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Six Must Die
Perfect for fans of Karen M. McManus’s The Cousins and I Know What You Did Last Summer, this propulsive thriller follows a fractured group of friends as they fight to survive a killer escape room in rural Tennessee.
Twelve months ago, an escape room fire took everything from Steffi Zamekova. In just one hour, she lost it all: her popular blog, her close-knit inner circle, and her memories of the night that killed one of the group’s own… the charismatic (if infuriating) Matt Cesari.
On the anniversary of the bewildering tragedy, Steffi is still desperate to piece together what went wrong. So when she receives an ominous invitation in the mail summoning her to the new escape room across town, she seizes the chance for answers.
Reunited with her former friends, Steffi sees the game as a last chance to uncover the truth behind Matt’s death. But it’s soon clear that each participant has their own cagey reasons for accepting the challenge. And as tensions rise and the players are picked off one by one, it’s a race against the clock for Steffi to uncover their secrets and unlock her own memories before the game’s mastermind ensures that no one escapes the room alive.
Twelve months ago, an escape room fire took everything from Steffi Zamekova. In just one hour, she lost it all: her popular blog, her close-knit inner circle, and her memories of the night that killed one of the group’s own… the charismatic (if infuriating) Matt Cesari.
On the anniversary of the bewildering tragedy, Steffi is still desperate to piece together what went wrong. So when she receives an ominous invitation in the mail summoning her to the new escape room across town, she seizes the chance for answers.
Reunited with her former friends, Steffi sees the game as a last chance to uncover the truth behind Matt’s death. But it’s soon clear that each participant has their own cagey reasons for accepting the challenge. And as tensions rise and the players are picked off one by one, it’s a race against the clock for Steffi to uncover their secrets and unlock her own memories before the game’s mastermind ensures that no one escapes the room alive.
Kindle Edition
Published March 10, 2026
About the author
Victoria Wlosok
2 books320 followersVictoria Wlosok is the author of the young adult thrillers How to Find a Missing Girl and Six Must Die. A recent graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she majored in English and Business Administration, she now spends her time researching methods of murder for future books, attempting to break out of escape rooms, and teaching language arts in the mountains of the Czech Republic. She invites you to follow her on Instagram, TikTok, and X @xvictoriawrites, or visit her website at victoriawlosok.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
September 5, 2025
SIX MUST DIE releases March 10, 2026 with Little, Brown Books for Young Readers!
this locked-room, diminishing-cast, six-POV sapphic YA thriller is Saw meets Bodies Bodies Bodies meets I Know What You Did Last Summer, and it's for everyone who's ever gone through a traumatic friendship breakup and wishes they could've just been shot instead.
add this book to your TBR if you like:
• unreliable narrators who keep too many secrets for their own good
• killer escape rooms
• multi-POV novels
• messy gays who definitely should have all blocked each other years ago tbh
• dual timeline thrillers
• neon vibes in a claustrophobic setting
• "one of us is definitely the killer, but like, what if we just pretended we're not?"
• camp and gore and blackmail, in that order
• realizing you have feelings for your dead best friend's girlfriend
• bitches named charity
• multimedia elements (yelp.com reviews, court documents, text messages, etc.)
• immigrant daughters battling complicated feelings about their parents
• the existence of chess.com, as a concept
• books set in rural towns in the american south (this time, we're in the mountains of Tennessee)
• overthinking about how your friends hate you when you probably just need to go to sleep
get in the killer escape room, y'all. we're going dying on march 10, 2026. don't be late. xx
this locked-room, diminishing-cast, six-POV sapphic YA thriller is Saw meets Bodies Bodies Bodies meets I Know What You Did Last Summer, and it's for everyone who's ever gone through a traumatic friendship breakup and wishes they could've just been shot instead.
add this book to your TBR if you like:
• unreliable narrators who keep too many secrets for their own good
• killer escape rooms
• multi-POV novels
• messy gays who definitely should have all blocked each other years ago tbh
• dual timeline thrillers
• neon vibes in a claustrophobic setting
• "one of us is definitely the killer, but like, what if we just pretended we're not?"
• camp and gore and blackmail, in that order
• realizing you have feelings for your dead best friend's girlfriend
• bitches named charity
• multimedia elements (yelp.com reviews, court documents, text messages, etc.)
• immigrant daughters battling complicated feelings about their parents
• the existence of chess.com, as a concept
• books set in rural towns in the american south (this time, we're in the mountains of Tennessee)
• overthinking about how your friends hate you when you probably just need to go to sleep
get in the killer escape room, y'all. we're going dying on march 10, 2026. don't be late. xx
October 22, 2025
ARC for review. To be published March 10, 2026.
2.5 stars
High school senior Stephanie goes to an escape room o n d by the parents of her friend Malachi to meet her friends Santo, Tobias, Charity and Guinevere. It’s just about one year since their friend, Matt, died in a fire at another escape room, which would seem like a really good reason NOT to celebrate at an escape room, but what do I know about kids and their fun.
And, big surprise, right away things start to go wrong. And Stephanie got a head injury at last year’s debacle so she has no memories of what happened. Looks like it’s going to be quite a night.
