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The Bitter End
When a winter storm traps eight teens in a remote ski cabin, they find themselves stranded with a killer—who may be one of their own.
The trip of a lifetime might be the death of them all.
The students of LA’s elite Warner Prep can’t wait for their Senior Excursion—five days of Instagrammable adventure in one of the world’s most exclusive locations. This is not your average field trip.
Which is why eight students can’t believe their bad luck when they end up on a digital detox in an isolated Colorado ski chalet. Their epic trip is panning out to be an epic bore . . . until their classmates start dropping in a series of disturbing deaths. The message is clear: this trip is no accident.
And when a blizzard strikes, secrets are revealed, betrayals are exposed, and survival is at stake in a race to the bitter end.
The trip of a lifetime might be the death of them all.
The students of LA’s elite Warner Prep can’t wait for their Senior Excursion—five days of Instagrammable adventure in one of the world’s most exclusive locations. This is not your average field trip.
Which is why eight students can’t believe their bad luck when they end up on a digital detox in an isolated Colorado ski chalet. Their epic trip is panning out to be an epic bore . . . until their classmates start dropping in a series of disturbing deaths. The message is clear: this trip is no accident.
And when a blizzard strikes, secrets are revealed, betrayals are exposed, and survival is at stake in a race to the bitter end.
339 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 15, 2024
104 people are currently reading
7982 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 449 reviews
August 13, 2024
This is like a teenage slasher minus the slashing and insert all kinds of murder. A couple friends go on a school trip into the mountains with no cell phone access during severe weather with no way out. One of them starts killing people, but who is it?
I suspected different people at different times and everyone is suspicious in a way. I was surprised when I found out who it was. The book flashes back and forth between a party that happened several years ago that cause some drama and now. To be honest, one thing that bothered me was that at the end there was a mystery that was never solved or explained of what happened. I am not sure if this will be corrected by time they release the official copy, but I feel that it should be.
Overall, this is a fun and fast paced book. It would make a good horror movie for sure. I think people that enjoy slasher type films and books will really enjoy this one. There is never a dull moment.
Thank you to netgalley for this free advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
I suspected different people at different times and everyone is suspicious in a way. I was surprised when I found out who it was. The book flashes back and forth between a party that happened several years ago that cause some drama and now. To be honest, one thing that bothered me was that at the end there was a mystery that was never solved or explained of what happened. I am not sure if this will be corrected by time they release the official copy, but I feel that it should be.
Overall, this is a fun and fast paced book. It would make a good horror movie for sure. I think people that enjoy slasher type films and books will really enjoy this one. There is never a dull moment.
Thank you to netgalley for this free advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
August 15, 2024
Alexa Donne delivers another heart-pounding, edge-of-your-seat thriller in The Bitter End. Set against the chilling backdrop of a snow-covered Colorado ski chalet, eight high school seniors find themselves trapped in a deadly game of survival. What starts as a promising senior excursion quickly turns into a nightmare as their classmates start dying under mysterious circumstances.
Donne expertly crafts an atmosphere thick with tension, where secrets are unearthed, and trust is shattered. The dual timeline adds depth to the story, allowing readers to piece together the dark history that binds these characters. Each character is distinct, and while some may initially come off as unrelatable due to their elite status, their backstories eventually draw you in, making their fates all the more gripping.
The alternating points of view keep the narrative dynamic, with Piper’s perspective standing out as particularly compelling. While the plot twists are plentiful and keep you guessing until the end, the final reveal might leave some readers wanting a bit more clarity. However, this doesn't detract from the overall thrill of the ride.
The Bitter End is a perfect winter read for fans of locked-room mysteries and survival thrillers. Donne's ability to weave suspense with complex character dynamics makes this a must-read, and despite its minor flaws, it's a book that will leave you eagerly anticipating her next release.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's | Random House Books for Young Readers for sharing this gripping YA thriller's digital review copy in exchange for my honest review.
Donne expertly crafts an atmosphere thick with tension, where secrets are unearthed, and trust is shattered. The dual timeline adds depth to the story, allowing readers to piece together the dark history that binds these characters. Each character is distinct, and while some may initially come off as unrelatable due to their elite status, their backstories eventually draw you in, making their fates all the more gripping.
The alternating points of view keep the narrative dynamic, with Piper’s perspective standing out as particularly compelling. While the plot twists are plentiful and keep you guessing until the end, the final reveal might leave some readers wanting a bit more clarity. However, this doesn't detract from the overall thrill of the ride.
The Bitter End is a perfect winter read for fans of locked-room mysteries and survival thrillers. Donne's ability to weave suspense with complex character dynamics makes this a must-read, and despite its minor flaws, it's a book that will leave you eagerly anticipating her next release.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's | Random House Books for Young Readers for sharing this gripping YA thriller's digital review copy in exchange for my honest review.
