You're So Dead

by Ash Parsons

Overview

"Fans of Karen M. McManus and Katie Alender will devour this darkly funny, fast-paced mystery."—SLJ

A hilarious Agatha Christie-inspired YA thriller-comedy about three best friends who sneak into an influencers-only festival event (gone wrong), only to discover a killer is in their midst—and they have to uncover the truth and solve the mystery before it's too late. Perfect for fans of One of Us Is Lying and Truly Devious.

Plum Winter has always come in second to her sister, the unbelievably cool, famous influencer Peach Winter. And when Peach is invited to an all-expenses-paid trip to a luxurious art-and-music festival for influencers on a private island in the Caribbean, Plum decides it's finally her time to shine. So she intercepts the invite—and asks her two best friends, Sofia and Marlowe, to come along to the fest with her. It'll be a spring break they'll never forget.

But when Plum and her friends get to the island, it's not anything like it seemed in the invite. The island is run-down, creepy, and there doesn't even seem to be a festival—it's just seven other quasi-celebrities and influencers, and none of the glitz and glamour she expected. Then people start to die...

Plum and her friends soon realize that someone has lured each of them to the "festival" to kill them. Someone has a vendetta against every person on the island—and no one is supposed to leave alive. So, together, Plum, Sofia, and Marlowe will do whatever it takes to unravel the mystery of the killer, and fight to save themselves and as many influencers as they can, before it's too late.

Praise for You're So Dead:

“You're So Dead is the hilarious, swoony, Surprisingly Stabby book of my dreams! Ash Parsons delivers a sharp send-up of influencer culture wrapped in a clever whodunnit that also has a lot of heart. While I never want to go to "Pyre Festival," I'd hang out with Plum, Marlowe, and Sofia any day.”—Rachel Hawkins, New York Times Bestselling author of The Wife Upstairs

“Parsons (Girls Save the World in This One) gently satirizes online culture and the ill-fated Fyre Festival in this frothy homage to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. The cheeky mystery is both clever and satisfying.” —Publishers Weekly

"Parsons effectively mixes social media commentary and thrilling murder mystery with a dash of ridiculous humor . . . A #trendy and #entertaining whodunit." —Kirkus Reviews

"[A]riveting thriller-comedy...writing in short, energetic bursts with a witty voice, Parsons keeps the twists coming, her motley crew’s energy running frantic as the body count rises and they try to discover the killer in their midst." —Booklist

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593205129
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	06/15/2021
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	408,551
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.40(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Ash Parsons is a graduate of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College as well as other, more traditional schools. She is a PEN America Literary Award Winner for the Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship. Ash previously taught English to middle and high school students. Ash lives in Alabama with her family. She is also the author of Girls Save the World in This One, Still Waters, and Holding On to You, previously published as The Falling Between Us. Follow her on Twitter @ashparso.

Read an Excerpt

On the island of Little Esau, the final day of Pyre Festival . . . 


Plum Winter never expected it to end this way. “It” being both her life and Pyre Festival.

The festival was supposed to end with a celebrity-packed booze cruise.

As for her life’s end, Plum didn’t like to think about it, but when she did, she always imagined being a really old lady who died peacefully in her sleep.

But here she was at the end of it all, and there were absolutely no boats, booze, or beds.

Instead, Plum had to decide which of two extremely unattractive deaths she would rather have.

There was death by jumping off the cliff at her back, or death by stabby-stabby.

Stabbing, that was actually the word, though her brain was slow in supplying it. Plum blamed the cliff at her back and the demented killer standing about twenty feet away.

Holding a very big, very sharp, very scary stabber.

Knife.

So, this was it. The end. Which way would she choose?

Maybe Plum could save someone, or several someones, on her way to her own death? If she could—well, that had to count for something, right? Maybe it would be enough to get her into the really good party in the afterlife. Get her through those exclusive pearly gates.

Plum could feel the wind sweeping up from the cliff at her back, almost like nature was trying to remind her of the sheer drop to the rocks and ocean far below.

In front of her, the killer slashed the knife in terrifying arcs.

This was where all her schemes had led her.

With no one to witness her last—some would say only—act of courage.

No one other than the killer . . . and the goats.

As if on cue, the black-and-white billy goat munching on the bush to Plum’s right let out an annoyed-sounding bleat.

It sounded like a heckler in a comedy club, like the goat was yelling “Meh!”

