YA mystery/thrillers are my go-to audiobooks. So I was super excited when I came across this one. The cover, the description, the narrators? Sounded perfect to me!

But here's the thing -

I went into this, thinking it was just a YA mystery. I somehow missed the part of it also being fantasy-ish. No big deal, that's fine with me. I thought it was a cool idea. I did enjoy that for a bit. But after a while everything that happened post-journal, felt like a fever dream.

Things I liked about Burying Eva Flores:
- The cover? Gorgeous.
- The title? Love it.
- Amazing narrators - they killed it!
- The character growth for both the MC Sophia and the 'antagonist' Eva.

But now on to the things I liked a bit less:
- Multiple (sometimes unnecessary) POVs, timelines, AND interviews. It can be quite confusing at times.
- Super short chapters.
- The entire Sophia and Manny situation.

Sophia was, in my opinion, insufferable.

After the first few entries in her journal, and things actually turning out the same as her story, Sophia suddenly turns into an even more obnoxious person, especially towards her friends. Her entire woe-is-me mindset is annoying as hell. That, and the journal and its supposed power turned her into a power-hungry and delusional monster.

Not my cup of tea, but I'm sure others will love it. My cons could be someone else's pros, and that's cool!

If you do decide to read/listen to Burying Eva Flores, I hope you'll like it more than I did.

Eva Flores was new to the area but due to her TikTok fame and overall persona everyone loved her… That is everyone except for Sophie. The fact that Sophie didn’t bow down to either and worship the ground you walk on or at the very least subscribed to her TikTok with something either just couldn’t live with and it seems she made it her life goal to ruin Sophie‘s life. It started when her family bought Selfies a rental home and said they were turning it into a resort, then they bought the wheel the part-time job that Sophie had that helped sustain her family. Not to mention the fact Eva wore her hair exactly like Sophie‘s and it seems Eva’s mission of ruining Sophie‘s life was right on track but things would soon turn in south east direction. Her best friend Morgan gave her a leather bound journal supposedly to help her with her writing class but what needs a girl new it’s whatever Sophie wrote Sophie would get it but it may not turn out quite the way Sophie wanted. This book was so good I loved it and couldn’t stop listening to it it had multiple narrators and all were great. It was so good I started listening with my daughter who also love the book. This is such a great book and one I highly recommend the ending with something I didn’t expect but totally loved it would definitely read more books by this author. I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

"You just don't know what's inside... You don't know everyone's truth."⠀
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Jennifer Alsever, Burying Eva Flores ⠀
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Burying Eva Flores by Jennifer Alsever is such a unique book! The author skillfully weaves together text messages, emails, police statements, and character dialogue to create a rich tapestry of supernatural suspense. There was an underlying eerieness to the story that was punctuated by references to indigenous folklore and ghost stories. Eva and Sophie were equally as infuriating as they were sympathetic and I had a hard time rooting for either one but I was so pleased with the end of their character arcs. The twists and turns of this YA thriller come hard and fast as the story progresses and kept me on the edge of my seat. The brutally honest commentary on social media, bullying, and the teenage experience is a vital part of the book and is executed with a precision that cuts to the bone. The audiobook version is an immersive experience that was perfectly executed with a great team of narrators. ⠀
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I really wanted to love this book but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me and I am so sad about that.

When I first read the description, it sounded like something I’d really enjoy and for the first half I was enjoying. I loved the use of interviews to tell some the story from multiple view points, and I took the characters. Unfortunately the book lost me at the magic journal. The book lost its pace and my interest.

I am definitely in the minority for this as there are so many positive reviews, it just wasn’t for me. I also wonder if reading rather than listening might have changed the experience for me, although I will say the narration was excellent.

I am grateful for the opportunity to have reviewed this book

This was an interesting story. A magical journal and teens....what could go wrong. It starts out okay but quickly goes wrong.

I found Burying Eva Flores to be a good read. Its premise was very intriguing, but I didn't find the many characters likable. Morgan and Dillion were the exceptions. Sophia and Eva come across as two sides of the same coin. Sophia hates everything and everyone. In many ways, you get it, a lot of crappy things have happened to her and her family but she often ignores the part she plays in some of those situations. Eva's crappy home life has caused her to grave attention and worship wherever she can find it. Leading her to do some pretty awful things to people that don't give her the praise she thinks she deserves.

Once the magic element of the journal is introduced the story picks up taking several unexpected turns. My only real problem is nothing is resolved. There are real consequences for Sophia, Eva, or Manny. Life just goes on.

I love a full-cast audiobook, so when I saw a YA thriller with a full cast set a listen now on NetGalley, you bet I instantly went and downloaded it. I knew it was going to be a thriller with some supernatural elements, but let me tell you, I couldn’t have guessed how wild this book was going to get.

This book is essentially a Courtney Summers book that took a detour through Death Note. If that doesn’t intrigue you, I don’t know what will.
Eva Flores is missing, presumed dead, and everyone thinks Sophia did it. In this book, told through a blend of story, texts and interviews, we discover why Sophia hated Eva, what was going on in their lives and the magical notebook that allowed Sophia to mess with Eva’s life in revenge.

I know this story sounds weird as anything, and it is. I don’t know how much I truly liked it. And there were definitely some problems. But I also couldn’t put it down. This is an example of a book that’s best told in audio. Not only does it bring the story to life, but you feel like you’re listening to gossip, which makes you hungry for me.

That said, it can also be hard to read in places. I comped this book to Courtney Summers, and though part of it might be more 2000’s teen drama, some abuse and things happening in the background. You get glimpses of it through the characters’ involved perspectives, and it did make me feel very uncomfortable. Which is why it was pretty well done.

I mentioned earlier that this book has problematic elements, and I should address those. Though a particular character was a predator even before this book began, Sophia then deciding she should be with him to get what she wanted wasn’t great. Obviously, he started it. She was a victim. But being in her head as she was planning to steal an adult man from his wife was…not great. It felt like something from Gossip Girl or Pretty Little Liars, and I wasn’t a fan.

Something more positive that I want to note is that Sophia has a disabled older brother. He’s autistic and can hold down a job. But he also still behaves a lot like a child. I loved that Sophia and all her friends just treated him like they would any other sibling. He still got to be involved, and no one was saying he couldn’t do something because he was disabled. I know in the real world, that should be the bare minimum. But as someone with an incredibly disabled younger brother, let me tell you, so many people will either judge or baby. It’s terribly frustrating. So it was wonderful to see this in a book for teens; hopefully, the intended audience will learn from it.

But all this loveliness didn’t mean that all the characters were likeable. I felt for Eva as the story went along, as you’re supposed to. But she was so nasty to start with. And then there’s Sophia, who you feel for at first, who, along with the problematic stuff, becomes nastier and selfish. It’s suggested that it was the book that did it. You see, it twists some side characters too. But there was a long period in the book where it was tough to root for Sophia, as she wasn’t being a great person. Though, obviously, that’s turned around in the end.

Overall I did enjoy this book. It was a twisty, drama-filled, addictive read. I highly recommend getting it as an audiobook for the complete experience. But you can also get it on Kindle Unlimited and physically if you don’t like audiobooks.

Sophie hates Eva Flores. Anytime she sees her, she can’t help but rant to her friends about all the reasons she wishes Eva would just disappear. But then Eva does disappear, and with how vocal Sophie has been, she’s the number one suspect in the case. Her friends know that there’s more to this story than anyone could ever guess, and it all revolves around a secret leather journal.

I wasn’t sure what I was getting into with this work, but I enjoyed it overall. In between the primary plot sections (or the “then” timeline), there were shorter chapters titled “The Eva Flores File” that were short clips of interviews from people ranging from Eva’s friends and family to suspects in the case. There were also excerpts of text messages that were taken as evidence by the police to aid in this case. The author did an excellent job at balancing the dual timelines and presenting the interviews and evidence throughout the work. It was a little disorienting at the beginning with the short snippets of interviews from so many different characters, but once I was situated a bit more into the plot, it all flowed more easily.

The first third of this book is largely dedicated to introducing the characters, so there’s not much plot. I did enjoy that both Sophie and Eva were flawed in different ways and think that it made for an interesting juxtaposition. The fact that they both underwent some decent growth during the last portion of the work was a pleasant surprise. But the antagonist/villain of the work felt a little too much like a caricature rather than an actual well-developed character, which left me wanting more.

