If magic is thrown into a story, it has to either be a defining role or weaved well into the world-building so that there is a sense of believability of its place in the mystery. Otherwise, the resolution just feels lazy and unfinished. So she did. Out of the olive Victorian she went, into the white, winter world. Overnight, the yard had been transformed. Icicles dangled from the oaks, threatening to impale Juniper as she passed beneath them. And at the end of the yard, the snow-frosted mailbox stood out like a sore thumb. I am a huge fan of horror, mystery and crime fiction. When I was an avid reader, before having little bear, they were my genre of choice. Anyway, I have digressed a little. One of the other features of this book that is very typical of the genre is its narrative structure: the perspective changed in each chapter, alternating between the five protagonists. This technique can be very effective when the plot involves lots of lying and betrayal, which this one did - the same situation can be told from different characters' points of view, and it makes for a good way of exposing the truth bit by bit. However, it wasn't particularly well executed. The chapters were not labelled according to which character was telling them, and since all five characters were in one place all together for the majority of the book, it was not always clear which of the five was narrating.

However, ultimately, the characters weren’t well developed and I did not feel a connection to any of them and the mystery element was predictable. There were very little subtleties surrounding who we should like and who we shouldn’t which meant that there could be no big reveal on who the villain was. I didn’t submit you, Ruby wrote, but I’m going to the party. Maybe we can solve the mystery together? I loved Ruth and Derek. Ruth is the librarian at Niamh’s school and she is an absolute star. Sweet, kind, and makes sure that Niamh has someone to talk to. Someone to care for her while she is in a strange country with scary things happening around her. And Derek was just wonderful. I love the guy, he was always there for the kids in his building, and made sure to protect Niamh whenever he could. Made sure that the police couldn’t go too far. It was fantastic. I can’t even properly put my finger on what exactly I disliked about this! The storyline was basically all over the place, I couldn’t care less about any of the characters, everything felt so unbelievably unrealistic, it was totally obvious who the bad guy was, the writing at the start was beautiful and lyrical but went downhill pretty fast...

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Stamping a supernatural creepy modern twist on the Point Horrors of old and giving a fresh modern voice to the genre, Last One To Die is a proper suspenseful scare fest that had me hiding under the covers on more than one occasion! They’d probably mailed two by mistake, she thought, rolling her eyes. But as she drew the envelope from the darkness, an undertow of guilt started tugging at her limbs. This was how it always happened. She’d be going about her day, not even thinking about Dahlia Kane’s Christmas party, and out of nowhere, her limbs would get heavy. She’d feel herself sinking, the way a body sinks to the bottom of a swimming pool, while people stand by, laughing— But that last part… I am sorry, so far the book was fantastic, awesome, WOW, but then you decided to add the little sister in the mix? While SHE FREAKING KNEW that things just weren’t going right? What is up with that? It just didn’t make sense, it was dumb. I am sorry. But I would have rather seen our trio fix things instead of this. In the blurb they said this would be like Clue meets Riverdale... Sounds great right? Color me intrigued!

But the ending was still good. We find out why x is doing all this. Why they have done it for so long. And yes, I don’t approve, but I cannot help to feel a bit of the heartstrings being tugged. I also loved that we get a bit after all the scary bits. See how Niamh is doing and what is next for her. I also loved that surprise bit about Geoff and who his partner was. Oh my! Couple goals indeed. XD But here's where the problem is; in some moments, I'm not entirely sure if he's meant to be as terrifying as he is - is this Parker being really dark and obsessive, or is this more melodrama, like with everyone else? That line is blurred, because no-one acts naturally. Don't get me wrong, Parker is absolutely meant to be someone we abhor, someone who should be in jail, but when other people are making ridiculous declarations, as well, I couldn't always tell is Parker was being obsessive or melodramatic, and how we were meant to see the reader in those moments. Did Parker genuinely love Ruby as well as being terrifying (melodrama), or was it all part of him wanting her to belong to him again (obsession)?I thought this was quite good, especially as the idea of porcelain was used as a motif throughout, symbolising emotional detachment. But although narration of this style kept cropping up, it wasn't constant. With trembling hands, she typed out the message, Did you submit me for the Burning Embers Scholarship? Ruby’s number was still in her phone. She couldn’t bring herself to erase it, which was definitely ironic, considering the thing she’d erased from Ruby’s life. Then the ending - my biggest issue. In my opinion, the ending is simply one of the most crucial parts to a good murder mystery because it's mean to link all the clues and puzzle pieces previously foreshadowed, and tie it up in a satisfying knot.