Emily Keller, known by the media as Keller the Killer, is on trial for the murder of a local family. Was it intentional or accidental? This debut novel transitions from past to present and present to past as we learn more about Emily, and how she went from an innocent girl to an alleged killer.

While the beginning was quick, the plot started to feel a bit slow in the middle. As a YA mystery/thrilled, I thought that while it didn't land the impact that I had hoped, it's still a really solid book for young people that demonstrates how one can go from a quiet kid doing all the right things, to someone influenced by others and facing the consequences of those decisions.

Thank you to NetGalley and CamCat Books for this advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

Are you a bad person if you do a bad thing? Emily has always wanted to fit in…but at what cost? Should one mistake mark you for the rest of your life? Especially in the formative years. Thought provoking, well developed story.

I only wanted to do one thing while reading this books: give a big hug to Emily. The author described really well the teenage mind, and the way addiction, anxiety, SA and everything is described is so on point! I really appreciated reading the book, I couldn’t wait to know every details!! The pace is really good, although impatient as I am I couldn’t wait to just know how it ended!!! I truly loved how each subject was addressed and lived a roller coaster of emotions from the beginning to the very end!! Will definitely read more of this author!

Kathleen Fine's Girl on Trial kept me flipping pages from beginning to end. The protagonist, Emily, had my sympathies from the start. On trial for manslaughter of a family she babysat for, teenage Emily seems to be the victim of circumstance. Just trying to find her way out of the Maryland trailer park and find a new friend, this story shows what can happen when you let yourself be peer pressured by those around you.

Thank you netgalley for the arc! I really liked this book about a teenager, who is on trial for killing a family. This booked hooked me from the start and I found Emily was an incredibly developed and believable character. This story is about peer pressure, early adulthood and teen drink/drug use. I look forward to reading more books by Kathleen Fine.

This book just wasn't for me. I struggled to get into it and almost didn't finish it.
We just didn't really gel. I couldn't get into the characters although the idea of the story is fascinating. Thank you

I really enjoyed the moral dilemma and big questions at the heart of this story and felt like the book was well written and executed well.

This story follows the trial of Emily Keller who has been accused of manslaughter, after a family died. The story was slow going at times as it went back and forth, from past to present explaining the lead up to the trial. I was really interested in how the story would emerge and how Emily’s trial would plan out. There was a few twists and turns, some I had a feeling would happen but there were bits that’s I wasn’t expecting.

Great for young adult and adult readers, this is a crime fiction/mystery novel surrounding a girl, Emily, going on trial for the deaths of a family of four, including two young kids. The story flip flops between the present day of the trial, as well as all of the days leading up to that fateful night. The earlier storyline also begins with her rough upbringing and eventually, making a new friend and bad influence, Hannah, as well as how she’s introduced to the ultimate victims, the Thomas family. As it progresses, it brings the question: did she do it and if not, who is the real culprit?
I guessed what happened pretty early on, but enjoyed the lead-up that could easily keep others guessing.
Thank you to CamCat Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This is out now.

Wow. This book follows Emily in both the present and the past. Emily is currently on trial for the murder of 4 people. However, underneath all this is a girl just trying to find her way in life who made choices that are affecting her now. This was a quick-paced book that easily gets you intrigued.

An amazing read, so many twists and turns.

I really am that reader that has to be obsessed from
The first few pages in & this book definitely did this for me.

Highly recommended.

Girl on Trial was phenomenal. I could not put it down until I knew what happened. I enjoyed the writing style with the dual timelines, exploring both Emily’s relationship with Hannah and her trial for manslaughter. I will definitely look forward to more from Kathleen Fine.

maybe it didn't appeal to me as much as it did to others but somehow I wasn't really invested in it like i'm not saying the plot wasn't good. it was actually excellent and managed to keep me at the edge of my seat for most of the time but still it was lacking the gut wrenching feeling that I was hoping for when I requested it. the attention was to details was impeccable so were the characters. they felt real because they were flawed and nuanced. but books like these could use a little bit ambiguity and this didn't have any. regardless, it was good enough for a debut thriller I guess.

This book was great! You are constantly on your toes! Once you think you’ve figured something out there’s a twist that you never saw coming! A great thriller that flowed well it never felt like the author was overcompensating for anything. Cant recommend this book enough!

Holy crap I didn’t expect this to be so good! Fast paced and thrilling, I didn’t see the twists and turns coming! Definitely going to look at more by this author.

Emily Keller is trying, like any 16-year-old girl, to navigate high school and find herself. She wants to get in with a more popular crowd, so she makes some questionable decisions that landed her in more trouble than she could ever could have imagined.

This story takes you back and forth in time. Travel through the past as Emily makes the choices that will ultimately put her on trial for 4 counts of manslaughter, and sit with her in the courtroom in the present as she fights to clear her name.

This book gives me very much the movie Thirteen vibes. It was a quick, interesting read! Thank you Cam Cat Books and NetGalley for the ACR in exchange for my honest review!

Please see my full review on good reads! I reviewed it there first and now it won’t let me put that review here. I have also included the link to my full review. Great read!

This book was so intriguing! I do not think there was ever a part of this book that I was generally bored. There was always something going on, which made it really hold my attention!

I LOVED the mystery in this book! Though I knew what was going to happen from the very beginning, it was still cool to see exactly what happened. All of the court room scenes were so interesting, and I loved the dual timeline. It was so perfect for a story like this.

The only reason I gave this one three stars is because of some personal reasons and because it was extremely disturbing at parts. I knew the trigger warnings going into this book, but I was not expecting them to be as graphic as they were. They made me feel very sick, and I had to skip over these scenes. I do not think this book would be good for anyone under the age of sixteen to read -- considering how graphic and traumatizing scenes were. At times, I could not believe this was a YA book.

I would recommend this book for anyone looking for a dark mystery with a lot of drama. It would be perfect to read on a lazy, rainy day!

Thank you to netgalley and CamCat Books for the arc of this one! It just came out on October 24th!

The topic was interesting, but I was not captivated by the structure or the characters. I think that the tension was absent on the page. I could not finish the book -- there were factual errors in the portrayal of addicts that bothered me and the tone was cavalier. As a result, I'm giving this three stars, as perhaps it improved.

I read this book in 2 days because I had a hard time putting it down. It is told from Emily’s POV in 2 timelines. One is the trial, and one is the past. I really felt for Emily, a teenager on trial for causing the death of an entire family. The book gets started right away on the first day of Emily’s trial so we don’t know much about what happened leading up to the trial. I was drawn in by Emily as her insecurities drove a lot of her actions in my opinion. This is a great read and you will love it if you like family dramas.