I love escape rooms so there were some small parts of this I loved but I found large portions of it confusing and the killer was pretty obvious (I thought.).
2.5 stars
High school senior Stephanie goes to an escape room o n d by the parents of her friend Malachi to meet her friends Santo, Tobias, Charity and Guinevere. It’s just about one year since their friend, Matt, died in a fire at another escape room, which would seem like a really good reason NOT to celebrate at an escape room, but what do I know about kids and their fun.
And, big surprise, right away things start to go wrong. And Stephanie got a head injury at last year’s debacle so she has no memories of what happened. Looks like it’s going to be quite a night.
I love escape rooms so there were some small parts of this I loved but I found large portions of it confusing and the killer was pretty obvious (I thought.).
March 28, 2025
This book doesn't have an official name yet, so I would like to offer it mine. That's right—I wanna marry this goddamned book. It's an absolute blast and a half and I can't wait for everybody else to read it!!
March 11, 2026
1.5 stars
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for providing me with an ARC of this book!
★ after falling in love with Wlosok's debut, How to Find a Missing Girl, i was so excited to be approved for an ARC of Six Must Die. unfortunately, when i told myself, "i can't wait for this book to start getting good," and realized i was already 60% of the way through, i knew Wlosok's sophomore effort would be a disappointment for me.
★ while the writing in How to Find a Missing Girl was propulsive and exciting, the writing in Six Must Die is amateurish and sloppy. it feels like Wlosok thought her audience wouldn't be able to remember the characters and their relationships to each other, because throughout the entire book, she is constantly restating who each character is, what their hobbies are, and how they know our protagonist, Steffi. i feel like at least 15% of the book consists of these unnecessary reiterations. there are only, as the title suggests, six major characters in the story. i'm pretty sure we'll all be able to remember who they are after the first few chapters.
★ and this ties into the excessive telling over showing present in the story. each time Steffi wants to describe how close she and one of her ex-friends used to be, she'll use a run-on sentence in the format of: ______ character, who would ________ with me in school, do _____ activity as we laughed at ______ location, and who _____ed when [insert last time they saw each other here]. these sentences are so repetitive, and do so little to further the characterization of the characters or deepen their backstories with each other. and these sentences make up a good chunk of the story, rendering the reading experience monotonous.
★ for what should be an exciting thriller, the plot meanders in a confusing way. there are many instances where the characters waffle over decisions they have already made and talk in circles to each other. for example, they'll say, "should we keep playing the game?" after they have already continued playing the game numerous times (and there has been no major event to change their minds), or say, "we should all stick together," after they have been sticking together throughout the entire story. and these aren't little moments; the unnecessary conversations go on for pages. it feels like these conversations, and the endless run-on backstory sentences, are most of the "plot".
★ there is even a chapter where the six characters are assigned different jobs (which are told to us in the first few paragraphs of the chapter), and one character is confused, so the rest of the chapter is dedicated to restating what each character's job is. i can't make this up.
★ Steffi probably uses the phrase "remaining friends" at least every 10 pages.
★ while i love ephemera/multimedia content in mysteries, the content here was entirely irrelevant to the story. was there a gossip site that posted scathing exposés about our six characters? yes. do we get to read more than one of these posts? no. instead, we read positive/middling reviews for the escape room location over and over again at the end of each chapter until i had to look up from the book in disbelief.
★ and on that note, the secrets/reveals, and even two of the deaths in the story, are confusing and muddled at worst and boring at best. we know all six of the characters were exposed for something, and there are maybe one or two sentences throughout the entire novel talking about each characters' gossip post. even Steffi's post was left unclear - i can guess what it was about, but we're never explicitly told. this gives the story the effect of being boring rather than intentionally vague and elusive. there is even one instance where it's implied a character was exposed for one thing on one page, and implied that the same character was exposed for another thing on another page. and that's never cleared up.
★ also, each character has a secret about the night one of their friends died. the secrets were... shockingly obvious, dull, and all the same. plus, again, Steffi's "secret" is never revealed. unless the secret is the random off-hand sentence a character utters towards the end?
★ there is one chapter where Steffi blinks ~once per page.
★ there are parts where Steffi says their friend group broke up the night of the fire, and parts where Steffi is talking about being with her friends at a funeral afterwards and driving one of her friends home. so did they or did they not stay friends after that night?
★ the flashbacks are drawn out and mostly unnecessary.
★ two major character deaths occur off-page, and i had to reread that segment three times to make sure i wasn't missing something, because what should have been an important moment was just glossed over and never spoken about again.
★ overall, this concept has so much promise, and i'm shocked at how much it was bungled. the one thing i will say about Wlosok is that she can accurately capture the things teens do when they're young and part of a friend group, but i wish that was shown to us rather than told. this book was sorely missing many more rounds of edits. after seeing what Wlosok can accomplish with How to Find a Missing Girl, i know her second novel should be so much better than this.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for providing me with an ARC of this book!
