Review: We Were Warned by Chelsea Ichaso

Author: Chelsea Ichaso
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: March 2025

 Everyone knows the legend of Fairport Village: twenty-five years ago, a shocking murder closed the place down. This year, the ruins will be bulldozed at last. But tonight, it's not too late to die.

All her life, Eden Stafford has heard the lore about the abandoned beach resort at the edge of town: ever since the notorious murder there, anyone who sets foot on the property is cursed to die, It's more than just a story: over the years, two high school students who dared to explore the ruins of Fairport Village were killed there.

Eden is no stranger to notoriety, having endured a family scandal that's made her a target at school. So when she reluctantly attends an overnight party at the ruins, she's on edge―not because of some legend, but because the clique that has made her life hell for years is there, too, including Caleb Durham, the worst of them all.

Yet out of all the things Eden expected to happen that night, finding another student dead at Fairport Village wasn't one of them.

Though the death is ruled an accident, Eden knows she saw something suspicious at the ruins―and Caleb and her other longtime tormentors did too. Now they're all being followed by a deadly stranger, and to save themselves, they must work together to uncover the truth about Fairport Village. But after all that's happened, can Eden really trust Caleb and his friends? Or will they leave her to face a killer alone?

In We Were Warned, Eden is helping a classmate to film a documentary about a local "curse".  They are there the same night as some of her classmates are spending the night before Senior year starts.  When one of the group is found dead, Eden begins to suspect that the curse may be real.

I really enjoyed this one.  It is another YA mystery that I would have loved in high school.  I read it in one sitting. The atmosphere was creepy and the tension was high.  I loved that I didn't know who to trust. And that no one was safe. I didn't call any of the twists because I thought the story was going in a completely different direction.  I also enjoyed the characters, especially Eden. It's nice when there are no annoying teens in the book.  I don't want to give too much away because it's better to go into the book blind like I did.  I highly recommend this one.  

Review: Dead Girls Can't Tell Secrets by Chelsea Ichaso

Author: Chelsea Ichaso

Publishers: Sourcebooks Fire

Publication Date: April 2022

Piper Sullivan never should have been at Suicide Point the day she fell. Her older sister, Savannah, knows this with all her heart—just as she knows that Piper’s “accident” was entirely her fault. Savannah did something awful, something she can barely stand to think about, and now Piper is in a coma.

But just as Savannah’s guilt threatens to swallow her whole, she finds something strange in Piper’s locker: a note inviting Piper to a meeting of their school’s wilderness club…at the very place and on the very day she fell. Which means that there’s a chance Piper wasn’t alone.

Maybe it isn’t Savannah’s fault, after all. Someone in the club might know what really happened. Someone might have done something. But why? If Savannah wants to find out the truth about that tragic day, she’ll have to join the club on their weekend long camping trip…on the very same mountain where her sister fell. And with everyone in the club a suspect, she’ll need to be careful or she might follow her sister into the dark.

Dead Girls Can't Tell Secrets is a YA msytery involving Savannah. Her sister, Piper, fell off a cliff in what appeared to be an attempted suicide.  As she lies in her hospital bed in a coma, Savannah is determined to figure out what really happened.  Even if that means her own secrets will be revealed.

I thought this was a well planned out mystery.  There were several twists and turns that had me constantly wondering if I had it figured out. I did call the ultimate solution, but it didn't spoil my enjoyment of the mystery as a whole..  The story is told through Savanah's point of view as she seeks the truth as well as her sister's before the accident.  I don't want to spoil things, so I'll just say, I liked the ending.  It wasn't all wrapped up in a unrealistically neat bow and I was Ok with that.  I thought it was a perfect ending.  I highly recommend this one.