No doubt the billy goat was annoyed at the humans trampling his favorite grazing patch.

“Yeah, buddy,” Plum breathed, taking a tiny step back, feeling the wind from the cliff edge grabbing at her hair, snatching it up. “You and me both,” she muttered.

There was nowhere else to go. She had to do something.

Maybe she could take the killer with her.

Plum took a deep breath and screamed.

The killer smiled, rushing at her with the knife outstretched.

So. This was how it was all going to end.

Plum Winter desperately hoped there would be a heaven for clueless kids who just wanted to have a good time.

Editorial Reviews

04/12/2021

Alabama teen Plum Winter, who’s queer and white, can’t bear to spend spring break home alone, so when a courier delivers a voucher for travel to the inaugural Pyre Festival, she believes it’s a sign. The invitation is undoubtedly for her half sister, Peach, an influencer who just moved to Los Angeles. Plum knows she’ll never miss it, though, and trades the first-class fare for three cheap seats after persuading her best friends, Marlowe Blake and Sofia Torres, to come along. They arrive to find the private Caribbean island deserted but for eight D-list internet personalities. There’s no cell service, Wi-Fi, or way to leave, and the only accommodation is a crumbling villa stocked with canned food. The ethnically varied group assumes they’re being trolled—until someone dies during dinner, and a poem appears suggesting that more murders will follow. Parsons (Girls Save the World in This One) gently satirizes online culture and the ill-fated Fyre Festival in this frothy homage to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. The cheeky mystery is both clever and satisfying, and the girls’ dynamic—Plum’s crush on Marlowe included—rings true. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jodi Reamer, Writers House. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for You're So Dead:

“Parsons (Girls Save the World in This One) gently satirizes online culture and the ill-fated Fyre Festival in this frothy homage to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. The cheeky mystery is both clever and satisfying.” —Publishers Weekly
 
"Parsons effectively mixes social media commentary and thrilling murder mystery with a dash of ridiculous humor . . . A #trendy and #entertaining whodunit." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

06/01/2021

Gr 8 Up—Plum Winters has lived in the shadow of her Instagram-famous older sister, Peach, her whole life. She's desperate to feel seen by her own rights, so when an invitation to an exclusive, star-studded influencer party on a private island in the Bahamas arrives for Peach, Plum conveniently neglects to tell her sister about it. Instead, she whisks her two best friends, Sofia and Marlowe, away for what is sure to be the spring break trip of a lifetime. Once they arrive at Pyre Festival, however, nothing is as they expected, especially when the influencers around them start dying. Can they figure out who is trying to kill them and why, or will they meet their untimely ends? Fans of Karen M. McManus and Katie Alender will devour this darkly funny, fast-paced mystery. Pop culture references, particularly influencer culture, will resonate with teens. The strong relationship between Plum and her two best friends feels authentic and heartwarming, and Plum herself has relatable struggles with romances and feeling overlooked. The island setting is a fun break from reality, too. Plum and Marlowe are white and Sofia is white and Puerto Rican. VERDICT This Instagram-influencer mystery is a solid pick for any teen collection.—Chelsey Masterson, New York P.L., Bronx

School Library Journal

2021-04-14
A fake festival puts social media influencers in very real danger.

Billed as a “luxury music and art festival,” the Pyre Festival (clearly a nod to the real-life Fyre Festival) promises three days and two nights of unforgettable fun. This is why Alabama high school senior Plum Winter steals her influencer sister Peach’s invitation. Plum convinces Sofia Torres and Marlowe Blake, her two best friends, to tag along. Instead of a posh retreat packed with celebrities, though, the trio lands among a small group of lower-tier influencers on the Caribbean island of Little Esau only to find there is no water, no Wi-Fi, and only franks and beans for sustenance. What initially seems like just poor event planning turns into deliberate mockery as the festivalgoers realize they’re being played. The joke, however, is deadly: Someone in the group is killing the others off one by one. But who? Parsons effectively mixes social media commentary and thrilling murder mystery with a dash of ridiculous humor. Plenty of red herrings help conceal the killer’s identity and keep readers guessing. Marlowe’s deep knowledge of old murder-mystery movies exposes some of the killer’s inspirations. Though much of the plot is focused on solving the mystery and staying alive, romantic tension between Plum (who is bisexual) and Marlowe adds some cuteness to the terror. Most characters are White; Sofia is White and Puerto Rican.

A #trendy and #entertaining whodunit. (Thriller. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews