Member Reviews
Catch Your Death by Ravena Guron is a heart pounding thriller that challenges you to play detective, making you question everything you were told was true.
Guron is a fantastic writer. The characters all felt so vivid and unique, each narrative perspective distinct from the others. Guron easily went from wit to fear to anger and back again. She captured each of the characters emotions perfectly.
The mystery was absolutely fantastic. This book was plotted amazingly. I can’t say too much without spoiling but WOW. When some of the reveals happened it sent me reeling, thinking back over the book and asking myself how the heck did I miss it. I imagine, knowing what I know now, this book will be excellent to re-read and I bet new details will jump out to me that didn’t the first time.
I really did love how this kept me guessing. I got some things right, but how it all came together…I really can’t impress upon you enough how impressed I was.
I loved Ravenas first book, but this one did not do it for me. Stuck in a mansion, it felt a little unrealistic and seemed to drag on in the story
This was such an exciting "who did it?" Thriller! I had no idea who the murderer was right up until the end, the second half of this book was just crazy, you think you know what's happening and then nope, everything's changed. I think this is a brilliant read to cozy up with in December! I will say that the middle 20-50% was slightly slow paced for my liking but it all picked up towards the end!
Thank you Netgalley and Usborne publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange for review!
A wealthy family, a housekeeper and her assistant and two teenage girls who end up stranded due to the weather, staying at the house overnight. In true crime tradition there is no mobile phone signal, the power fails and during the evening there is a murder with every character a suspect. You think you have guessed the killer, then change your mind a couple of times because of the number of twists. Written from multiple viewpoints, fans of Karen McManus and Holly Jackson will love this novel full of suspense with characters who are unexpected and a family who completely disregard the truth.
A mixed review! I always try to be fair in my reviews, so here we go; this is a fabulous idea, the writing is great - I loved the house with all its secret passages and and hidden corners, it's exactly the right kind of setting for this kind of story. The characters were great. However, I don't feel that we could have guessed whodunnit because we were actively lied to early on, and while I know that's not unusual in mysteries - people will lie to the detectives and the other people around - I still feel that it's not solvable. But maybe I just don't read enough mysteries, maybe it was all perfectly obvious to other readers!
The descriptions and writing are all wonderful. As often happens, I would have liked a map - I'm very visually oriented and I would have loved to be able to follow people around the house. But as (almost) always, I was reading a proof and by the time this is published there may be floorplans of the house included.
This is a great addition to the mystery/thriller books that are currently all the rage for YA, and I can't wait to see what Ravena comes up with next.
A fun, locked room style mystery set at a mansion in the middle of a snowstorm. The perfect setting for some crime. I liked the triple POV narrative. Lots of twists, 3.75 stars.
Following on from her success with This Book Kills, which went down a storm with my students, Ravena Guron has another sure fire hit in her hands!
this book made me gasp!! that plot twist omgggg. i absolutely adored this novel and guron has done even better than her debut!!! 10/10!!! amazing
I have been struggling with writing this review for days… what a book👏🏼👏🏼
this felt like a whirlwind, it was jam packed from start to finish. I’m not sure I’ve ever read a book with so much detail.
at first it started quite slowly and I wondered if it would go anywhere. Boy was I stupid to think that.
it started with the basic story, or what we thought was the story, how the girls ended up at the house and of course the murder. Just when I thought I had it all figured out I was thrust back in time for more and more plot. See the thing is if I write too much then I’m going to spoil it, and a book like this deserves to be read and loved rather than known for snippets.
the characters were all pretty cool, they all had their own uniqueness to them. The character development was interesting to see, especially within the vanforte family.
the plot itself was well thought out and we’ll executed. You were completely guessing right up until the end. I wholeheartedly did not expect nearly any of what went down in this book🤣 I was throughly entertained the whole way through. The detective interviews that we heard throughout were also a great addition, it reminded me of a good girls guide to murder.
After reading ‘this book kills’ , I was super excited to read any future works by Ravena. Honestly, you really outdid yourself👏🏼
I highly highly recommend you reading this one. Especially if you’re a holly Jackson & Karen McManus lover.
thank you to NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!
I loved the style of writing in this book. It’s a good old fashioned murder mystery and an excellent detox between heavy psychological thrillers. There were times it felt a little young for me but I still enjoyed it.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for my honest and unbiased opinion.
The traditional country house mystery brought up to date and written for the YA market. Ideal for fans of the genre. The character of Devi was particularly engaging and the police interview sections were a nice addition to the narrative. A good book for the secondary school library.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
A new author for me, the book started off a little slowly but soon started to hit you with surprises.