★ after falling in love with Wlosok's debut, How to Find a Missing Girl, i was so excited to be approved for an ARC of Six Must Die. unfortunately, when i told myself, "i can't wait for this book to start getting good," and realized i was already 60% of the way through, i knew Wlosok's sophomore effort would be a disappointment for me.
★ while the writing in How to Find a Missing Girl was propulsive and exciting, the writing in Six Must Die is amateurish and sloppy. it feels like Wlosok thought her audience wouldn't be able to remember the characters and their relationships to each other, because throughout the entire book, she is constantly restating who each character is, what their hobbies are, and how they know our protagonist, Steffi. i feel like at least 15% of the book consists of these unnecessary reiterations. there are only, as the title suggests, six major characters in the story. i'm pretty sure we'll all be able to remember who they are after the first few chapters.
★ and this ties into the excessive telling over showing present in the story. each time Steffi wants to describe how close she and one of her ex-friends used to be, she'll use a run-on sentence in the format of: ______ character, who would ________ with me in school, do _____ activity as we laughed at ______ location, and who _____ed when [insert last time they saw each other here]. these sentences are so repetitive, and do so little to further the characterization of the characters or deepen their backstories with each other. and these sentences make up a good chunk of the story, rendering the reading experience monotonous.
★ for what should be an exciting thriller, the plot meanders in a confusing way. there are many instances where the characters waffle over decisions they have already made and talk in circles to each other. for example, they'll say, "should we keep playing the game?" after they have already continued playing the game numerous times (and there has been no major event to change their minds), or say, "we should all stick together," after they have been sticking together throughout the entire story. and these aren't little moments; the unnecessary conversations go on for pages. it feels like these conversations, and the endless run-on backstory sentences, are most of the "plot".
★ there is even a chapter where the six characters are assigned different jobs (which are told to us in the first few paragraphs of the chapter), and one character is confused, so the rest of the chapter is dedicated to restating what each character's job is. i can't make this up.
★ Steffi probably uses the phrase "remaining friends" at least every 10 pages.
★ while i love ephemera/multimedia content in mysteries, the content here was entirely irrelevant to the story. was there a gossip site that posted scathing exposés about our six characters? yes. do we get to read more than one of these posts? no. instead, we read positive/middling reviews for the escape room location over and over again at the end of each chapter until i had to look up from the book in disbelief.
★ and on that note, the secrets/reveals, and even two of the deaths in the story, are confusing and muddled at worst and boring at best. we know all six of the characters were exposed for something, and there are maybe one or two sentences throughout the entire novel talking about each characters' gossip post. even Steffi's post was left unclear - i can guess what it was about, but we're never explicitly told. this gives the story the effect of being boring rather than intentionally vague and elusive. there is even one instance where it's implied a character was exposed for one thing on one page, and implied that the same character was exposed for another thing on another page. and that's never cleared up.
★ also, each character has a secret about the night one of their friends died. the secrets were... shockingly obvious, dull, and all the same. plus, again, Steffi's "secret" is never revealed. unless the secret is the random off-hand sentence a character utters towards the end?
★ there is one chapter where Steffi blinks ~once per page.
★ there are parts where Steffi says their friend group broke up the night of the fire, and parts where Steffi is talking about being with her friends at a funeral afterwards and driving one of her friends home. so did they or did they not stay friends after that night?
★ the flashbacks are drawn out and mostly unnecessary.
★ two major character deaths occur off-page, and i had to reread that segment three times to make sure i wasn't missing something, because what should have been an important moment was just glossed over and never spoken about again.
★ overall, this concept has so much promise, and i'm shocked at how much it was bungled. the one thing i will say about Wlosok is that she can accurately capture the things teens do when they're young and part of a friend group, but i wish that was shown to us rather than told. this book was sorely missing many more rounds of edits. after seeing what Wlosok can accomplish with How to Find a Missing Girl, i know her second novel should be so much better than this.
March 15, 2026
The moment I realized this mysterious invitation didn’t come from anyone present I would have been out of there! & I absolutely woul have bolted out of Friendship Springs, TN! This story had a lot of elements I love, YA Thriller mixed with escape room vibes — count me in! It became evident early on that someone wanted some revenge on this friendship group! The question is who? As there were a few “whys” circulating around as they try to determine who invited them to the escape room! They are all suffering from a previous tragedy that they endured together, so one would think under all these circumstances they have sense enough to abort mission… NOT.. in typical YA fashion, they continued on as though nothing abnormal was happening! Overall a fun & suspenseful read. Thank you NetGalley & Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for an advanced reader copy.
Publication 🗓️ : 03.10.26
Publication 🗓️ : 03.10.26
April 19, 2026
Start was slow but was hooked by around the 100 page mark! Couldn't stop reading after that!
March 16, 2026
3.5⭐️ I love escape rooms. I love YA thrillers. So this book should have been a slam dunk for me… but unfortunately it didn’t quite deliver.
While it pulled me in at the beginning, things started to feel flat pretty early on. I’m someone who often figures out the culprit in thrillers and mysteries, but that usually doesn’t bother me. Half the fun is watching how the author builds the tension and crafts the payoff. Sadly, this one felt very predictable and the authenticity just wasn’t quite there.
