinctly under-utilised setting and I'm glad somebody's making an effort to redress that balance. There's so much potential for shenanigans and, as someone who only started learning Irish as an adult and so never got the quintessential teen Gaeltacht experience, I want to live vicariously. I was delighted to discover that there's even a Dramatic Ceili Scene. Having said that, I didn't feel Mason quite exploited the possibilities of that setting to their fullest extent -- the five characters the story focuses on are living separately from the other students, who are with host families, and we never actually see them interact with their fellow learners. I realise that for the majority of readers, "more Irish-learning content" is not what they're looking for in a thriller, but for me personally as a weird nerd, I'd have liked to see a bit more of that, especially as the timeline jumped forward in a couple of places and skipped over a lot of that side of things. I can also imagine some elements would be confusing for those less familiar with the concept of Gaeltacht colleges -- there's a brief attempt at explaining how the grading system and CAO points work for uni entry, probably for the benefit of non-Irish readers, but I'm not sure I'd have followed it if I didn't already know it a bit, and other things were left unexplained.

I would say that for a thriller, the tension levels weren't as high as I might have hoped. For the majority of the book, it felt like it could have been a contemporary novel rather than a thriller. There was drama, yes, but it was everyday drama within a friend group as the characters navigated family and relationship struggles, jealousy, and bullying. There were a couple of flash-forwards to the end to help increase the tension, but they didn't feel as intense as I'd have liked; it was easy for me to forget that they'd happened, distracted by the present interpersonal squabbles rather than anticipating whatever it was that was to come. And while there's some creepiness ("oh no, we're staying in an old asylum, it's probably haunted"), this gets resolved relatively quickly without any sense that the characters were really in danger. (That resolution doesn't do much for the story as a whole: most of the characters don't know what happened, and never seem to ask about it or question it again.) It's only towards the very end of the book that the thriller aspects really kick in, and it felt like something of a change of dynamic for the characters in a way that wasn't entirely believable to me. I felt the dramatic scene at the end could have been pushed back a little way into the book to allow more time to grapple with the fall-out. There is some foreshadowing that in hindsight is leading up to a particular scene, but at the time it doesn't feel like foreshadowing -- unfortunately, not in the good way where it makes you re-evaluate everything you read, but in the sense of, "oh that could've been leaned on more heavily to increase the tension".

I also found it a little hard to keep track of the different POVs, as the characters' voices weren't particularly distinct from each other. I think Rupert probably had the most personality, and therefore became my favourite, but he didn't have a great deal of competition.

Overall, then, I was a little disappointed, as it seemed tailor-made for me with the setting. Nevertheless, I'm very glad that somebody is writing Gaeltacht YA (with queer characters!), even if there could have been more Irish involved.

I found this book to be very messily written in places. It was quite confusing at time, and I think Alexia Mason was trying to do too many things in the one book and so it just blurred the lines a little too much.

It was OK but not one that will stay with me.

I’ve seen a lot of negative reviews for this book so I was hesitant to start it, but I‘m so glad that I did because I really enjoyed this! I read it all in one sitting because I was so addicted to the plot and I needed to find out what happened! I particularly liked that I had no idea what was going on throughout the story, and I didn’t know who to trust and who not to trust. I thought it was such a great YA mystery and I would definitely read more from this author!
4/5 ⭐️ - definitely recommend!

THANKS TO NETGALLEY AND THE PUBLISHER FOR THIS REVIEW COPY IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW

I tried really hard to read it... Couldn't.
Then tried to skim-read it... Couldn't.
So I just read the end and I am glad to save my time😶
The writing style was so childish and the story was filled with unnecessary details. There were so many characters and everyone sounded the same. The world-building was also dull. So, in short, there wasn't anything that gave me hope.

I found this book easy to read, I liked the story, the setting of book being in Ireland. I liked the suspense and mystery that the book gives to the reader. Overall it was a good read, can’t wait to see what else this author has to offer.

