School Library Journal
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Gr 10 Up—Nonbinary true crime vlogger Sam has been awarded the opportunity of a lifetime—a weeklong retreat at a remote mansion in the Hollywood Hills hosted by Teens of True Crime. Sam and seven other teens will spend the week learning the ins and outs of bringing their true crime channels to the next level. Everything starts going awry when Sam opens the door of their rideshare to find their biggest online troll, Dylan, in the flesh. Discord among the group—the mansion being more than a little creepy and being assigned as Dylan's roommate—makes for a tense first evening. The morning is even worse when Grayden, one of the teen vloggers, is found dead at the bottom of the stairs, all of the staff are gone, their chaperone is missing, there is no food, and the bridge they need to cross to find help has collapsed. As more suspicious things happen, it's clear that someone wants all of them dead. The teens feel realistically flawed, as do the messes they make as they navigate their harrowing situation. While the ending lags slightly, the rest of the book is a riveting mystery that delves into gender identity, friendship, trust, greed, and more. The clues are there for thriller fans to decode if they read closely. Sam and Dylan are white, and Sam is cued as Jewish. VERDICT Complete with a diverse cast of characters and a slow-burn romance, it will enthrall teens everywhere. A recommended purchase.—Katie Patterson

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Sam wanted a weekend of content creation—not corpses. Sam is a nonbinary YouTuber whose 5,000 followers don’t quite make them a true-crime influencer. But ever since solving a real John Doe cold case, they’ve used their platform to spotlight missing queer kids. Sam lands a spot with other young creators at an exclusive—and mysterious—weekend retreat called Teens of True Crime, held in a creepy Victorian mansion. They’re thrilled to finally meet their parasocial bestie, Arya Shankar, in real life, but the excitement fades when they come face-to-face with their longtime internet nemesis, Dylan. The atmosphere worsens when the teens awaken after their first night to find one of their group dead on the stairwell—and Sam realizes that Dylan may be the only person they can trust. From there, the weekend spirals into deadly mishaps: a locked basement, hidden compartments in the walls, a bloody booby trap, and a rising body count as the group becomes entangled in the mansion’s dark family history. Though the twisty plot requires some suspension of disbelief and most of the characters feel two-dimensional, the brisk pacing and dark humor keep the story engaging. Sam and Dylan’s initial animosity feels slightly forced, but it sets up a satisfying slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers arc that helps buoy the whodunit. Sam presents white, and the cohort includes some racial diversity. The presence of several queer members sparks refreshing discussions of gender. Wry and wickedly entertaining.(Mystery. 14-18) Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Clue meets Bodies Bodies Bodies in this thrilling follow-up to the queer horror comedy Pride or Die (2025). When disaffected vlogger Sam Tombs is invited to a “Teens of True Crime” event in the Hollywood Hills, they find themselves trapped in an ancient mansion with a group of fellow content creators—including their online tormentor AdventureswithDyl. But when guests start dying under mysterious circumstances, Sam and Dylan must work together to uncover the killer in their midst. While the plot’s twists and turns don’t always cohere, Montblanc’s unique voice and clever characterization will have readers finishing this book in one sitting. T he murder-mystery and enemies-to-lovers tropes go together like Sam and Dylan—odd bedfellows at first but surprisingly complementary. The content is light on gore but heavy on profanity, and Montblanc uses true-crime tropes to explore topics like mental health, neurodivergence, and gender identity. For readers looking for a distinctly modern take on the whodunit, this book puts a Gen Z spin on classic mystery tropes—think Agatha Christie with a ring light.

Publishers Weekly
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A group of white-cued teenage content creators must work together to survive in this uneven locked-room mystery from Montblanc (Pride or Die). Gender nonconforming high schooler Sam Tombs is both thrilled and anxious to attend a weeklong retreat for influencers who once assisted in solving real crimes, as when Sam identified a John Doe. Their feelings are further muddled when they learn that one of the announced guests has been swapped out for Sam’s online rival, Dylan. As Sam settles into their accommodations at a secluded mountain mansion in southern California, a heavy rainstorm descends, bringing with it several unsettling discoveries: retreat staffers have absconded to a separate location, the bridge leading to the main road is flooded, and one of the participants is found dead at the bottom of the mansion’s impressive staircase. When Sam is later injured while entering a hot tub—the water is revealed to be mixed with corrosive acid—the group clues into the mounting danger. Worsening weather conditions, downed communication services, and vicious infighting frequently derail the teens’ attempts to uncover the details of their circumstances. Though scattershot plotting results in a lukewarm mystery, Sam’s emotionally intelligent narration as well as his endearing developing relationship with Dylan offer bright spots throughout. Ages 13–up. Agent: Natalie Lakosil, Looking Glass Literary. (Apr.)