One thing I usually enjoy about YA is that teens make questionable decisions—their brains aren’t fully formed yet, and that’s part of what makes the genre fun. You can push characters into situations that wouldn’t quite work with adult protagonists. But there’s a limit, and once you cross that line it starts to feel unbelievable. Teens still have a sense of self-preservation, and the setup here alone would likely be a big “no” for most people.
That being said, if you can suspend disbelief a lot and just read for the vibes—especially if you haven’t read an escape-room style thriller before—this might feel fresh and entertaining.
I am thankful to have received a complimentary eARC from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers via NetGalley, which gave me the opportunity to share my voluntary thoughts.
While it pulled me in at the beginning, things started to feel flat pretty early on. I’m someone who often figures out the culprit in thrillers and mysteries, but that usually doesn’t bother me. Half the fun is watching how the author builds the tension and crafts the payoff. Sadly, this one felt very predictable and the authenticity just wasn’t quite there.
One thing I usually enjoy about YA is that teens make questionable decisions—their brains aren’t fully formed yet, and that’s part of what makes the genre fun. You can push characters into situations that wouldn’t quite work with adult protagonists. But there’s a limit, and once you cross that line it starts to feel unbelievable. Teens still have a sense of self-preservation, and the setup here alone would likely be a big “no” for most people.
That being said, if you can suspend disbelief a lot and just read for the vibes—especially if you haven’t read an escape-room style thriller before—this might feel fresh and entertaining.
I am thankful to have received a complimentary eARC from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers via NetGalley, which gave me the opportunity to share my voluntary thoughts.
May 7, 2026
No one dies in escape rooms… except last year someone did. Their tight-knit group of friends were never the same and Steffi has no idea why.
During the accident that ended up killing her best friend Matteo, Steffi hit her head and has spent the time since with amnesia. Not only does she have not know what happened that night, but she has no idea why not a single one of her ex-friends have spoken to her in all that time.
When she gets an invitation to come to the “new and improved” escape room, created by the same company, she goes… if only to get answers. But they all quickly realize that their reasons for being there are all completely different and each of them is keeping secrets from one another. Secrets someone would kill for.
I can’t think of a single other locked door, enclosed space murder mystery that I have read in recent times that had me guessing answers until the very end. I will say that I guessed one major plot point, but I immediately second guessed my thought and “knew” that it was wrong. I made a LOT of wrong guesses though, so it makes sense that I would think that. And it was a great twist, so I’m not mad at it at all. It just made the whole book a bit sadder.
I really enjoyed this. Seeing as how I find myself reading a lot of the same authors when it comes to mystery/thrillers, it makes me incredibly happy to find a new voice in the genre. Plus, the fact that 80% of the cast of characters were LGBTQIA+ made it so much better!!!!
During the accident that ended up killing her best friend Matteo, Steffi hit her head and has spent the time since with amnesia. Not only does she have not know what happened that night, but she has no idea why not a single one of her ex-friends have spoken to her in all that time.
When she gets an invitation to come to the “new and improved” escape room, created by the same company, she goes… if only to get answers. But they all quickly realize that their reasons for being there are all completely different and each of them is keeping secrets from one another. Secrets someone would kill for.
I can’t think of a single other locked door, enclosed space murder mystery that I have read in recent times that had me guessing answers until the very end. I will say that I guessed one major plot point, but I immediately second guessed my thought and “knew” that it was wrong. I made a LOT of wrong guesses though, so it makes sense that I would think that. And it was a great twist, so I’m not mad at it at all. It just made the whole book a bit sadder.
I really enjoyed this. Seeing as how I find myself reading a lot of the same authors when it comes to mystery/thrillers, it makes me incredibly happy to find a new voice in the genre. Plus, the fact that 80% of the cast of characters were LGBTQIA+ made it so much better!!!!
April 29, 2026
Thank you to the publisher for sending me an e-arc in exchange of an honest review.
Six ex-friends, one deadly escape room and one hour.
This book was definitely a trip I wasn't expecting. As I went into this I was wondering how much could be done inside an escape room with limited space but it was done really well. With flashbacks to accompany the main storyline helping to gradually uncover things as you went along, it really had my head in a spin. I thought I knew who to suspect until I didn't. It was such a rollercoaster ride and I'm certainly here for it as I didn't know who to trust at all. Overall this was dark and thrilling and I very much enjoyed it.
Six ex-friends, one deadly escape room and one hour.
This book was definitely a trip I wasn't expecting. As I went into this I was wondering how much could be done inside an escape room with limited space but it was done really well. With flashbacks to accompany the main storyline helping to gradually uncover things as you went along, it really had my head in a spin. I thought I knew who to suspect until I didn't. It was such a rollercoaster ride and I'm certainly here for it as I didn't know who to trust at all. Overall this was dark and thrilling and I very much enjoyed it.