September 22, 2024
This YA thriller delivers everything you want in a thriller. It’s chilling, macabre, and at times heart-stopping. I enjoyed this modern twist of the classic And Then There Were None. Classmates start to drop like flies as everyone becomes a suspect. I enjoyed how the cold wintery isolation trope cleverly propelled this addictive whodunit. “Appearance should not be mistaken for truth.” Not is all as it seems as secrets are revealed and motives become apparent. I highly recommend this to all who love an entertaining, unpredictable, and clever mystery. Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Children’s for my copy. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
September 5, 2024
ARC for review. To be published October 14, 2024.
A don’t waste your time young adult thriller where eight students, each more entitled and boring than the last, from L.A.’s Warner Prep are on their senior excursion, which, to be fair, I would also be extremely pissed about….their classmates go go Paris and other great places and they go to ski in an off-grid Colorado mass of nothing, cut off from all civilization and for an electronics detox? This is supposed to be their senior good time? Then they end up trapped because of a blizzard (naturally), with their one chaperone missing (because you would only send one), and with their previously mentioned lack of access to electronics? CLEARLY they are going to die….dont they read? (Short answer, no.).
But who is going to die, and why? You won’t really care at any point, and, honestly, I finished the book a few weeks ago and I cannot even remember. There were a couple of POVs which felt odd…you start out thinking you’re supposed to be on the side of poor scholarship girl, but then it’s unclear. The whole thing felt rushed and this is a dumb story that’s been told a thousand time. Please note that there’s about the same level of angst for a stolen first kiss (not date rape….a stolen first KISS) and murder.
Ugh.
A don’t waste your time young adult thriller where eight students, each more entitled and boring than the last, from L.A.’s Warner Prep are on their senior excursion, which, to be fair, I would also be extremely pissed about….their classmates go go Paris and other great places and they go to ski in an off-grid Colorado mass of nothing, cut off from all civilization and for an electronics detox? This is supposed to be their senior good time? Then they end up trapped because of a blizzard (naturally), with their one chaperone missing (because you would only send one), and with their previously mentioned lack of access to electronics? CLEARLY they are going to die….dont they read? (Short answer, no.).
But who is going to die, and why? You won’t really care at any point, and, honestly, I finished the book a few weeks ago and I cannot even remember. There were a couple of POVs which felt odd…you start out thinking you’re supposed to be on the side of poor scholarship girl, but then it’s unclear. The whole thing felt rushed and this is a dumb story that’s been told a thousand time. Please note that there’s about the same level of angst for a stolen first kiss (not date rape….a stolen first KISS) and murder.
Ugh.
October 13, 2024
4.5 stars rounded up
The Bitter End is a twisty thriller following a privileged group of high school seniors on a digital detox ski trip who get snowed in with a murderer. And the killer just might be one of them... There's lots of bad behavior, secrets from the past, backstabbing, and unreliable narrators. I really enjoyed it!
This is a cool way to do a modern isolated closed circle murder mystery- a remote location, a snow storm AND a digital detox where a chaperone has all of their cell phones. The characters are layered and complex, and there is so much messiness you could plausibly imagine most of the characters as being the culprit. Bodies keep dropping in a variety of gruesome and inventive ways, and then we get flashbacks to a key party freshman year that the whole thing revolves around. It's clever and salacious in a juicy kind of way. Definitely recommend! Note that I am friends & mutuals with the author and received a copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.
The Bitter End is a twisty thriller following a privileged group of high school seniors on a digital detox ski trip who get snowed in with a murderer. And the killer just might be one of them... There's lots of bad behavior, secrets from the past, backstabbing, and unreliable narrators. I really enjoyed it!
This is a cool way to do a modern isolated closed circle murder mystery- a remote location, a snow storm AND a digital detox where a chaperone has all of their cell phones. The characters are layered and complex, and there is so much messiness you could plausibly imagine most of the characters as being the culprit. Bodies keep dropping in a variety of gruesome and inventive ways, and then we get flashbacks to a key party freshman year that the whole thing revolves around. It's clever and salacious in a juicy kind of way. Definitely recommend! Note that I am friends & mutuals with the author and received a copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.
September 19, 2025
I really enjoy the way Alexa Donne writes a YA Mystery-Thriller. Her novel, Pretty Dead Queens, is one of my favorites of all-time. It was like she wrote it for me.
When I was first learning about this release, everything about it was working in its favor; the cover, the title and this incredible synopsis opener:
When a winter storm traps eight teens in a remote ski cabin, they find themselves stranded with a killer...
Happy to report, this gave me exactly what I was looking for!
The Bitter End is such a fun Teen Scream Thriller. We follow a group of high school students, who go on a school trip, and end up stranded in a posh Colorado ski chalet.
