Daisy Darker

I wanted to love this book after hearing so much about it and it being on my tbr list forever. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as great as I expected it to be. I read it in the car during a road trip, which forced me to finish it. The writing style was a little immature, especially compared to “Rock,Paper,Scissors” by Feeney which I loved. I met Alice Feeney at her signing for Beautiful Ugly, and heard her talk about how much she loved this book, so I was excited to read based on that as well. The Darker family visit Nana’s home for her 80th birthday, which also happens to be Halloween. Nana is a children’s author, and her most famous book is based on Daisy herself. Throughout the night, family members are dying one by one, while their names are crossed out of a disturbing poem that appears on Nana’s chalkboard. Clues are left throughout the night, leading to a literary game of “Clue” - who is the killer in the house among everyone? The first twist at the end was so predictable to me, while the second one was a bit shocking, but honestly left me scratching my head. It wasn’t anything super surprising, and honestly I didn’t love it. I’m sorry Alice Feeney, I love you and you’re great, but this one wasn’t it for me. It’s a great light read though, and the concept is fun for maybe a Halloween / autumn read.