December 22, 2025
#ad much love for my advance copy @littlebrown @novelsuspects #partner #novelsuspectsinsidersclub
‧₊˚ ✩°｡⋆♡ ⋆˙⟡♡ ⋆˙⟡♡⋆｡°✩˚₊‧
🆂🅸🆇 🅼🆄🆂🆃 🅳🅸🅴
< @ >
ʀᴇʟᴇᴀꜱᴇꜱ: ᴍᴀʀᴄʜ 𝟤𝟨, 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟨
ʏᴀ | ᴛʜʀɪʟʟᴇʀ | ꜱᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴀʟ | ʟɢʙᴛǫ+
‧₊˚ ✩°｡⋆♡ ⋆˙⟡♡ ⋆˙⟡♡⋆｡°✩˚₊‧
𝚂𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚊 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚊𝚐𝚘. 𝙾𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚡 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝. 𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚜𝚒𝚡 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗…
How many will walk out this time?
Tomorrow they graduate and go off in their own directions, but today they each arrive to the escape room BREAKOUT. Steffi wants answers as to what happened a year ago here. Why one of them is now dead and how she survived. Questions she needs the answers too. Since she now lives with a brain injury from that night, she can’t remember what happened. Will she find the answers she seeks?
And who invited them back here? They’ve been estranged since that night, a year ago, and now someone is forcing them back together.
𝕄𝕖𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖:
Dr Quack 🦆
Kill scenes HOLY CRAPPERS! Lit AF
A locked-room dual timeline thriller that has a lot of bloody good scenes.
𝕄𝕚𝕩𝕖𝕕 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨:
I really loved this book but it took about 100 pages before I really started to get into it. I feel it had a lot of build-up, things repeated, and kind of drawn out at parts - rather than high-stakes, high-tension scenes right off the bat. While that does come, it takes a while to get there.
So while it’s fast-paced, it’s also slow-paced. Just stick it out if you find yourself struggling at the beginning. It’ll be worth it - I promise that!
Because once the plot got going it turned into a whole different book. I loved the puzzles, the building tension, and that it actually took place inside an escape room. I also enjoyed the extras: police interviews, blog posts, news articles, etc.
ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕗 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕃𝕚𝕜𝕖:
✩ Everyone has a secret
✩ What happened a year ago
✩ Locked-room
✩ Group of toxic friends
✩ Blood & Guts (my fav)
✩ Pressure cooker
✩ Drama
✩ Grief
✩ Character-driven
✩ Dual timelines
✩ Escape rooms
✩ Puzzles
It might be a little too much for some readers.
‧₊˚ ✩°｡⋆♡ ⋆˙⟡♡ ⋆˙⟡♡⋆｡°✩˚₊‧
🆂🅸🆇 🅼🆄🆂🆃 🅳🅸🅴
< @ >
ʀᴇʟᴇᴀꜱᴇꜱ: ᴍᴀʀᴄʜ 𝟤𝟨, 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟨
ʏᴀ | ᴛʜʀɪʟʟᴇʀ | ꜱᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴀʟ | ʟɢʙᴛǫ+
‧₊˚ ✩°｡⋆♡ ⋆˙⟡♡ ⋆˙⟡♡⋆｡°✩˚₊‧
𝚂𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚊 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚊𝚐𝚘. 𝙾𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚡 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝. 𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚜𝚒𝚡 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗…
How many will walk out this time?
Tomorrow they graduate and go off in their own directions, but today they each arrive to the escape room BREAKOUT. Steffi wants answers as to what happened a year ago here. Why one of them is now dead and how she survived. Questions she needs the answers too. Since she now lives with a brain injury from that night, she can’t remember what happened. Will she find the answers she seeks?
And who invited them back here? They’ve been estranged since that night, a year ago, and now someone is forcing them back together.
𝕄𝕖𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖:
Dr Quack 🦆
Kill scenes HOLY CRAPPERS! Lit AF
A locked-room dual timeline thriller that has a lot of bloody good scenes.
𝕄𝕚𝕩𝕖𝕕 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨:
I really loved this book but it took about 100 pages before I really started to get into it. I feel it had a lot of build-up, things repeated, and kind of drawn out at parts - rather than high-stakes, high-tension scenes right off the bat. While that does come, it takes a while to get there.
So while it’s fast-paced, it’s also slow-paced. Just stick it out if you find yourself struggling at the beginning. It’ll be worth it - I promise that!
Because once the plot got going it turned into a whole different book. I loved the puzzles, the building tension, and that it actually took place inside an escape room. I also enjoyed the extras: police interviews, blog posts, news articles, etc.
ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕗 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕃𝕚𝕜𝕖:
✩ Everyone has a secret
✩ What happened a year ago
✩ Locked-room
✩ Group of toxic friends
✩ Blood & Guts (my fav)
✩ Pressure cooker
✩ Drama
✩ Grief
✩ Character-driven
✩ Dual timelines
✩ Escape rooms
✩ Puzzles
It might be a little too much for some readers.
December 29, 2025
2.5/5, rounded to 3
six must die follows a group of teenagers reuniting a year after one of their best friends dies in a fire that broke out while they were playing an escape room. where are they reuniting at? the very escape room franchise that their friend died at, and they’re here to play one last game together before tradition g high school. only this game immediately isn’t what it seems.
overall, i really liked the premise of the book. it feels very i know what you did last summer, which is a type of camp i really enjoy. the inclusion of escape rooms i thought was fun, even though i feel like at times the descriptions of having to escape/the escape room itself felt clunky. for most of the book, we are following the pov of one character, steffi, and while i know the point of her characterization (and that of all the teenagers in this book) was to be unlikable at least a little bit, i found no redeeming qualities in her. she was so annoying to be in the head of, especially when she would say the full name of her friends, INCLUDING MIDDLE NAME, every other page. it wasn’t normal and i hated it. other things like having to read the words “storm gray eyes” and “hurricane gaze” over and over again really took away from the thriller aspect of the book.
i thought the twist was predictable but executed well regardless, and despite the few problems i had with it i did have fun reading it. if you can get past the repetitive prose, and enjoy escape rooms and horror books, i would give it a go!
thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the e-arc!
six must die follows a group of teenagers reuniting a year after one of their best friends dies in a fire that broke out while they were playing an escape room. where are they reuniting at? the very escape room franchise that their friend died at, and they’re here to play one last game together before tradition g high school. only this game immediately isn’t what it seems.
overall, i really liked the premise of the book. it feels very i know what you did last summer, which is a type of camp i really enjoy. the inclusion of escape rooms i thought was fun, even though i feel like at times the descriptions of having to escape/the escape room itself felt clunky. for most of the book, we are following the pov of one character, steffi, and while i know the point of her characterization (and that of all the teenagers in this book) was to be unlikable at least a little bit, i found no redeeming qualities in her. she was so annoying to be in the head of, especially when she would say the full name of her friends, INCLUDING MIDDLE NAME, every other page. it wasn’t normal and i hated it. other things like having to read the words “storm gray eyes” and “hurricane gaze” over and over again really took away from the thriller aspect of the book.
i thought the twist was predictable but executed well regardless, and despite the few problems i had with it i did have fun reading it. if you can get past the repetitive prose, and enjoy escape rooms and horror books, i would give it a go!
thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the e-arc!
August 24, 2024
Finish it soon I wanna read it!!!
May 11, 2026
such an amazing book. it turns out matt wasn’t dead, its his twin brother that died. matt ran a blog that exposed everyone including his own friends, and stephanie decided they should take revenge and get him to confess in an escape room, then they would post his confession to his accounts. little do they know, his brother got cold shoulders and told him everything. they then did a twin swap. but things went wrong, and a fire killed the twin. theyve spent a year thinking matt is dead, and receive an escape room invite on the anniversary of the death. they go, and get murdered one by one in an escape room inspired by the death called ‘arsonists revenge’. everyone dies but stephanie and her lover of sorts. it is then revealed matt is alive and orchestrated this for vengeance. stephanie is the only one who escapes alive, but also saves matt who lives out the rest of his life in prison.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 15, 2026
I'll preface this with that I love YA murder mysteries.
I really enjoyed the six fleshed out characters and what they all brought to this plot and solving what was going on.
I haven't read one before with an Escape Room setup, which I enjoyed it being an extra locked room mystery, although my main fault was that sometimes I struggled to picture where everything was in each room, ngl, kinda wanted a small map as an easy reference point.
As this is not my first rodeo into the troupe, I did have a pretty good idea of what was going on, even if it wasn't 100%, but I ain't mad, it's nice to feel smart.
Amnesia and memory recovery has def been done before, and is a worthy tool, but I still enjoyed this one all of the same.
--
Spoilers:
I'm not sure, after reading the ending how the screens were worked. This wasn't wrapped up.
The timing was too good for the screens to not have been manually worked after events happened.
I really enjoyed the six fleshed out characters and what they all brought to this plot and solving what was going on.
I haven't read one before with an Escape Room setup, which I enjoyed it being an extra locked room mystery, although my main fault was that sometimes I struggled to picture where everything was in each room, ngl, kinda wanted a small map as an easy reference point.
As this is not my first rodeo into the troupe, I did have a pretty good idea of what was going on, even if it wasn't 100%, but I ain't mad, it's nice to feel smart.
Amnesia and memory recovery has def been done before, and is a worthy tool, but I still enjoyed this one all of the same.
--
Spoilers:
I'm not sure, after reading the ending how the screens were worked. This wasn't wrapped up.
The timing was too good for the screens to not have been manually worked after events happened.
March 24, 2026
i called it 🤓🤓
April 19, 2026
AMAZING! I wish a perticular person hadnt died though :(((
May 16, 2026
It was very good and gripping but felt like I was reading it forever but maybe thast just how much I was reading a day lol !
