A nod in the darkness. Then a rustling of clothing as the two of them got dressed. Belle pulled on a soft, fluffy robe. With her hair tousled and her eyeliner smudged, it really would look like she’d woken from a dream. She wasn’t hosting company. Everyone was exactly where they were supposed to be. Overall, this was a solid murder-mystery that points out the importance of standing up for what you believe and making a family and future of your own.

I didn’t. I swear. But Edwin was passed out in his bedroom all night, and no one can account for me. Who you gonna call?” the man asked, in this jovial tone that made her think he was going to start humming the Ghostbusters theme song. Everything about this was absurd. Belle wanted to tell herself it was a dream, because none of this could be happening, except . . . the rest of the night had been incredibly vivid. Those lips, trailing across her skin. Those hands, warm and familiar. Bright eyes. Mischievous smile. They’d hardly touched over the past few years, and yet, everything was exactly the way it had been the first time they’d held hands.Poppy, Lily and Belladonna grew up cherishing imagined fairytales, though their fantasies begin to break apart when they discover their best friend Raven being abused by his stepmother. They’d do anything to help him, and end up planning to murder his stepmom by steeping a flower from each of their names into her tea—belladonna being fatal. The plan is called off last minute, but years later after the four have drifted apart, Raven’s stepmom is found dead next to a note detailing the ‘perfect recipe for murder’ from when they were kids. The strange thing is that only belladonna was found in her drink, and so only Belladonna gets taken to jail. The sudden rekindling of their past forces Poppy, Lily and Raven to uncover what really happened, and who could have framed Belladonna for murder. How can a book have such wonderfully atmospheric narration and rate so low with me.??? Good question. I wanted to like this and I really tried to do so but it missed the mark for me, story-wise. I really found most of the story to be rather unbelievable and very reminiscent of the show Riverdale...basically a hot mess.

Taking a shaky breath, she hurried to the first floor. Opened the front door. Blinked up at the officer and said, “Hello? Is everything okay? Killing her would’ve been easy. That spring we made flower garlands. That spring petals were strewn across her kitchen table, where she drank her tea. If we dropped a petal of belladonna, a petal of poppy, and a petal of lily into that cup, we’d never really know which one of us killed her. From the author of bestselling THIS LIE WILL KILL YOU comes another unputdownable thriller about a group of friends who will do anything to protect each other – e ven murder . . . I could live in a castle or I could live in the trees. It doesn't matter, as long as you're with me. You are my family.." -Raven” But three years later, on the eve of Raven’s seventeenth birthday, his stepmother was found sprawled out on the kitchen floor. A shattered teacup beside her. It took a little time for the police to gather their evidence, and then they presented their findings to Raven’s father. Apparently, someone had taken a cluster of poisonous flowers and stuffed them into his wife’s teakettle.The story . . . was dark and full of conflict and passion and so many twists. No one is who they seem and everything was captivating' NetGalley user

Three years later, though, Evelyn is found dead, with belladonna found in her tea and Belladonna is arrested. Desperate to prove her innocence, Belladonna reaches out to her estranged friends. But when they start to uncover the truth, they won't be ready to face what will they discover. This was an enjoyable YA thriller. It was a contemporary thriller/mystery story which is not always my go to genre but this managed to hold my attention and was pretty fast paced and definitely managed to keep me guessing. Overall I really enjoyed this book, it was an exciting thriller with four queer main characters, a m/m and f/f romance and discussing abuse, trauma and other topics. It was full of exciting reveals, morally grey characters and most importantly queer found family!! Listen, you don’t know how much this means to me,” Belle began as the officer stepped toward her. He wanted her to hang up the phone. But she needed to say this before she ended the call. “I thought I understood what happened three years ago, but I never asked you—” I… How much should she say? These conversations were probably recorded. But even if they were, they couldn’t be used in a court of law without her permission. Right? You had to agree to be recorded or it was inadmissible. She knew this, because three years earlier, she’d studied her rights. She’d prepared to be arrested after she put her plan into action. But the night before the murder, someone had gotten cold feet.

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It’s, um… it’s me,” she managed, dashing away the tears with her free hand. “Please don’t hang up.” After years in foster care, Belladonna was adopted by a rich man, Edwin, whose obsession in keeping her safe and away from the dangers of the world resulted in bolting her windows closes and keeping her away from everything, transforming her castle into a gilded cage Let’s start at the beginning, he said, sliding into his seat. He was wearing a blue blazer and jeans, but she could see his gun poking out beneath the blazer’s hem. Where were you between the hours of eleven p.m. Saturday night and one a.m. this morning?