Rating: 4 out of 5.

This was a fun and twisty YA mystery/thriller that is a quick and easy read. Eight students from LA’s elite Warner Prep are on their Senior Excursion. It’s supposed to be five days of Instagrammable adventure in one of the world’s most exclusive locations. But, at the last minute, each of the students is pulled from their original excursion and assigned to a new one set high in the mountains. It’s explained the excursion will be a digital detox in an isolated Colorado ski chalet.(insert eerie music here)

Well this isn’t suspicious at all, is it? Nothing could possibly go wrong, could it? Yep – you guessed it. A severe storm hits the chalet, they are snowed in and the internet and phones are down. There is no car to leave the chalet. It looks like they are in for a few uncomfortable days, but nothing too bad. Then the deaths begin and the suspicions begin to fly. First it’s one member of the group that they might be able to check off as an accident. But then one after another student is found dead. It’s clear one of them is a killer, and as the suspect list gets shorter and shorter, is there anyone you can trust?

All of the characters in this book are horrible people with questionable morals. They all have secrets they don’t want revealed, and their relationship with the other students have multiple layers. All of the narrators are unreliable and you never know whose version to believe. There are plenty of red herrings, which are quickly dispelled when each suspected person is killed off. Things continue to get worse for the survivors as they barrel toward the exciting ending.

The author does a great job of building tension as the story progresses. You can almost feel the student’s despair jump off the page as their plights get more and more dire. The reason behind the murderer’s killing spree was a bit ridiculous – but then again, mass murderers are not exactly known for their clear thinking.

Overall this was a quick and fun read that can be read in a day or two. If you like closed door mysteries and reading about bratty, spoiled kids getting picked off one by one, this is the book for you.

I received a complimentary e-copy of this book from TBR and Beyond Book Tours, the author, NetGalley, and Random House Books for Young Readers. All opinions are my own.

Book Links:

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205436025

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Bitter-End-Alexa-Donne/dp/0593651065

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-bitter-end-alexa-donne/1144647965

IndieBound: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-bitter-end-alexa-donne/21068034

About the Author:

Alexa Donne is the Edgar Award–nominated author of Pretty Dead Queens, The Ivies, and The Bitter End. By day she lives in Los Angeles and works in television marketing. The rest of the time she contemplates creative motives for murder and takes too many pictures of her cats.

Author Links:

Website: http://alexadonne.com/

Twitter: https://x.com/alexadonne

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexadonne/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16817128

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@alexadonne

Tour Schedule:https://tbrandbeyondtours.com/2024/09/17/tour-schedule-the-bitter-end-by-alexa-donne/