A review by sol_journal
Kill Her Twice by Stacey Lee

adventurous hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

**Thank you so much Penguin Group/Penguin Young Readers Group and Stacey Lee for the arc! All words and thoughts in this review are my own honest opinion!**

Posted to: NetGalley, Goodreads, and The Storygraph

Posted on: 11 May 2024

3.4 (rounded down to 3) out of 5 stars.

Kind of struggling to write this review because I’m still on the fence of how I feel about this. I loved the theme, the plot, and the setting so so so much. The writing was a little lacking in some areas for me though. I didn’t feel as drawn towards the characters throughout the whole time I read, just during some scenes/parts. I think that if there was a little more depth to them, I’d have found ways to love them each a little more? They were just.. flat, with very redeeming qualities! Each of them, especially how May has her bits of growth or Gemma too! I also feel like Peony was kind of cast out too much? There was a bit of a struggle, it seemed, in deciding how important the little sister’s role would be in this too- or that’s what I felt anyways as I read.

What I liked was their cunning though. The sisters are given chances to grow, to see how they sway with the way the world is changing around them. There’s a certain kind of heart to be found in reading along, waiting to see how the mystery unfolds and just what might happen to our protagonists. I feel like that was the redeeming factor for me? Just the desire to see how the Chow Sisters will move next, how they’ll decide what’s best to do when it feels like things are wholly against them.

All of this back and forth to say that it was still an enjoyable read! I absolutely loved the era we are thrown in to, the challenges that the characters are battling, and the things they do for justice. In the heart of it all, it’s about friendship, it’s about family, and it’s about three sister clouds fighting against the perils thrown their way so they can stay together.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Blood, Drug use, Alcohol, and Gun violence

Less drug use and more a brief mention of drugs, no on-page usage that I can recall! Similar for alcohol, there is brief on-page uses of drinks at a party/event, but nothing terribly intense. Gun violence in that

the person who committed the crime tries to cover up their crimes by killing a character (with a gun) who happened to put the pieces together, but was trapped somewhere with the perpetrator. Shots are fired, but the scene isn’t terribly descriptive.