A new novel but the same plot. Initially I had You'll Be the Death of Me as a hit or miss novel but upon reflection, I moved it to the not worth your time category because we've seen this plot time and time again by the author and the intensity of that type of storyline has finally gone stale. And for me, I couldn't connect or enjoy the protagonist's compared to the other works, other works I really enjoyed, which is why I am sad I put this novel in the miss category.

One protagonist made this novel insufferable for me, I didn't care if they were caught or blamed. Having one of the main characters be someone I loathed helped further ruin the read because all I wanted was to skip their storyline and read about the other two protagonist's. But, I needed all three viewpoints to know the full extent of the story and when I finished the novel all I could feel was "eh." You'll Be the Death of Me is the same story as all the other works published by the author and if you like the previous novels, then I recommend reading this but if you are yet to read a work by this author, skip this and read One of Us Is Lying - now that's a dynamic high school mystery worth your time.

A who-dun-it plot with the three protagonist's in "contention" for the spot as killer. With three altering viewpoints and three teens determined to uncover the truth, you'll have to read the plot to see how it unravels.

Ivy, Mateo, and Cal are standard characters the author writes; they are cringey teenagers (in a fun way mostly) that make dumb decisions, put their feelings first, and have a heart of gold and brain of rocks when it comes to solving crimes.

Personally, out of the three main characters there was one I adored and one I hated. I didn't know I could have such intense feelings for a one-dimensional YA character but I did. I mention this because if you decide to read You'll Be the Death of Me, you too may find some of the characters and their decisions polarising. These are hit or miss characters who do help push the narrative along to create an engaging but predictable story.

The ending is intriguing and may leave you to wonder, will there be a sequel? This novel contains an open-ended finish and may leave you with questions. You'll Be the Death of Me contains polarising characters, solid literary descriptions, and an intriguing who-dun-it but because I've seen this storyline before and I hated one of the main characters, I placed this is the not worth your time category but as always, it is up to you to determine if my opinion is one you want to listen too and if this novel is worth your time.

Be prepared for My Thoughts on You'll Be the Death of Me as they are long. This was a polarising read. I anticipated a lighthearted read with some cringey moments but found myself upset by character actions instead of rolling my eyes at the improbability of them and enjoying their silliness. The whole plot is a touch redundant and how the journey starts required a huge suspension of disbelief and I could handle all of that until Ivy's revelation and then I was done. Ivy is the worst. She is a morally horrible character. I could not enjoy any of her narration after that revelation.

She poured baby oil on a bowling alley floor to embarrass her brother... why was she written as an intellectual and highly moral character when there is no doubt that she knew deep down that slippery oil could be a disaster, not just a get-even prank. Ivy is lucky nobody died because of her "anger" against her brother whose prank, although crappy, could have easily been avoided if she - I don't know, read the speech beforehand? I know it is different for each individual but coming from an individual who suffers from public speaking anxiety, I always read my notes a million times right before getting on the stage - how did Ivy not read them? That makes no sense she never double checked her notes from the time her brother switched them in her backpack until the time of the speech. Ivy sucks. She caused a business to get sued, a family to lose their income, and her penance to herself was to suggest to her father that the owner work for him when the new business starts up? No.

And when Mateo yells at her after her revelation, he regrets it later and wonders how she could ever forgive him. No! Ivy literally destroyed his family's life and he was more concerned about his valid outburst and how to repair their relationship? Why is everyone so willing to appease Ivy? Also Ivy treated her younger brother like dirt for being smarter than her; yeah, that's no doubt frustrating but she wasn't written as a gifted individual or the smartest in the grade, just as a smart person, therefore I have to assume she's been "beaten" by someone else smarter than her, not just her brother. Siblings fight but she isolated him and removed him from her life due to jealously. There also is no rationale reason why she and Mateo ended up together; she caused his cousin to go to jail and his family business to be destroyed!

I can't talk about Ivy any more or this section will become a novella. Moving to Cal and Mateo, they were average characters in the realm of a YA. A touch self-centred, indecisive, and silly. Both made dumb decisions but were overall a joy to read. I especially liked Mateo as he had a good head on his shoulders and apart from his devotion to Ivy, was able to see the bigger picture. It was Mateo who led the police to Lara's house and without him, would Ivy or Cal still be alive? Probably not, go Mateo! I had a small inkling the perpetrator would be linked to Lara, it was her studio Brian died in but I can't believe it took me so long to put the blame on Tom. Obviously it was the coach.

Can we also mention how calm and collected Ivy and Mateo were about Cal being preyed on by Lara? No? Only his parents had a moral compass? It doesn't matter that the relationship wasn't physical, she was emotionally with him and the only reason I can justify their nonchalance at the whole situation initially was because they had just discovered a dead body. Honestly, and at the end when Ivy was writing her letter to the Educational Board demanding Lara have her teaching license revoked, as it should be, why was there no inclusion of her inappropriate relationship with Cal as part of the letter or her rationale behind writing it? This serious aspect was skimmed over and it shouldn't have been, only Cal's parents had common sense.

This whole novel lacked common sense and as we can see from the extensiveness of My Thoughts, I have some extremely heated opinions about Ivy which I recognise influenced my reaction to this novel. I will not be reading this again and do hope any new works follow the same vibe as One of Us Is Lying as that was such fun to read and again, a really good YA mystery if you have yet to read it.