I found this book enjoyable to read, I liked the writing, the story, the charcaters and the setting. I particularly liked that I had no idea what was going on the whole way through, who to trust or even who the victim is but that just added to the suspense and mystery. Overall it was a good read and I enjoyed it, I would definitely read more from this author.

I was lost the entire way through this book, and struggled a lot with the character's and the overall plot line. For a YA thriller, I wasn't really thrilled, it lacked a lot of mystery, which is disappointing because the blurb and the cover had potential.

There were a lot of character's mentioned in the book, and none of them had distinct voices, so it was difficult to keep up with who everyone was, and in turn, I didn't have a particular attachment to any of them. Additionally, the writing was very childish and I felt a lot of necessary information was left out of the book, and overall was not written for a young adult audience.

I personally, did not enjoy the book, but there may be a lot of younger readers that this book would be perfect for.

Rock Paper Killers is a bold, brash new addition to the YA murder mystery genre.

That synopsis really doesn’t give anything away, but it still had enough for me to desperately want more. I mean, an isolated setting, some secrets and a touch of murder and you’ve got me hooked.

Mason wastes no time in setting the scene with an intriguing and mysterious opening. It’s dramatic, tense and suspenseful. From there, she keeps up this shadowy, secretive atmosphere with some interesting time jumps. These little flashforwards work to build the suspense and drop some clues into the wider narrative. Similarly, she oftens switches who the narrator is focusing on, to keep you on your toes and throw you slightly off kilter. Everyone here has hidden motivations and things they’re trying to keep buried, so of course, it will all come to the surface in an explosive fashion. This only pays off if you’re invested in the characters, which Mason succeeds in doing. They’re well-sketched, three-dimensional people who you find yourself rooting for.

I spent much of the book trying to decide between two characters for the identity of the victim. This is a book that is essentially a masterclass in manipulation. The entire time, you are not quite sure who to believe and Mason keeps throwing you off with diversions and extra details. All of this builds such a complex and interesting storyline, with plenty of good twists and turns in store. For me, this made it such a quick, pacy and thoroughly readable story. It is no exaggeration to say I sped through it in practically one sitting. The pacing was so well-executed and made the pages just fly by.

Rock Paper Killers is a tricksy book that keeps you second guessing everyone, even yourself.

Am I cast out at sea because this was the choppiest book I have ever read.

I understand that this book was set in an Irish school setting. I understand this book had a million different characters and I also understand the authors intentions of this book. But did it work? No.

I won’t lie, if this book wasn’t something I was reading for review, it would have been chucked down and deleted straight away. I forced myself to get through this book and I can’t take back those few hours of my life.

- the characters all flooded in with each other and nobody was written in a way I could imagine them off the page. they were all the same and I didn’t care for any of them.
- the irish school setting was interesting but super confusing. I’m british so this is hardly something wacky for me but the author did a poor job at explaining some things and I even sent quotes to an irish friend of mine and they were confused.
- the lack of thriller and mystery in this book was obscene considering this is a mystery/thriller YA book. I felt like everything was a mess and the parts that did make sense were predictable.
- which brings me on to this genre. this book is YA but reads like a children’s book. the voices were very young and not like any teenager I have experienced. I’m only twenty three so this isn’t a huge jump for me to say.

Without spoiling it, this book was not for me and is definitely not something I would recommend or purchase.

I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Who wouldn’t want to read this book with such an intriguing title? Rock Paper Killers immediately drew me in with the premise of the story and I couldn’t wait to get stuck in.

I loved the slow building and sense of impending doom you got from reading this. You knew something sinister was going on and something was about to happen, but as to when, where, how and who you had no idea!

It took me a little while to get to grips with all the characters and relationships (as well as the Irish school and setting) and it was a little choppy at times but once you have it all down, it was plain sailing. I also loved the occasional split time chapters, alternating between three weeks ahead and to the present.

It was so addicting to read and the chapters flew by. I found myself tearing through it and near finishing it in a day. I was left reeling at the end and I’m still unsure of how to think. It was definitely a rollercoaster of a read and I really enjoyed the suspense and drama and I can’t believe how quickly the book ended! Can’t wait to read more from this author.