April 8, 2026
i actually loved this... i usually don't jive with thrillers because i get pissed off, but i actually adored this LMFAOOOOO i love a friendship group that has something severely wrong with them <333
i only guessed the plot twist like five pages before it revealed itself, so i feel semi-smart :)
i only guessed the plot twist like five pages before it revealed itself, so i feel semi-smart :)
April 26, 2026
god it was fucking shit
i got thirty pages in and literally all i could think was ‘this sounds like it was written by ai’
the other ver descriptive sentences where there’s no gap for a breath (a comma) was ridiculous
if i could rate it 0 stars i would but alas i cannot
don’t waste your time reading it
i got thirty pages in and literally all i could think was ‘this sounds like it was written by ai’
the other ver descriptive sentences where there’s no gap for a breath (a comma) was ridiculous
if i could rate it 0 stars i would but alas i cannot
don’t waste your time reading it
March 23, 2026
I grabbed this off Netgalley recently because I love a good escape room tinged horror and this was it.
This feels on the YA side but not in a bad way, and it has big I know What You Did Last Summer vibes which I absolutely loved.
Steffi is a year out from a crazy tragedy where her BFF died in a escape room fire which is terrible holy crap.
When she gets a invite to another one, I definitely wouldn't have went but she's still plagued about what happened that night and with no memory maybe this will help jog them.
Whej she arrives there are others there too and everyone has a secret and when they start getting targeted, one by one, the tension raises and they have to rush to solve clues to maybe get out or meet their tormentor.
There were a few time so felt like I wasn't so much being lead to the answer as being force fed or, but honestly dosent bother me much, I typically figure it out pretty early in most books. The charcters were fun and sometimes a but dramatic but their young, so it made sense.
This was my first read by the author and honestly I'd give them another read, I do enjoy this type of book, trapped isolation of any kind will suck me, so give this a read if you enjoy thst type of thing.
This feels on the YA side but not in a bad way, and it has big I know What You Did Last Summer vibes which I absolutely loved.
Steffi is a year out from a crazy tragedy where her BFF died in a escape room fire which is terrible holy crap.
When she gets a invite to another one, I definitely wouldn't have went but she's still plagued about what happened that night and with no memory maybe this will help jog them.
Whej she arrives there are others there too and everyone has a secret and when they start getting targeted, one by one, the tension raises and they have to rush to solve clues to maybe get out or meet their tormentor.
There were a few time so felt like I wasn't so much being lead to the answer as being force fed or, but honestly dosent bother me much, I typically figure it out pretty early in most books. The charcters were fun and sometimes a but dramatic but their young, so it made sense.
This was my first read by the author and honestly I'd give them another read, I do enjoy this type of book, trapped isolation of any kind will suck me, so give this a read if you enjoy thst type of thing.
April 7, 2026
the plot twist is not shocking to anyone, not even a 13 years old
October 17, 2025
Six Must Die follows Steffi a year after an accidental fire in an escape room killed her best friend. On the anniversary of the tragedy, Steffi and her friends are invited to a new escape room. She seizes the chance to get real answers after spending a year with no memories of the night. But everyone has their own reasons for attending and as tensions rise and players begin to get picked off, Steffi must race against the clock to uncover the truth and make it out alive.
If you love the Escape Room movies, you’ll love this one. I had a lot of fun reading this one. It’s super fast-paced and entertaining. I loved them trying to work out the puzzles and clues. It’s a very tense read because of the time limit and the characters being trapped. I thought the escape room was really well described and very atmospheric. I did see one of the two major twists coming fairly early, but I enjoyed being surprised about the one I didn’t guess.
I have mixed feelings on the characters. I found them to be unlikeable, especially in their flashbacks. They’re very self-centered teenagers. Which is fine, it made for an entertaining time as we learn about their secrets and shenanigans.
If you love escape rooms or revenge based mystery/thrillers, I’d definitely recommend checking this one out!
Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for the arc
If you love the Escape Room movies, you’ll love this one. I had a lot of fun reading this one. It’s super fast-paced and entertaining. I loved them trying to work out the puzzles and clues. It’s a very tense read because of the time limit and the characters being trapped. I thought the escape room was really well described and very atmospheric. I did see one of the two major twists coming fairly early, but I enjoyed being surprised about the one I didn’t guess.
I have mixed feelings on the characters. I found them to be unlikeable, especially in their flashbacks. They’re very self-centered teenagers. Which is fine, it made for an entertaining time as we learn about their secrets and shenanigans.
If you love escape rooms or revenge based mystery/thrillers, I’d definitely recommend checking this one out!
Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for the arc
March 9, 2026
I really wanted to enjoy this book but it’s too similar to other books I’ve read that did it better than this book did.
It wasn’t terrible by any means but I read a book last year and it felt like it was identical and I wasn’t keen on that either.
The twist you could see coming.
It moved along and was a pretty easy read which is why it’s not a 1 star but was just below average for me .
It wasn’t terrible by any means but I read a book last year and it felt like it was identical and I wasn’t keen on that either.
The twist you could see coming.
It moved along and was a pretty easy read which is why it’s not a 1 star but was just below average for me .
March 5, 2026
2.5/5 ⭐️
ohh my goodness, this book took place during one hour and it was the longest hour of my life lol. It wasn't a bad book by any means, but it just seemed to drag on and on. There would be a ton of dialog and then only 30 seconds passed. Also, almost all of the characters were extremely unlikable, especially the main character steffi. They all just acted sooo stupid the entire time like they didnt realize they were actually in danger, even once people started dying.