As bodies start dropping one-by-one, and a blizzard has cut them off from outside contact, the remaining teens need to figure out who the killer is before it's too late.
This is a classic set-up and I loved it developed in Donne's capable hands. The characters are so messy and full of drama; it got intense. I was getting all the tea and drinking it up. These kids were bitter and a bit twisted.
Alexa Donne has really found her lane with this type of juicy, drama-filled Teen Thrill-Ride and I hope she keeps them coming. I will be first in line to get my hands on any future releases, that's for sure.
I highly recommend this if you love YA Mystery-Thrillers, particularly if you enjoy inclement weather stories, or whodunits. The execution of this is great. It's claustrophic and a bit frantic. I couldn't put it down.
Thank you to the publisher, Random House Books for Young Readers, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I can't wait to see what Donne comes up with next!
When I was first learning about this release, everything about it was working in its favor; the cover, the title and this incredible synopsis opener:
When a winter storm traps eight teens in a remote ski cabin, they find themselves stranded with a killer...
Happy to report, this gave me exactly what I was looking for!
The Bitter End is such a fun Teen Scream Thriller. We follow a group of high school students, who go on a school trip, and end up stranded in a posh Colorado ski chalet.
As bodies start dropping one-by-one, and a blizzard has cut them off from outside contact, the remaining teens need to figure out who the killer is before it's too late.
This is a classic set-up and I loved it developed in Donne's capable hands. The characters are so messy and full of drama; it got intense. I was getting all the tea and drinking it up. These kids were bitter and a bit twisted.
Alexa Donne has really found her lane with this type of juicy, drama-filled Teen Thrill-Ride and I hope she keeps them coming. I will be first in line to get my hands on any future releases, that's for sure.
I highly recommend this if you love YA Mystery-Thrillers, particularly if you enjoy inclement weather stories, or whodunits. The execution of this is great. It's claustrophic and a bit frantic. I couldn't put it down.
Thank you to the publisher, Random House Books for Young Readers, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I can't wait to see what Donne comes up with next!
September 29, 2024
8 rich teenagers from California go to a Colorado ski cabin on a senior excursion. A winter storm traps them there and they are being killed one by one.
This was great story that had me glued to the pages.
Thanks NetGalley and Random House Children’s for this eARC that will be released October 15, 2024!
This was great story that had me glued to the pages.
Thanks NetGalley and Random House Children’s for this eARC that will be released October 15, 2024!
January 14, 2025
if you want to read a book where you hate absolutely every single character set an a winter cabin getaway, than this is for you!!! I hate this book so much. I can handle unlikable characters, but these were some of the worst characters i have ever read about. I rooted for none of them, there was not one redeeming quality in this book
March 23, 2024
I beta read this so this is not a review, just a bump to the rating :)
January 26, 2025
4.5// this was so good oml
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I refuse to have to wait two years for this book... I need it NOW
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I refuse to have to wait two years for this book... I need it NOW
October 1, 2024
Thank you so much to Random House for Young Readers and Alexa Donne for my copy of this book. The premise was so amazing! There are 8 students from Warner Prep headed for a remote ski cabin for senior excursion. It is supposed to be the trip of their life, but it ends up being a digital detox in an isolated cabin in Colorado. To make matters worse, their classmates start dropping dead, and it seems like they were all brought on this trip for a reason. A blizzard cuts the group off from the outside world, and now the group is trying to survive the night.
Thoughts: The premise of this book is so fun! It was such a fun read and I loved the isolated setting. It felt like a YA And Then There Were None where the characters were all unlikable and had a reason to be there. It was hard to root for any of them, and I found myself not caring what happened to them in the end. It was a classic locked room mystery mixed with a survival story, and I could see it being a fun movie or TV show. The ending was implausible and a bit overdone, but it fit perfectly for a YA story. 3.5 stars!
Thoughts: The premise of this book is so fun! It was such a fun read and I loved the isolated setting. It felt like a YA And Then There Were None where the characters were all unlikable and had a reason to be there. It was hard to root for any of them, and I found myself not caring what happened to them in the end. It was a classic locked room mystery mixed with a survival story, and I could see it being a fun movie or TV show. The ending was implausible and a bit overdone, but it fit perfectly for a YA story. 3.5 stars!
May 15, 2024
This was so much fun! A locked-room mystery where gossip-girl-level rich kids get stranded in a cabin in the mountains in a snowstorm and then begin dying one by one.
Told through multiple POVs and with flashbacks between a party at the beginning of High School and the present, The Bitter End is a YA thriller with plenty of twists and turns. This would be an excellent late fall/early winter mystery read! I enjoyed this a lot and might check out some of Donne's other works.
