REVIEW: Everyone in the Group Chat Dies by L.M. Chilton

Kirby Cornell needs a break from everything:

- Her crumbling flat in the sleepy town of Crowhurst (famous for its award-winning sausage rolls and a second-rate serial killer from the 90s).

- Her dead-end job.

- Her sleazy landlord.

- Her slobbish housemates.

- And, most of all, the terrible thing they all did.

Luckily, that hasn’t caught up with her just yet. Until a new message on their old group chat pops up:

Everyone in the group chat will die.

It’s the first text her ex-flatmate and social-media sleuth Esme has sent for ages, but that’s not the really weird thing. The really weird thing is, Esme died twelve months ago…

Review:

"They say there are three sides to every story: mine, yours and the truth. So, which one do you want?"

Dark humour royalty returns with a devilishly funny, slightly absurd thriller starting with a warning from a dead friend.

Our narrator is a self confessed hot mess, and they’re an absolute riot who was more relatable that I’d have comfortably liked. I was hooked the moment we met, from their casual, speech like storytelling to their insane thoughts and dry witty commentary. This author is also one of the only male authors I’ve read that can write as a messy, confused woman without resorting to sexist stereotypes so I always love their characters.

Jumping between the present day chaos and a year before when our texting harbinger of doom was still alive, we get up close and personal with Claire, or Kirby, and her friends, watching two very different lives play out in the before and after. Watching friendships and loves form who aren’t recognisable now.

Both timelines had something compelling about them, solving very different but parallel mysteries of Esme's death and supposed resurrection. Every single time a new message appeared in the chat, I wanted to put the damn book in the freezer and curse out Mr Chilton for making my emotions jump through hoops like this. Twists, reveals, ideas, historical plots and conspiracies - it just kept going with a fast, lively pace and always growing the story with some flair and darkly fabulous drama.

This book also touches on true crime consumption and creators who monetise tragedy, balancing on the thin line between human curiosity and marketing murders for profit.

A high stakes, cinematic tale of murder and conspiracy in a small town with an unforgettable cast of characters.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Everyone in the Group Chat Dies is available from 13th March with Head of Zeus.
I was gifted a reviewers copy of this title in return for a review.

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