How to survive your murder

Review by Booklist Review

Alice is an expert on murder--at least those that happen in the movies. But no movie could have prepared her for her sister Claire's very real murder at the hands of a chainsaw-wielding maniac. One year later, a sullen, distant Alice is set to testify against Claire's killer. But just before the trial begins, she is attacked by a strange girl who knocks her out. When Alice awakens, she is somehow back in the past with a chance to alter Claire's fate--and hers along with it. But can Alice stop the killer in time to change the future? With this paean to Scream and the self-aware slashers of the 1990s, Valentine has woven a twisty mystery worthy of sequels. The action is relentless, which helps smooth over some of the more implausible plot developments, and a thread of magic runs through the story, making it unique enough to defy predictions before the fateful finale. Due to violent imagery, this is a book for older readers, but it will absolutely satisfy thriller lovers.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Like most of the characters in Valentine's gruesome horror debut, academically gifted Omaha East High School junior Alice Lawrence is a true-crime and slasher-film enthusiast. Alice and her older sister, Claire, 18, are invited to Chloe Bree's Halloween party at a corn maze, and they're excited to immerse themselves in the holiday's eerie ambiance, until things turn deadly. Chloe appears in the middle of the maze with her arm cut off, and Alice stumbles upon a wounded Owen Maddox, who subsequently murders Claire in front of her. A year later, Alice no longer talks to her surviving friends, and her parents have split up. While attending Owen's murder trial, she's accidentally knocked unconscious and catapulted a year into the past. Suddenly, Claire is alive again, and this time around, Alice is determined to keep last Halloween from repeating itself. An intriguingly meta plot shift makes for an ambiguous resolution. Nevertheless, Valentine successfully imbues this slasher-flick-worthy novel, grounded by a propulsive mystery and fierce heroine, with ample amounts of ghastly gore, foreboding atmosphere, and plenty of scares. Alice and Claire read as white, and there is racial diversity throughout. Ages 12--up. Agent: Hillary Jacobson, ICM Partners. (Aug.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 9 Up--Alice is obsessed with horror movies; she is starting a podcast that intersects true crime and horror movies with two of her best friends. But, on Halloween Alice's life turns into a real-life slasher movie when she witnesses her sister's murder. One year later, on the day of the murderer's trial, a Sidney Prescott look-alike sends Alice back in time to the night of the murder with instructions to learn the truth. Alice knows what she saw that night--Owen Trevor Maddox is the killer--but as the death toll grows and new evidence emerges, Alice comes face to face with suspects she never would have imagined. Once Alice is sent back in time, the plot unfolds much like that of a slasher film, making for a fast, hair-raising, and at times gruesome read. There are a few twists that, while not hard to discern, add to the atmosphere of uncertainty throughout the novel. Though readers may find themselves frustrated at Alice's stubbornness and unwillingness to see the truth, the author's choice to narrate through her perspective creates a high stakes and emotionally fraught thriller. All main characters read white, but many secondary characters are diverse. VERDICT A must read for slasher fans, and sure to delight any readers looking for a thrill.--Mariah Smitala