✅ YA Thriller
✅ Multiple POVs
✅ Timeline jumps
✅ Locked-room mystery
✅ Wintery setting ❄️❄️❄️
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I really liked it!
📅 Out October 15th, 2024 and available for preorder now. (Currently on sale on Amazon!)
🙏 Thanks so much to Alexa Donne and Random House Children's for this ARC through NetGalley! This was the most fun I've had reading YA in a while :) It finally broke me out of a several week long reading slump!!
Told through multiple POVs and with flashbacks between a party at the beginning of High School and the present, The Bitter End is a YA thriller with plenty of twists and turns. This would be an excellent late fall/early winter mystery read! I enjoyed this a lot and might check out some of Donne's other works.
✅ YA Thriller
✅ Multiple POVs
✅ Timeline jumps
✅ Locked-room mystery
✅ Wintery setting ❄️❄️❄️
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I really liked it!
📅 Out October 15th, 2024 and available for preorder now. (Currently on sale on Amazon!)
🙏 Thanks so much to Alexa Donne and Random House Children's for this ARC through NetGalley! This was the most fun I've had reading YA in a while :) It finally broke me out of a several week long reading slump!!
January 22, 2025
The bitter end - 1.5 stars
This was so bad I truly have no words for it. So many pov’s. Sooooo many. Like almost all the characters (actually might have been all of them) so eight. Eight point of views and two storylines. I don’t even understand the point. It was so boring and it dragged on for what felt like a century. The ending isn’t even good. Almost every thriller I read lately feels like a repeat of another or just plain dumb. This one has the repeat vibe Al ing with the just plain dumb. Truly don’t know how the author manage to pull that one off😭🤣 just an example for you, one of the guys dines believe in consent and even write his college essay in it. All the rest of them are to stuck up to know anything. The number of times they asked if someone was dead when they were clearly dead, each time.
That being said if you have some good mystery/thrillers please send them my way xx
This was so bad I truly have no words for it. So many pov’s. Sooooo many. Like almost all the characters (actually might have been all of them) so eight. Eight point of views and two storylines. I don’t even understand the point. It was so boring and it dragged on for what felt like a century. The ending isn’t even good. Almost every thriller I read lately feels like a repeat of another or just plain dumb. This one has the repeat vibe Al ing with the just plain dumb. Truly don’t know how the author manage to pull that one off😭🤣 just an example for you, one of the guys dines believe in consent and even write his college essay in it. All the rest of them are to stuck up to know anything. The number of times they asked if someone was dead when they were clearly dead, each time.
That being said if you have some good mystery/thrillers please send them my way xx
November 11, 2024
I have some thoughts
1.) this was such a fun plot
2.) for some reason this kept focusing back on covid and it was just kind of annoying. if I’m reading a somewhat unrealistic thriller book I don’t want to keep reading about covid lol
3.) there were a lot of characters and I kept getting confused and forgetting who they were, who they were dating, etc.
overall, I think it was a good idea but mediocre execution
1.) this was such a fun plot
2.) for some reason this kept focusing back on covid and it was just kind of annoying. if I’m reading a somewhat unrealistic thriller book I don’t want to keep reading about covid lol
3.) there were a lot of characters and I kept getting confused and forgetting who they were, who they were dating, etc.
overall, I think it was a good idea but mediocre execution
Read
November 9, 2024DNF @ 26%. Yeah, I’m too old for this book.
April 9, 2025
Alexa Donne, I think you and I are done. This is my second book of hers and I don’t think she knows how to write teenagers. They feel like caricatures of what an adult thinks a teenager is like in 2024. I don’t know anything about these kids. What are their families like? Do they have siblings? Who are they outside of this winter cabin? I have zero clue. They only exist there.
We don’t have a main character. We have 8 POVs which aren’t done equally. I guess Piper is supposed to be the hero? She’s poor and isn’t friends with any of them. She’s also the ONLYYYY sane one. All of these other kids are freaks. Every last one of them sucks.
The story also has two different time lines for some reason. Something big happened at this party three years ago that created a killer. Was it the mysterious death of Liam’s cousin that the author kept alluding to? Nope! He died from a YouTube video experiment gone wrong??? Was it all them being drugged? Nope! Was it Willa being Sexually assaulted? Nope! It was a rich girl going on a Vanessa Hudgens Coachella 2020 rant about poor people dying. Okay sure why not.