About 30% into the work the magical realism began to be incorporated into the plot. I wasn’t expecting this at all, so it was a pleasant surprise and an interesting turn for the novel to take. While I did quite like this aspect of the work, I wanted more from the final explanation relating to it. Similarly, there were many difficult topics brought up in this work, but they weren’t really addressed or explored in a meaningful way – they just kind of existed as plot points. I always find this takes away from my enjoyment of a book.

I’m glad that I read this unique YA suspenseful mystery and could easily see this being a 5-star read for many other readers. Many thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I felt this book was very much a story of two halves. It started out like a teenage revenge plot, which I loved but when the magic notebook was introduced I found it lacked the pace of the first half.

I did enjoy the story and the characterisation was really good. I was routing for Sophia despite feeling Eva was misunderstood and I could see where the stepfather plotline was going early on.

The narration and multiple point of views was great and I think if the second half had been so intriguing as the first I would have loved it.

That being said I would definitely read more from this author.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review.

*3.75 stars on StoryGraph*

First of all, thank you to both NetGalley and the publishers for giving me access to the ARC version, in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed listening to this book, and had access to the book ARC as well so read along as I listened, which was a really great experience of the book.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, and agree with others that it is very reminiscent of The Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson. I think the story was really interesting in the development. It definitely picked up pace as it continued, and it took me a while to get into the book. I think that, at first, it didn’t read as naturally as I think it could have done and the dialogue was slow for me. But that picked up and I did enjoy it.

I also think, re: audiobook, that the different cast was a bit confusing for me to get used to and it helped to have a text of the book to read at the same time. However, some people said they love a cast recording. I have never listened to one before, so it just took a bit of getting used to but once I recognized who was who then I started to really enjoy that aspect.

I thoroughly enjoyed the audio version of this book. The narrators’ presentation suits the style and really brings the story to life. And what a story! A modern dark fairy tale set in the Tik Tok celebrity generation. Thank you to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial Audio for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Honestly I struggled at first getting into this one. Usually multiple voice actors on an audiobook help it come alive for me but with all the voices jumping in so rapid-fire at the beginning of this one just caused some confusion. They weren’t utilized throughout the audio- only for short chapters- so this could have been done by one narrator and achieved the same effect for me. The main narrator was easy to listen to and about halfway through the pieces of the story started clicking into place better for me. The way this was laid out jumping between the main plot as current vs. interviews after the fact made getting into it and really figuring out what was happening more difficult. The main plot device wasn’t even really brought into focus until about halfway through the story. Once the journal became a factor and everything started making sense I did enjoy the story and it added some fantasy factor to what would otherwise be a general young adult book.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Jennifer Alsever for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC audiobook for Burying Eva Flores. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own. 
 
Seventeen-year-old Sophia Palmer doesn’t like most people on principle, but she hates Eva Flores. Eva practically ruined Sophia's life—stole her look, took her home, and used her Tik-Tok queen status to turn the entire school against Sophia. So when something unspeakable happens to Eva on a class trip, everyone thinks Sophia killed Eva Flores. 
 
Eva is not the person everyone thinks. Her posts are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars a pop, but her life is not the perfect sponsored dance video that everyone sees. But how would Sophia know that? Sophia judged her from the moment Eva moved to town. She refused to like her the way everyone else did, no matter how hard Eva tried to win her over.

One day Sophia receives a blank notebook from her best friend. It’s a magic notebook that brings to life whatever Sophia writes in it. When she realizes her stories are coming true, she immediately knows the power she wields. So she begins to write a new story. About two girls with opposite luck.

Overall, this story didn’t work for me. I sided a lot with Eva and I thought her character was interesting with some hidden depths. She had a disgusting stepfather and her mother didn’t seem to be around. I thought she had a lot of struggles that felt real. Sophia was annoying for a lot of the book. I think her kissing Eva’s stepfather to get back at her was gross. I thought she was mostly selfish and cruel to her friends. Her behavior just felt toxic. It also seemed like the book was trying to be a few different genres with the magic notebook, disappearing girl and murder plot. The stepfather deserved to go to jail for his behavior.

There were just too many things for me to not like. I will check out another book by this author though.