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

Reliving the worst day of her life offers a teenager the chance to change her murdered sister's fate. Alice is your typical horror movie--loving high school student, an aspiring forensic pathologist in Omaha, Nebraska, who knows all the best movies and all the details of their gruesome murders. Her world is turned upside down on Halloween night, however, when cinematic gore enters real life, and she finds classmate Chloe in a corn maze with her arm cut off. Attempting to flee from the maze to get help, Alice then witnesses her sister, Claire, die at the hands of college student Owen Maddox. Now getting ready to serve as a witness at Maddox's trial one year later, she has been inundated by people who think he's innocent, including a look-alike of Sidney Prescott from the Scream franchise who gives her the worst gift possible. After being hit on the head, Alice is thrown back a year and forced to live through the day her sister died, but there is a catch: If Alice can solve the mystery of who attacked Chloe, everything she changes during that night will remain, offering her a chance to save her sister. This book offers readers strong pacing that parallels that of slasher films, with a dash of mystery and a pinch of meta-horror, making it hard to put down. Main characters are White, and there is some diversity in race and sexuality in the supporting cast. A delightfully twisted story. (Horror. 12-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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Halloween night, last year Mark Evans was practically cradling the chain saw. You'd think it was his baby. "I don't know, Chloe; that doesn't seem safe." "It won't even have a chain," Chloe pointed out. "A chain saw can't hurt anyone if there's no chain." "It's still heavy. And loud. And what about all that . . . what's it called? Exhaust? You can inhale it and stuff." Chloe closed her eyes for a moment, frustration building inside her. Mark was the biggest guy on the track team. Maybe even the biggest guy in their year. Since when was he such a wuss? To be fair, she hadn't chosen him because he was brave or whatever. She'd chosen him because of his shoulders. Mark had the greatest shoulders at Omaha East, all broad and muscular. She figured they'd look seriously sick holding a chain saw, like the guy in that freaky chain saw movie, Jason, or whatever his name was. "Can't we just, like, play a recording of chain saw noises?" Mark asked. "Or I could make the noise with my mouth, like this." He demonstrated how he might make chain saw noises by blowing air through his lips and kind of clicking his tongue. Chloe was at a loss for words. What were you supposed to say when a guy made chain saw noises at you? Chloe had known, from the moment she convinced her parents to let her rent out Lacy Farms for her Halloween party, that she wanted scary chain saw guys chasing people through the corn maze. Otherwise it was just a pathetic party in a cornfield. Why could no one else see her vision? "Mark," Chloe said very carefully. "Listen to me. You're going to turn the chain saw on, and you're going to chase people through the maze, and you're going to be fucking scary while you do it, or else I'll have to tell everyone about that thing you do when you kiss." Mark had swirled his tongue around in her mouth when they made out at Kylie Mack's birthday last year, like his tongue was a weird, wet helicopter propeller. It was seriously disgusting. Mark paled, then swallowed. "Yeah, okay." Thank God , Chloe thought as headlights swept through the corn, alerting her to the arrival of her first guests. She loved this part, the beginning--of--the--party part. Absolutely anything could happen now. She checked her phone screen just in time to watch the numbers switch from 6:59 to 7:00. Showtime. The genius of her party was this: people had to go through the scary corn maze and get chased by chain saw dudes before they were rewarded with booze and music at the center of the field. Chloe was pretty proud of it. She knew everything was set up, but she still double--checked that the camping lanterns were all lit, that the keg was ready, that the band was getting its gear together. She greeted her first guests, did a shot, and then did a bonus shot (what the hell, it was her party), and that's when she overheard someone talking about how the corn maze wasn't even scary, because Mark Evans hadn't turned his chain saw on; he was just making the chain saw noise by blowing air through his lips. She felt her jaw clench. You've got to be kidding me. The sun had fully set by this point, and the only light came from the camping lanterns circling the edges of the clearing behind her, gaslit flames flickering like fireflies. Chloe beelined for the maze but hesitated when she reached the entrance. It was darker than she'd expected it to be, a lot darker than it'd been when she was talking to Mark twenty minutes ago. The entrance was a gaping black mouth. She imagined it snapping closed around her the moment she stepped inside. She swallowed. "Mark?" she whisper--shouted, taking a single step forward. Fallen cornstalks cracked beneath her feet, and it struck her that the sound was brittle, like bones breaking. She felt a flicker of fear and quickly pushed the thought away. It was the exact same maze she'd been through a million times in the daylight. There was no reason to get all freaked out. She said, louder now, "Mark, get out here." No answer. He was going to make her come find him, wasn't he? Well, fine, if he wanted to do it that way. She turned a corner, and then another, and then--- There. A figure in the shadows, holding a chain saw. Chloe exhaled. "I thought we'd agreed you were going to turn the chain saw on ," she said, searching for Mark's giant arms in the sha-d-ows. "If you just make the noises with your mouth, it's seriously---" The moon slid out from behind a cloud, its soft silver light glinting off the chain saw's chain. Chloe stopped talking. Wait. The chain. It was old and a little rusty--looking, and even from a few feet away, Chloe could see the jagged metal teeth, so sharp. That chain definitely wasn't supposed to be there. Chloe blinked, twice, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. "What are you---" The chain saw revved to life, those jagged teeth spinning into a metallic blur. Chloe parted her lips, but she couldn't scream. Her voice had shriveled up somewhere inside her throat. Her mouth flapped open and closed, wordless, her hands flying up instinctively to protect her face. The scream wouldn't have helped her, anyway. It was much, much too late for that. The chain saw flew closer, whirring and grinding, the sound it made an electric howl--- Until it hit bone. Excerpted from How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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