It’s also pretty easy to narrow down the killer. Declan is the first to go. Eden is pretty clearly the nasty mean popular girl who isn’t smart enough to pull this off. She’s also second to go. It was never going to be the teacher. It’s very clear from the start that Piper doesn’t care enough about these people to kill them. Camille is wayyyy to obvious. A dirty competitor who’s a terrible friend? Her middle name might as well be Red Herring. That leaves Willa, Delaney, and Liam. Willa wants Liam above everything else for some reason. She was SAd and drugged at the party. Good motives but I had a feeling the author wasn’t going to make the only fat character into a “if I can’t have him no one can” Willa was just a sweet girl with a dark side. Delaney, we barely know anything about. She loves Liam, is a terrible friend, and has a ten year plan. She kept talking about this ten year plan. She doesn’t want anything to mess it up. Then Liam who we know it a “good guy” but also cheats on his girlfriend a lot. And for a while we didn’t know how his cousin died. I thought that could have been his motive. But he’s the only person of color on that trip and again I don’t think the author was going to make him the killer. He was my prime suspect though due to how good his was framed. SIDE NOTE you can tell that a white author wrote Liam NOT because there was a bad stereotype but because in the end his Korean family offers to help pay for his white girlfriend of 5 months college tuition. Nooooo Asian family would do that shit LMAO.
Then it’s revealed to be DELANEYYYY. What! Oh my god! Sure I guess. I love how in the end she becomes A from Pretty Little Liars and somehow survived getting away from a snow blizzard on foot???
Anyway this was lame
We don’t have a main character. We have 8 POVs which aren’t done equally. I guess Piper is supposed to be the hero? She’s poor and isn’t friends with any of them. She’s also the ONLYYYY sane one. All of these other kids are freaks. Every last one of them sucks.
The story also has two different time lines for some reason. Something big happened at this party three years ago that created a killer. Was it the mysterious death of Liam’s cousin that the author kept alluding to? Nope! He died from a YouTube video experiment gone wrong??? Was it all them being drugged? Nope! Was it Willa being Sexually assaulted? Nope! It was a rich girl going on a Vanessa Hudgens Coachella 2020 rant about poor people dying. Okay sure why not.
It’s also pretty easy to narrow down the killer. Declan is the first to go. Eden is pretty clearly the nasty mean popular girl who isn’t smart enough to pull this off. She’s also second to go. It was never going to be the teacher. It’s very clear from the start that Piper doesn’t care enough about these people to kill them. Camille is wayyyy to obvious. A dirty competitor who’s a terrible friend? Her middle name might as well be Red Herring. That leaves Willa, Delaney, and Liam. Willa wants Liam above everything else for some reason. She was SAd and drugged at the party. Good motives but I had a feeling the author wasn’t going to make the only fat character into a “if I can’t have him no one can” Willa was just a sweet girl with a dark side. Delaney, we barely know anything about. She loves Liam, is a terrible friend, and has a ten year plan. She kept talking about this ten year plan. She doesn’t want anything to mess it up. Then Liam who we know it a “good guy” but also cheats on his girlfriend a lot. And for a while we didn’t know how his cousin died. I thought that could have been his motive. But he’s the only person of color on that trip and again I don’t think the author was going to make him the killer. He was my prime suspect though due to how good his was framed. SIDE NOTE you can tell that a white author wrote Liam NOT because there was a bad stereotype but because in the end his Korean family offers to help pay for his white girlfriend of 5 months college tuition. Nooooo Asian family would do that shit LMAO.
Then it’s revealed to be DELANEYYYY. What! Oh my god! Sure I guess. I love how in the end she becomes A from Pretty Little Liars and somehow survived getting away from a snow blizzard on foot???
Anyway this was lame
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 20, 2024
I bow down to the queen. This was brilliant. I could not put it down, and the twists actually got me, and I'm a very hard reader to surprise when it comes to YA thrillers. If you like thrillers, YA or adult, even a little bit, pick up this book. Agatha Christie fans will particularly have fun with this one.
Want to read
February 11, 2024the vibes of this cover! *a dozen chef's kisses*
December 10, 2024
3.5*
I have read close to 9,000,000,000 YA thrillers this year, and idk why I keep reading them because I am not the target audience, but I will say that I actually enjoyed myself this time for some reason. It was kind of a fun read even though there was a whole lot of murder, a few loose ends, and some really bad people as characters.
I will say that I was actually a bit surprised by the final reveal, but I wanted one character in particular to suffer, AND THEY NEVER DID. Oh well.
I have read close to 9,000,000,000 YA thrillers this year, and idk why I keep reading them because I am not the target audience, but I will say that I actually enjoyed myself this time for some reason. It was kind of a fun read even though there was a whole lot of murder, a few loose ends, and some really bad people as characters.
I will say that I was actually a bit surprised by the final reveal, but I wanted one character in particular to suffer, AND THEY NEVER DID. Oh well.
May 10, 2022
Can't wait for this to come out!!! Pretty Dead Queens was AMAZING so I can't wait for the next Alexa Donne book!!!
August 24, 2024
Thanks to NetGalley and RandomHouse Children's for the advanced copy.
