Everyone in the Group Chat Dies: A Novel

To say that I was disappointed with Everyone in the Group Chat Dies is an understatement. A group of young adults who have nothing in common live in a flat owned by your proverbial disgusting landlord. The story is told from the point of view of one of the roommates, Clare “Kirby” Cornell, in the present day and twelve months earlier. When one of the roommates moves out, a young woman named Esme shows up claiming to be the group’s new addition. Esme is an amateur true-crime reporter on the social media platform “ShowMe.” When Esme goes missing after being on a livestream, Clare sets out to find out what happened. Esme was investigating a serial killer from thirty years ago that may or may not be dead. If he wasn’t dead, could he have kidnapped Esme?

The story is a cross between the Final Destination movies and some TikTok brainrot. None of the characters is particularly likable or trustworthy. The story is rather messy and difficult to follow because characters are dead, and then the timeline jumps back twelve months.

I almost DNFed this book because it never pulled me in. There was no part of the book in which I said, “Oh, I wonder what will happen next.” Events are unnaturally thrown at the reader, and at the end of the day, I had no emotional connection to the characters or investment in the storyline. Skip this one if you’re looking for a story with good twists and turns.