Win Lose Kill Die by Cynthia Murphy #bookreview #YA #thriller #horror

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Title: Win Lose Kill Die

Author:  Cynthia Murphy

Publisher: Delacorte Press.

Publication Date: November 28, 2023

Page Count:  262

My rating: 3 1/2 stars

About the book:

A high-school slasher with a lethal twist, perfect for fans of Holly Jackson! The students at Morton Academy are high-achievers, selected based on academic excellence. So when a series of murders target the school’s best and brightest, the pressure is on.

Failure is fatal…

At the historic Morton Academy, a school for high-achievers, everyone wants to be Head Girl and gain all the prestige and success that comes with the title. But when bodies start piling up, the students begin to worry that someone is too determined to take that crown.

Liz, Taylor, Kat, Marcus and Cole all set out to discover what exactly is going on. Is it the secret society that they have sworn allegiance too? The history of a cult that plagues Morton Academy? Or even a greedy teacher? They need to find the truth…and quickly.

Win Lose Kill Die by Cynthia Murphy is a young adult thriller novel that has a touch of slasher vibes from horror movies. The story in Win Lose Kill Die is a fast paced one told from the point of view of an unreliable narrator.

Those that attend the elite Morton Academy are overachievers that are already guaranteed into the colleges of their choice after graduation. But at Morton there is the elite of the elite at the school who are asked to join the secret society known as Jewel and Bone.

At the center of the secret society there is the “head girl” but no sooner than one is named that student is murdered. Liz and her group of friends Taylor, Kat, Marcus and Cole find themselves investigating just what is going on at the academy before they end up the next victim when yet another murder occurs shortly after the first.

Win Lose Kill Die by Cynthia Murphy was what I’d call a solid young adult thriller novel but one that wasn’t without a few flaws. The story is one that is fast paced which leads to not a whole lot of character development with the action pushing the plot along so I can’t say I wouldn’t have liked a bit more. The ending is a decent twist to the tale but also one that didn’t overly surprise me either so when said and done I rated this one at three and half stars and would give the author another read someday.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

Cynthia is an author from the North-West of England. She has always enjoyed writing and when her English teacher accused her of plagiarism in Year 8, she thought she might actually be quite good at it.

She has a long-standing love affair with all things scary, reading Point Horrors at primary school before graduating to Stephen King in her misguided teens. Classic 90s and 00s horror movies are definitely her pub quiz strong point and her first love may well have been Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Studying for a degree in Art History and Archaeology meant that she developed a thirst for anything old, beautiful and very often dead. She tries to combine this with contemporary settings in her writing to make unique and chilling modern stories.

Cynthia is married to her best friend and they have a Romanian rescue dog, Loli, who you will see a lot of on Instagram @CynthiaMurphyYA.