The Bitter End wound up being so much better than I expected. An isolated murder mystery set in white out conditions is exactly what I was looking for and exactly what I got, and it was a hell of a ride by the second half, once the real action kicked in.
Alexa Donne is like a YA Lucy Foley, but more interesting and, kind of, demented. A few less than stellar reads of Foley's had me unsure about The Bitter End though, as Donne sets it up with a mysterious historical event, and chapters that flip through time and character's perspectives just like Foley. And flipping tenses. It made for an unusual read, to have some chapters in third and others in first. It made me think everything was a clue to the real killer, which - bravo for fooling me, because I thought for sure it was one person until very near the end when I started questioning another and that's who it turned out to be! So not completely unpredictable but still twisty enough to surprise me near the end, because even with my suspicions I was shook.
Most of the time I'm not into sequels for these sorts of books but for this? I'd read the sequel lol
The Bitter End is very CW but a lot of fun, with a great setting, multiple twists, a great cast of unlikable characters that you can't help but root for. High-stakes teen drama haha I liked it a lot!
The Bitter End wound up being so much better than I expected. An isolated murder mystery set in white out conditions is exactly what I was looking for and exactly what I got, and it was a hell of a ride by the second half, once the real action kicked in.
Alexa Donne is like a YA Lucy Foley, but more interesting and, kind of, demented. A few less than stellar reads of Foley's had me unsure about The Bitter End though, as Donne sets it up with a mysterious historical event, and chapters that flip through time and character's perspectives just like Foley. And flipping tenses. It made for an unusual read, to have some chapters in third and others in first. It made me think everything was a clue to the real killer, which - bravo for fooling me, because I thought for sure it was one person until very near the end when I started questioning another and that's who it turned out to be! So not completely unpredictable but still twisty enough to surprise me near the end, because even with my suspicions I was shook.
Most of the time I'm not into sequels for these sorts of books but for this? I'd read the sequel lol
The Bitter End is very CW but a lot of fun, with a great setting, multiple twists, a great cast of unlikable characters that you can't help but root for. High-stakes teen drama haha I liked it a lot!
August 19, 2024
A YA mystery by @alexadonne for fans of And Then There Were None.
❄️
Eight LA prep school students are off on their senior excursion. While everyone else got to go to France or Alaska, this group is headed to the top of a mountain in Colorado for a weekend of digital detoxing with their school counselor. Only once the first body is found, more and more keep piling up. At first it looks like accidents, but soon it’s clear: someone in the house is doing the killing. As secrets come out, we learn more about each teen and how it all relates to a party from three years ago…
🏔️
This was such a great thrill ride! Trapped in a cold location where people start getting killed is one of my favorites in this thriller genre and this one was very well-done. Even when I thought I had guessed right, I got whiplash from the twist. Please tell me there’s another one coming!!! 🙏🏻 This thriller suspense #book releases October 15!
CW: death, murder, body horror, blood, injury, physical violence, emesis, alcohol and drug use, cyberbullying, bullying, death of a child, theft, allergic reaction, classism, COVID
❄️
Eight LA prep school students are off on their senior excursion. While everyone else got to go to France or Alaska, this group is headed to the top of a mountain in Colorado for a weekend of digital detoxing with their school counselor. Only once the first body is found, more and more keep piling up. At first it looks like accidents, but soon it’s clear: someone in the house is doing the killing. As secrets come out, we learn more about each teen and how it all relates to a party from three years ago…
🏔️
This was such a great thrill ride! Trapped in a cold location where people start getting killed is one of my favorites in this thriller genre and this one was very well-done. Even when I thought I had guessed right, I got whiplash from the twist. Please tell me there’s another one coming!!! 🙏🏻 This thriller suspense #book releases October 15!
CW: death, murder, body horror, blood, injury, physical violence, emesis, alcohol and drug use, cyberbullying, bullying, death of a child, theft, allergic reaction, classism, COVID
January 17, 2025
3.75 stars
I read this so fast—I got completely sucked in!
I read this so fast—I got completely sucked in!
Want to read
October 11, 2024oo i loved the ivies by alexa donne, and this book looks perfect for my winter tbr!
January 14, 2025
heavy handed in its attempts at teenage slang
slasher book without the slashing
slasher book without the slashing
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 1, 2025
When the students of Warner Prep are unexpectedly signed up for a different Senior Excursion, eight students find themselves isolated in a Colorado ski chalet for five days without technology. The students plan to make the most of this trip but are soon fighting for their lives as students start dying in suspicious deaths. The students must figure out why they were chosen for this trip and who is behind these deaths while trying to survive the snowstorm that rages outside.
