A born and bred Londoner, Ravena writes MG and YA, usually featuring antiheroines or snarky narrators. She is a lawyer with a degree in biochemistry, and hopes to use the knowledge gained from her experiences to plot her books, whether that's wild MG fantasy adventures, or twisty YA murder-mysteries.

I think the best part was the scene where Jes figured out who the murderer was. Even though bits of it didn't make sense and it was way too much information at once, it was a surprise and I definitely did not have this person on my radar.Author Guy Bass introduces SCRAP, about one robot who tried to protect the humans on his planet against an army of robots. Now the humans need his... Una prota de 16 o 17 años escribe para clase una historia a dos manos sobre asesinato muy particular. Se desarrolla en un bosque, en el que encuentran a la víctima asesinada con un trofeo y un mensaje, “Help me”. De hecho, parece demasiado rebuscado y nunca sabemos qué otra cosa pasa, por lo que la constante referencia me pareció más aburrida que un aporte real. La situación es que, uno de sus compañeros de clase, Hugh Van Boren, es encontrado asesinado de la misma forma que ella narró en su tarea. Además de eso, una serie de mensajes de agradecimiento y amenazas llegan a su teléfono, lo que la hace querer investigar quién pudo haber matado a su compañero valiéndose de su “creatividad”. The story is laced with twist and turns and touches on life as a scholarship student who is under the strict instructions to not get in to any trouble, contrasted with the life of those with money who can try to make anything go away with it. Will they this time?

I also enjoyed the setting, as I said I love mysteries set at boarding schools, and this one wasn’t different. There is something about the isolated setting and the fact that the main character/teen sleuth must know or at least know of the murderer that always gets me. La cosa es que, por supuesto, no es muy sutil que digamos. Va de aquí para allá, acusando a todo el mundo por las razones más estúpidas que puede encontrar y, lo peor, es que se las cree. No es como que tenga una leve sospechita y diga: ah, puedes ser tú, pero dime tu coartada y miramos. Nop. Es: ah, tengo esta leve sospechita, por supuesto que esta persona sube al puesto número uno de asesinos. Era tan ridículo, que el primer 30% de la historia, antes de que yo misma me hiciera una idea de quién podía ser el asesino, cada vez que ella subía un personaje a su top uno, las razones por las que lo hacía me hacían eliminarlo a mí por completo de la lista de sospechosos. I'll make it clear from the start: I did not kill Hugh Henry Van Boren. I didn't even help. Well, not intentionally." When Hugh Henry Van Boren, one of the most popular and richest kids in Jess Choudhary's school, is found dead, the student body is left reeling and wondering who the murderer could be... Jess, a student under strict instructions to keep her record clean or risk losing her scholarship, finds herself at the centre of the investigation when it's revealed that Hugh died in the exact same way as a character in a short story she wrote. And then Jess receives an anonymous text thanking her for the inspiration. With time running out, Jess knows if she doesn't solve this mystery, she'll finally have something in common with Hugh Henry. She'll be dead too. LoveReading4Kids exists because books change lives, and buying books through LoveReading4Kids means you get to change the lives of future generations, with 25% of the cover price donated to schools in need. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives.With her scholarship on the line and the police seemingly making no headway, Jess feels forced to investigate herself. Sino que también tienen las excusas más idiotas para sentirse ofendidos y actuar como niños, como si no estuvieran bien cerquita de su adultez ya. Jess is telling us this story from the present, after it's all over. So there are touches that bring us out of the immediacy of the murders and remind us that the narrator already knows the solution, and often does this with humour.

This Book Kills is a debut UKYA and bound to be one of the most gripping crime thrillers of 2023. I had the opportunity to ask the author, Ravena Guron, a few questions! When you thought of a story inspiring a murder, did the murder come to you first or the school setting? But I loved her refreshing voice and personality which was soo different from all the self entitled people around her and her singleminded goal helped to keep a fairly clear focus on uncovering the killer, and their motive for murder—which truly made for an immersive (and enjoyable armchair detective style reading experience.) Al final, me encontré leyendo y terminando la historia por un misterio que nunca revelaron, porque al parecer ni siquiera existió: el de la prota. Incluso cuando ella misma, narradora de su propia historia, lo niega, creí que era sencillamente el recurso narrativo y que en el futuro sabríamos qué ocultaba y por qué se negaba a decirlo, pero no. At once fun, twisty and insightful, This Book Kills is a gripping murder mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat.” Adiba Jaigirdar, YA Book Prize winning author of Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake DatingElite boarding school, a secret society and a murder mystery all in one book? YES PLEASE, THANK YOU. The writing in this one is absolutely incredible, the plot was easy to follow, the murderer is easy enough to guess but not too easy that it ruins the fun, the characters were well developed and relatable and overall this book is a really great read. Absolutely loved Tommy and Annabelle. Annabelle was such a good roommate to Jess and always protected her when it mattered. I liked the friendship group that was was blooming towards the middle of the book between Jess and some of the side characters. What I loved about the characters, was that each character was unique and that a friend group of completely different people was formed. This was a very entertaining and well paced murder mystery. Like Agatha Christie for young adult readers. Jess, a student under strict instructions to keep her record clean or risk losing her scholarship, finds herself at the centre of the investigation when it's revealed that Hugh died in the exact same way as a character in a short story she wrote.

Jess needs to solve this murder urgently, as time is running out. She may not only lose her scholarship, but she may end up also losing her life!

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Lots of moments where you do question motives, alibis, stories and characters. Great teenage introduction to the murder mystery genre. Trigger warnings: murder, assault, violence, bullying, classism, racism, toxic friendship, mentions of suicide, hit and run (in the past), hospitalisation of a friend The concept of This Book Kills is what caught my attention first. A teenager, writing a murder story and inspiring an actual murder? That sounds chilling. I also really liked Summer, fellow Scholarship student and Tommy, Jess’s longtime crush and the deceased Hugh’s best friend. And I admit, given how sweet their interactions were I was wholeheartedly rooting for Jess and Tommy to become more that friends.