Review: You Will Be Mine by Natasha Preston

Title:  You Will Be Mine 

Author:  Natasha Preston
Publisher:  Sourcebooks Fire 

Publishing Date: February 6th, 2018

Pages: 304
Genre: YA Mystery/Suspense

Series:  Stand Alone 
Source: Audio

 

Love turns deadly in a new, heart-pounding thriller from Natasha Preston, author of the runaway bestsellers The Cellar and The Cabin.

ROSES ARE RED
VIOLETS ARE BLUE
WATCH YOUR BACK
I'M COMING FOR YOU

Lylah and her friends can't wait to spend a night out together. Partying is the perfect way to let loose from the stress of life and school, and Lylah hopes that hitting the dance floor with Chace, her best friend, will bring them closer together. She's been crushing on him since they met. If only he thought of her the same way...

The girls are touching up their makeup and the guys are sliding on their coats when the doorbell rings. No one is there. An envelope sits on the doormat. It's an anonymous note addressed to their friend Sonny. A secret admirer? Maybe. They all laugh it off.

Except Sonny never comes home. And a new note arrives:

YOUR TURN

I was very excited for this read. I love everything mystery, suspense, thriller. I absolutely loved The Cabin by this author and wanted to read more of her books. This was a good read. It didn't wow me as did the Cabin but I still really enjoyed it.

Six friends in their college years start off a night to party... Just like so many other nights. While they were getting ready they find a delivery at the door. It's scary it's creepy it feels dangerous but they think it may be a prank. These pranks happen on campus all the time. There is a history of Valentines Day pranks. They go about their night.

In the morning, one of the teens is missing. Sonny. He is found murdered. His heart missing. The friends receive another note... addressed to someone in the house... Your Turn. What seemed like a prank has now turned deadly and no one is safe. 

The friends must solve the mystery of the killer before its too late. It's a wild goose chase... it's a valentines murder fest... it's definitely not a prank. 

The mystery and suspense was spot on in the book. Just as I like it, the vibe was often 90's slasher movie. These are some of my favorite reads. The author did a wonderful job trying to get us, the readers, to believe the killer was already figured out, but there was still always the feel of doubt coursing through out too. I wasn't sure whether the suspect was going to be the killer and I was being thrown off on purpose, or if I was to believe it was the suspect and bam it's not. I wasn't sure what to believe in the killer department. I was always second guessing myself. That doesn't happen a lot for me.

The areas of improvement for me was the pacing and the unreal-ism. The pacing was really off for me. It was a short book but at times it felt slow and other times it felt rushed. I think it needed to be somewhere in between. I know these types of books do not thrive on realism, but I do need some sort of realism. At times I felt this book was a little over the top. The characters and police would make decisions I just couldn't see happening.

I wasn't able to connect to the characters very well either. I didn't let this hinder mt enjoyment too much. I often find it hard to connect to characters in thrillers or horror books. I am usually too concerned with the thrills, chills, and mayhem being pursued. This book through, I just didn't particularly like any of the characters. They worked well for the story but not for my relationship with them. To me they were a bit immature and just not very smart. They did care for each other deeply and were very loyal to each other. Which was a plus in my world.

It was good and enjoyable if you are looking strictly for a suspense mystery.

Natasha Preston is the New York Times bestselling author of The Cellar. A UK native, she discovered her love of writing when she shared a story online—and hasn’t looked back. She enjoys writing romance, thrillers, gritty YA, and the occasional serial killer.
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