The Bitter End was a fast-paced mystery thriller that was the perfect read during a snowstorm. This book was filled with so many unlikeable characters, each with their own reason for wanting someone dead. The chapters go back and forth from present day to a party that occurred three years prior, and it was intriguing to see each character's secrets reveled. Although I did enjoy the book overall, I wasn't a huge fan of the ending. I felt like some of the questions I had were never answered or rushed.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's Publishing for the opportunity to review The Bitter End. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The Bitter End was a fast-paced mystery thriller that was the perfect read during a snowstorm. This book was filled with so many unlikeable characters, each with their own reason for wanting someone dead. The chapters go back and forth from present day to a party that occurred three years prior, and it was intriguing to see each character's secrets reveled. Although I did enjoy the book overall, I wasn't a huge fan of the ending. I felt like some of the questions I had were never answered or rushed.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's Publishing for the opportunity to review The Bitter End. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
April 17, 2025
After a bad snowstorm, eight teens and their adult chaperone are all snowed in and people are dying one after another...
Oh, Alexa Donne. I wanted to like this so badly but, once again, I just didn't. I think I just have to admit that her books aren't for me.
The characters were so bland:
Piper - People are suspicious of her because she was supposed to go to the Olympics and then returned to school after an injury instead. There were some rumours that she spiked people's drinks, but I honestly didn't understand all of the animosity towards her.
Declan - Washed up TikTok influencer.
Wyatt - Tech geek and horndog.
Camille - A rival gymnast who doesn't like Piper. Standard mean girl and I think she's a lesbian?
Eden - Another mean girl in the group.
Delaney - Dating Liam.
Liam - Dating Delaney . Is going to med school and known as a boy scout.
Willa - Goody two-shoes who is fat?
I genuinely forgot about a character or two and had to reference the book so I could list them all out. On top of the forgettable characters, this book didn't have to be told in dual timelines: the present where they're trapped in an airbnb, and three years prior where our cast of characters attended a party. That past timeline was so useless. Throughout the book, they kept referencing how Liam's younger cousin, who was also at the party, died. Did the cousin die at the party? No. At the party, people's drinks were spiked with drugs. Did that lead to some terrible incident that scarred everyone? No again.
The murderer's motive was also lame despite it happening at the party. Leading up to the big reveal, characters talked about how despicable the murderer was for what they said/did and when you see the evidence, it was basically the equivalent of Vanessa Hudgen's drunken rant about how people dying during COVID was inevitable. Like, that's it??? I've seen worse in the comments section of a Youtube video.
And you know what's wild? I clocked who the murderer was. On page 129, a character spots a copy of Agatha Christie's book, Endless Night. It's one of the few Agatha Christie book I've read and I remember it so vividly because I gave it 1-star. That was such a specific book that I wondered if it was a clue as to who the murderer(s) was... and I was right!
There was a final twist at the end and I didn't like that either with the (unintentional?) reference to John Carpenter's Halloween, in which everyone looks away and the murderer just disappears. You're telling me this teenager manages to escape down a snowy mountain on foot? And after a year, they managed to evade discovery despite constant news coverage and a Netflix documentary? I know these teens are rich, but come on.
I read this book very quickly but I wouldn't say I enjoyed it...
Oh, Alexa Donne. I wanted to like this so badly but, once again, I just didn't. I think I just have to admit that her books aren't for me.
The characters were so bland:
Piper - People are suspicious of her because she was supposed to go to the Olympics and then returned to school after an injury instead. There were some rumours that she spiked people's drinks, but I honestly didn't understand all of the animosity towards her.
Declan - Washed up TikTok influencer.
Wyatt - Tech geek and horndog.
Camille - A rival gymnast who doesn't like Piper. Standard mean girl and I think she's a lesbian?
Eden - Another mean girl in the group.
Delaney - Dating Liam.
Liam - Dating Delaney . Is going to med school and known as a boy scout.
Willa - Goody two-shoes who is fat?
I genuinely forgot about a character or two and had to reference the book so I could list them all out. On top of the forgettable characters, this book didn't have to be told in dual timelines: the present where they're trapped in an airbnb, and three years prior where our cast of characters attended a party. That past timeline was so useless. Throughout the book, they kept referencing how Liam's younger cousin, who was also at the party, died. Did the cousin die at the party? No. At the party, people's drinks were spiked with drugs. Did that lead to some terrible incident that scarred everyone? No again.
The murderer's motive was also lame despite it happening at the party. Leading up to the big reveal, characters talked about how despicable the murderer was for what they said/did and when you see the evidence, it was basically the equivalent of Vanessa Hudgen's drunken rant about how people dying during COVID was inevitable. Like, that's it??? I've seen worse in the comments section of a Youtube video.
And you know what's wild? I clocked who the murderer was. On page 129, a character spots a copy of Agatha Christie's book, Endless Night. It's one of the few Agatha Christie book I've read and I remember it so vividly because I gave it 1-star. That was such a specific book that I wondered if it was a clue as to who the murderer(s) was... and I was right!