Secret passageways in an old house, the family is not all it seems to be. Skeletons in the closet are the least of the worries here. A complex storyline, but lends itself to a good read.
Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a thriller that genuinely kept me guessing. It really was not what I expected.
Our story opens with a group of people cut off from the outside world, when one of them is killed. Our victim, Emily Vanforte, is poisoned during a family dinner…and only someone staying in the house would have the opportunity to do this.
We follow the cast of characters as they try to establish who killed her and why. The truth is so far from what you might expect that it’s hard not to be impressed.
I struggled to get into this and that surprised me as it has so many elements I like in it! I think the villains just felt so over the top and 2 Dimensional that it pulled me out of the story.
I did like the initial twist though and I feel my students would enjoy it. Just not for me.
I was a big fan of Ravena Guron’s debut This Book Kills and was interested to see if the author could pull off another ‘who-dunnit’ winner. She certainly can, cleverly switching the action from a posh boarding school to a snow-swept stately home cut off from its surroundings by atrocious weather. There was not much horror in Catch Your Death, but do not let that put you off, the spirit of Agatha Christie was alive and well in this page-turning thriller! The story centres around a wealthy family who snipe at each other all the time, a housekeeper and her assistant and two teenage girls who end up stranded due to the weather, staying at the house overnight. There is no mobile phone signal, the power fails and at some point in the evening there is a murder and every character is a suspect. This was one of those books where you will have fun guessing who the killer is, then change your mind a couple of times and has a great ending with a wacky number of twists.
To say much more about the plot would head into spoiler territory. But expect twist and turns a plenty, big revelations with nobody being what they seem, even the most innocent looking characters. The story unfolds over 91 short chapters/extracts, seen from multiple perspectives, which grips the reader moving backwards and forwards in time, including the police interrogation. There are a couple of breaks in the text when the reader is encouraged to guess who the murderer was (I got it wrong) but had a blast along the way. Think of the most unlikely character then think again! In many ways the location was totally stereotypical for a rather old-fashioned murder mystery but it worked perfectly. Great fun. AGE RANGE 12+
Having read and loved This Book Kills, I was intrigued to find out if Ravena Guron could write a further book with has much mystery and suspense has her debut novel. Oh my, she sure can!
The scene is set - a stately home cut off from its surroundings in the midst of heavy snow storms. A wealthy family that really don’t get on with each other, a housekeeper and her assistant and two young girls whom end up stranded due to the weather, staying at the house over night. No phone signals, power cuts and the death of the wealthy Emily Vanforte, hidden passages, mysterious findings, guns. But, is it all has it seems!
For fear of giving the game away, I couldn’t say more. Apart from, this book has more twists, turns and discoveries, than an average murder mystery. Written in such away that we see the story unfold for the main characters over 91 short chapters/extracts, captivating its reader and, arousing suspicions, whilst encouraging the reader to interact and solve the mystery with each page turn. Ravena is certainly writing a name for herself has a great author of Young Adult Fiction stories, but also has a Who-Dunn-it writer for a younger generation.
Catch your Death is a fabulous page turner.
I am a sucker for locked room/house thrillers and this one was perfect for that! Catch your death was highly entertaining and fun, and I enjoyed it a lot!
This is a murder mystery with every possible ingredient thrown in:
- isolated mansion ✅
- rich family of unlikable characters ✅
- scared, brave unexpected FMCs ✅
- hidden secrets ✅
- twists ✅✅✅
I can see why this has been suggested for fans of - Good Girl’s Guide To Murder. It does a great job of peppering the clues at a good pace and keeps you guessing.
It’s 4 ⭐️ from me just because it got a little less tense as we entered into part two. I thought the author’s ability to build tension and set you on edge was so great in part one that it was disappointing not to have it after that.
Being fully honestly, I loved this one so much more than This Book Kills.
The setting was perfectly atmospheric- snowed in at a mansion when a murder takes place, so it must be someone amongst the group.
I loved seeing the three girls come together and work so well despite, and perhaps because of, all of their differences. Devi, though a tad annoying, was definitely my favourite with her sharp comments and humour. The other characters were also well thought out and all added something to to the book.
I was hooked throughout, as the book jumped between past and present, as well as including snippets of detective interviews and articles, prompting you to attempt to piece together what had happened.
I loved how everything tied together and the three girls' stories all began to make sense. There were a few twists I genuinely did not see coming - when I felt that I'd guessed it, a whole other layer unravelled. Overall this was a super fun YA thriller that I predict will be a hit this winter!
LOVED this, the structure! The twists! The characters! Really brilliantly written and I was gripped straight away. I didn't see the way the story was going at all. Fantastic book, and I'd recommend it to anyone who loves YA books and murder mysteries.