Review: A Night to Die For by Lisa Schroeder

Author: Lisa Schroeder

Publisher: Underlined

Publication Date: March 2022

 
All Mario wants is one normal night before he graduates. He's spent most of high school riding solo and gaming with his only friend, Lucas. But when his mom asks him to take Elana Dexter to the prom as a favor to her father, his mother’s boss, he figures this might be his chance to be less of a loner.

Only, the night takes a turn quickly. First, Mario gets crowned Prom King alongside the school’s it-girl, Maribelle Starr. Which is weird enough. But what’s weirder is that when they put the crown on his head, hundreds of worms slither out of it and all over Mario. Just when Mario thought the night couldn’t get any worse, he sees something on the side of the road while driving Elana home. That something is Prom Queen Maribelle Starr—murdered and left for dead.

All Mario wanted was to go to prom...but somehow, he ended up in hell.

In A Night to Die For, Mario finds a dead body in a ditch and ends up getting charged with her murder.  He says he is innocent.  There are several other people who had means and motive enough to kill hte prom queen.  This may get a little spoiler, but honestly I'm saving you time.  I don't really recommend this book.  I had just way too many issues with it.  

There were way too many perspectives in this book.  A few of them were completely unnecessary.  I listened to the audiobook  and it was narrated by a full cast.  Which was cool, but there were still too many. One thing I actually did like was Mario's friend.  He was a ray of sunshine and the only really likable character. The rest of them were stereotypes and annoying. I couldn't figure out if the author wanted me to like the victim or not.

Lets talk about the detectives.  There is no way that Mario would be charged for murder based on such minute evidence. No detective would arrest someone without really interviewing the crucial other person at the scene or do some ACTUAL detective work.   No DA would issue an arrest warrant based on one piece of small evidence.  Why did they not look for the victim's phone?  The reason behind the cop pushing for Mario to be the killer was awful and ridiculous. If this was real life, I would hope that man quit his job. I will say it again...never talk to the police without a lawyer.  EVER.  Also, tell your lawyer everything.  It will save you a whole lot of time and heartache. 

I wanted to throw this book across the room, but then I would have broken my iPod.  I predicted the killer very easily, I just couldn't figure out the how.  I think I could rant for a long time on this so I'll just end with don't bother with this one.  Save your reading time.

Magnificent Middle Grade Week: It's Raining Cupcakes

by: Lisa Schroeder

published by: Aladdin

publish date: March 2010

Twelve-year-old Isabel is dying to get out of Oregon. She spends her free time in the library, reading and dreaming about faraway places. When her mom decides to open a cupcake shop in their little town of Willow, Isabel feels just like buttercream frosting to a cupcake-stuck. It seems as if it will be another disappointing summer, until Isabel learns of a baking contest. If she can come up with a winning recipe, she might have a chance of competing in the bake-off in New York City! But Isabel's best friend, Sophie, is also entering the contest, and things always seem to go Sophie's way. To make matters worse, Isabel and her mom don't exactly see eye-to-eye on the type of recipe Isabel should enter. In this sweet treat by popular teen author Lisa Schroeder, Isabel discovers that maybe it's not about where you go in life as much as it is about enjoying the view from wherever you are.


This was a really cute book. I thought it had some important lessons in it about dealing with jealousy in friendships. Isabel feels like her friend Sophie always gets whatever she wants. Isabel frustrated with her feelings of coming in second to Sophie quite often. In the end, she learns to work out these problems.

The one aspect of this book I didn't particularly enjoy was the attitude of Isabel's mother. She seemed to be suffering from depression or bipolar disorder. I don't know exactly what was going on there. I understand that it's an issue that some kids do have to face, but it seemed to bring the whole book down a lot. If there was some explanation perhaps, on a kid level, of what the problem was, maybe it would have made a lot more sense. Maybe. I'm looking at it from the viewpoint of an adult though, a kid might not notice it or care, I don't know.

However, overall I did like the book a lot. I loved all the cupcakes mentioned in the book and there were recipes at the end. It would be a great book for an older middle grader and they might want to try out the recipes.

The Day Before

by:  Lisa Schroeder
published by:  SimonPulse
publish date:  June 28, 2011

Amber’s life is spinning out of control. All she wants is to turn up the volume on her iPod until all of the demands of family and friends fade away. So she sneaks off to the beach to spend a day by herself. Then Amber meets Cade. Their attraction is instant, and Amber can tell he’s also looking for an escape. Together they decide to share a perfect day: no pasts, no fears, no regrets. The more time that Amber spends with Cade, the more she’s drawn to him. And the more she’s troubled by his darkness. Because Cade’s not just living in the now—he’s living each moment like it’s his last.


Books written in verse are really starting to grow on me.  I used to completely shun them, but I finally gave in and read one about a month ago and it surprised me that I liked it.  The premise of this book sounded promising and the fact that it was written in verse didn't scare me off this time.  I'm really glad, this story was very good.

I can't say too much about the story without giving away the surprises.  I will say that they were jaw-dropping surprises.  Both Amber and Cade have a big secret that they aren't telling each other at first, the reader doesn't know it either until they reveal it to each other.  I thought I had guessed Cade's, but I was completely wrong there.  I like being wrong about things like that.  Amber's was...wow.  Made for a great story.

The writer does a fantastic job of telling the present day story, but filling in the back story through letters interspersed throughout the book.  The letters help to explain Amber's backstory and where she is emotionally.  The last one ties up the story in a nice little bow so the reader isn't left wondering, thank you for that!