The twist was predictable which was a bummer. And the ending was abrupt. Overall not terrible but not great.
Thank you so much NetGalley and the publishers for the e-ARC!
ohh my goodness, this book took place during one hour and it was the longest hour of my life lol. It wasn't a bad book by any means, but it just seemed to drag on and on. There would be a ton of dialog and then only 30 seconds passed. Also, almost all of the characters were extremely unlikable, especially the main character steffi. They all just acted sooo stupid the entire time like they didnt realize they were actually in danger, even once people started dying.
The twist was predictable which was a bummer. And the ending was abrupt. Overall not terrible but not great.
Thank you so much NetGalley and the publishers for the e-ARC!
March 19, 2026
This is a locked room murder mystery that literally hits every single cliche of that sub-genre. As soon as one particular character is introduced I thought “well, this is the murderer and the big twist will be X.” And that’s exactly what happens.
I also felt the prose was really lacking. Tons of unnecessary focus on what everyone was wearing- a silver cross earring is mentioned so many times that I thought it must somehow factor into the resolution, but nope. The term “best friend” is used possibly more times in this book than I’ve used it in my entire life.
There’s also a lot of media elements- like blog posts and Yelp reviews, that serve no purpose at all. They don’t reveal anything about the characters, they don’t advance the plot, they’re just kinda there. In hindsight, their inclusion was really odd choice.
I feel bad that I low key hated this. I love body count horror and I love seeing good queer rep in fiction….and this book has both, but damn it’s just not very good. Maybe I’ve just reached the point where I’ve read too many locked room murder mysteries.
This is a 1.5 that I just don’t have the heart to give a one star rating, so I’m rounding up to 2.
I also felt the prose was really lacking. Tons of unnecessary focus on what everyone was wearing- a silver cross earring is mentioned so many times that I thought it must somehow factor into the resolution, but nope. The term “best friend” is used possibly more times in this book than I’ve used it in my entire life.
There’s also a lot of media elements- like blog posts and Yelp reviews, that serve no purpose at all. They don’t reveal anything about the characters, they don’t advance the plot, they’re just kinda there. In hindsight, their inclusion was really odd choice.
I feel bad that I low key hated this. I love body count horror and I love seeing good queer rep in fiction….and this book has both, but damn it’s just not very good. Maybe I’ve just reached the point where I’ve read too many locked room murder mysteries.
This is a 1.5 that I just don’t have the heart to give a one star rating, so I’m rounding up to 2.
January 23, 2026
This was my favorite YA thriller I read this year! I was fortunate enough to receive an e-arc for this novel. This was a hard book to put down, especially as I read it right before bed each night. Spoiler alert: maybe not the best choice to wind down for the night with 😂.
We follow Steffi Zamekova as she tries to piece together what happened on the fateful night that killed one of her best friends, Matt, and regain her memories as she gets trapped in a deadly escape room with her old friend group.
The cast of characters is very diverse and I loved getting to see past events from each of the characters' perspectives, while continuing to follow our MC Steffi. It makes you question right up until the end who in the friend group might have killed Matt. The plot twist at the end was so satisfying!
I loved the vivid prose in this novel and the interwoven stories of the friend group. I highly recommend you pick this up if you have the chance!
We follow Steffi Zamekova as she tries to piece together what happened on the fateful night that killed one of her best friends, Matt, and regain her memories as she gets trapped in a deadly escape room with her old friend group.
The cast of characters is very diverse and I loved getting to see past events from each of the characters' perspectives, while continuing to follow our MC Steffi. It makes you question right up until the end who in the friend group might have killed Matt. The plot twist at the end was so satisfying!
I loved the vivid prose in this novel and the interwoven stories of the friend group. I highly recommend you pick this up if you have the chance!
March 3, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for giving me the opportunity to read and review this ARC.
4.5 stars, rounded up. Did you like Until Dawn(the game) and Scream(the original)? If so, you'll have a great time with Six Must Die. The escape room setting and the timer are very cool devices to really wrap you up in the plot, and the different points of view were very well handled. Steffi's memory loss kept me guessing as I discovered things right alongside her.
4.5 stars, rounded up. Did you like Until Dawn(the game) and Scream(the original)? If so, you'll have a great time with Six Must Die. The escape room setting and the timer are very cool devices to really wrap you up in the plot, and the different points of view were very well handled. Steffi's memory loss kept me guessing as I discovered things right alongside her.
March 30, 2026
This was okay, I never really found myself invested in most of the characters and thought the ending was predictable, but I really liked the premise
November 13, 2025
“How to Find a Missing Girl” instantly became one of my favorite YA thrillers, and I’ve been eagerly awaiting my chance to read more of Victoria Wlosok’s sapphic, sparkling, whip-smart work ever since! SO excited for this book 💖
November 26, 2025
this was INSANE!!! i could not put it down. this was one of the best thrillers i have read and i loved every moment. the point of views and the drama of this book was crazy! the ending was one of the craziest things ive ever read. make sure to read this book after it releases !!!
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