There was a final twist at the end and I didn't like that either with the (unintentional?) reference to John Carpenter's Halloween, in which everyone looks away and the murderer just disappears. You're telling me this teenager manages to escape down a snowy mountain on foot? And after a year, they managed to evade discovery despite constant news coverage and a Netflix documentary? I know these teens are rich, but come on.
I read this book very quickly but I wouldn't say I enjoyed it...
November 3, 2024
Oh my! I finished this in one sitting - Alexa Donne is at the top of her game! Delicious twists and turns with a light sprinkling of Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None.” Excellent!!
December 27, 2024
A solid YA mystery thriller but it wasn't quite for me. If you're a fan of Holly Jackson or Karen McManus though you may want to give it a try.
January 12, 2025
3/5
Rich kid problems.
This book includes: drug use, alcohol use, underage partying, strong language, blood, death, and cheating.
I love Alexa Donne's YouTube channel, her vibes are immaculate. I'm not huge on the book though, but this is my own tastes and not about her. I truly don't enjoy rich people books or private/boarding school books, sadly, at least 2 of her books fall into this category.
Delaney Moss, Liam Parker-Yang, Wyatt Riemer, Declan DuPont, Camille Sutter, Eden Laskin, Piper Giambruno, and Willa Hawley all attend Warner Prep and are unfortunately stuck on a digital detox for their Senior Excursion. Everyone, but Willa, comes from money and some kind of TikTok stardom. They're all about to graduate and get into Ivy League colleges. But they all have secrets that they'll kill to protect and when they get snowed in they wake up to the first body. Can the teens trust anyone? And what about their guidance counsellor Ms. Silva? As the bodies pile up along with the snow, the group fights for their lives.
I didn't love the alternating timelines of the current excursion and the party from three years ago. It started to lose its punch for me in the middle when I guessed early about what happened so it didn't lead to enough satisfaction for me. The only other thing I didn't like was that everyone's point of view blended together, it wasn't a strong enough voice to set them apart except for the sprinkling of words connected to the character (like Wyatt thinking about video games for the first two sentences in his chapter). I started getting really lost as to whose head I was in. Is this Piper or Willa? Find out in the next chapter hopefully!
I did love that Piper is ace, but it's such a small part that only makes me wave a little flag at the rep. Although her thoughts are completely accurate, it takes a while to explain and it's not a good time to explain while everyone is dying.
The ending was chaos and was fun. I loved the nod to the classics. I would recommend it to other people who like the murder mystery genre for YA. I'll happily try Pretty Dead Queens and Brightly Burning as I still want to support her! I wholeheartedly recommend her YouTube channel!
Check your local library! I'm happy I got this from there and I'm happy to put it on display in our Teen section!
Rich kid problems.
This book includes: drug use, alcohol use, underage partying, strong language, blood, death, and cheating.
I love Alexa Donne's YouTube channel, her vibes are immaculate. I'm not huge on the book though, but this is my own tastes and not about her. I truly don't enjoy rich people books or private/boarding school books, sadly, at least 2 of her books fall into this category.
Delaney Moss, Liam Parker-Yang, Wyatt Riemer, Declan DuPont, Camille Sutter, Eden Laskin, Piper Giambruno, and Willa Hawley all attend Warner Prep and are unfortunately stuck on a digital detox for their Senior Excursion. Everyone, but Willa, comes from money and some kind of TikTok stardom. They're all about to graduate and get into Ivy League colleges. But they all have secrets that they'll kill to protect and when they get snowed in they wake up to the first body. Can the teens trust anyone? And what about their guidance counsellor Ms. Silva? As the bodies pile up along with the snow, the group fights for their lives.
I didn't love the alternating timelines of the current excursion and the party from three years ago. It started to lose its punch for me in the middle when I guessed early about what happened so it didn't lead to enough satisfaction for me. The only other thing I didn't like was that everyone's point of view blended together, it wasn't a strong enough voice to set them apart except for the sprinkling of words connected to the character (like Wyatt thinking about video games for the first two sentences in his chapter). I started getting really lost as to whose head I was in. Is this Piper or Willa? Find out in the next chapter hopefully!
I did love that Piper is ace, but it's such a small part that only makes me wave a little flag at the rep. Although her thoughts are completely accurate, it takes a while to explain and it's not a good time to explain while everyone is dying.
The ending was chaos and was fun. I loved the nod to the classics. I would recommend it to other people who like the murder mystery genre for YA. I'll happily try Pretty Dead Queens and Brightly Burning as I still want to support her! I wholeheartedly recommend her YouTube channel!
Check your local library! I'm happy I got this from there and I'm happy to put it on display in our Teen section!
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