Well, I wanted drama.

This was a fun, compulsive read, it sucks you right in. Great to break a reading slump. I had no idea it was a supernatural/magical realism thriller. It added a nonsensical aspect to the whole thing.

The characters were flawed, vengeful and impulsive, often toxic. But they created an unputdownable atmosphere. You could see how much the power started to affect Sophia and there were many lessons to be learnt.

The story started to lose me a bit towards the end, when the little weird turned into completely out of mind. But I did like how everything was wrapped up in the end.

I listened to this book as an audiobook. We got a full cast of narrators, and they did an amazing job, I was impressed. They were certainly one of the reasons I enjoyed the book so much.

A huge thank you to BooksGoSocial Audio and NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC of Burying Eva Flores by Jennifer Alsever in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Net Galley for an audio ARC of Burying Eva Flores by Jennifer Alsever. This was an unusual, unique storyline. I enjoyed it very much. Basically, you reap what you sow!

I have a lot to say about this book, and almost none of it is positive. Obviously, this is a YA thriller/mystery, but I didn’t find it very thrilling and I don’t think it served very well as a thriller. My main issue (among many) with this book is that it was all over the place.

I don’t think it fit particularly well into any genre, which is fine, but it was jumping around so many concepts that I was never really sure what was going on, and also resulted in a lot of subplots being left unaddressed. Every single character in this book is unlikeable, which again isn’t inherently bad, but I found myself just really not caring what happened to them, which really affected both my enjoyment and engagement in the story.

I’m not able to write this review without mentioning the strange and in my opinion insensitive way that the author goes about certain topics. Sensitive issues such as SA, paedophilia, and others are glossed over and casually dealt with in a really concerning way, especially considering that this is a YA read.

I am in no way qualified to assess the following, but I feel I should mention it — Additionally, this book has one character with an obvious disability, who is constantly compared to a child and belittled by other characters, even ones who are supposedly understanding of his condition and treat him well. This disgusted me and I was genuinely upset about the way this character was represented.

You won’t be surprised to hear that I don’t recommend this book, however, if you do choose to read it make sure to check all trigger and content warnings. I gave this book 1.5/5 stars

An interesting book that reads like a YA novel with a 'Mean Girls' vibe in the Tik Tok era. However, Burying Eva Flores takes a rather unexpected turn about halfway through the story and everything you thought you knew about each character changes. Villians become likable, heroes become villains, and no one is safe.

First and foremost, a full cast on audiobook is always an elite treat!!
I loved the way the characters flowed from interview in present time, back to the past leading up to the death of Eva Flores.

Now who did it? Eva was social media famous, anyone at her school or in her life would have had motive to do so. Jealousy, dislike, or even money and fame could have been motivators. The most likely suspect would have to be Sophia, she seemed to dislike her the most, teen drama so to speak. Or her mother, who was always putting her down, or her step father who saw her as a paycheck? Or is that too obvious and it was a friend or another classmate?

This was such a good YA novel that explores the seriousness of social media influence, body image issues, adults who abuse their powers, and the everyday issues that teens face today. I think this is going to be very well received, and has potential to be a movie or series on a streaming platform. My only critique is that it was a bit too long, but the ending was so worth it!

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to listen and give my honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley for the audiobook ARC, part of this review is for the audio narration.

It took me a while to get into this story, the chapters are short and seemed very random, quick glimpses into the characters’ lives. While the beginning sets up Eva’s disappearance with interviews from other characters, majority of the book follows Sophia and her petty behavior towards Eva. The drama between the girls was comically exaggerated and stereotypical. I liked the concept of the magic journal but it was used just for selfish behavior and I thought that could have been improved.

Even though the chapters were so short, the book dragged slowly, maybe it would make more sense for television but the timeline was impossible to follow with choppy text messages and interviews.

The main narrator has a very young voice, it was difficult sometimes to distinguish the protagonist Sophia from her adult mother. Having multiple narrators felt overkill, especially changing to a male voice for just very short recollections or text messages.

Overall it was tough to form any connections to the characters and I skimmed half of the book.

I actually enjoyed listening to this audio book. The story itself was alright. I can get behind a super natural twist but with out much background it made it rather blah to me.