I couldn’t finish this book.

I was so invested to begin with but as it went on I realised I had reached 1/3 of the way through and I didn’t remember anything that I had read, nor was I actually invested in the characters or what would happen to them.

Mostly this book is muddled - is it a thriller? Is it a ghost story? It doesn’t really know. And although some books work as both, this is not one of them.

A disappointment. I have given it two stars as there are certain elements with potential.

Unfortunately I was unable to download this book before it was archived. I however did hear great things about it and I still have tit
On my wishlist for the future. It definitely sounded really intriguing and from the synopsis was definitely my kind of book. The cover also really stands out and I think thay will catch people's attention.

This is a great read for young readers who wish to kick start their journey in this genre.


Slow burning with an easy plot to follow and enough character development for a younger reader to relate to.


Can grow into authors such as Karen McManus and Holly Jackson.


3 Stars


Publication Date: 17th February 2022


Thank you to #NetGalley, #SimonandSchusterUKChildren, and #AlexiaMason for an ARC of #RockPaperKillers in exchange for an honest review.

Not sure if it was a file/download issue but there were lots of gaps, stop/starts which really ruined the flow. I would love the chance to read a better version as the description of the book appeals to me.

A summer session in the Gaeltacht, the quintessential Irish-teenager experience, forms the backdrop for Alexia Mason’s Rock Paper Killers (Simon & Schuster, £7.99). Five privileged friends from a Dublin school arrive for their stint in a Connemara college after discovering their Irish teacher won’t be back for their all-important Leaving Cert year. One of them won’t make it back alive, and it may or may not have something to do with another classmate of theirs who holds a grudge.

The plot moves swiftly and neatly, as one would expect from this author (Mason is another pen name for crime writer Alex Barclay). But the characterisation feels thin, and this significantly lessens the impact of the dramatic events on the reader.

Character - 3
Atmosphere - 2
Writing - 2
Plot - 3
Intrigue - 3
Logic - 4
Enjoyment - 2

Rating: 2.71 / 2 stars

This was... not it. I cannot believe it took like 98% of the book for anyone to actually die. I don't care about any of the characters, their voices weren't distinct enough for me to separate them easily so I didn't really get attached to anyone. There was a plot twist near the end, I guess, but it didn't feel particularly well seeded so I didn't get the 'oh shit' feeling of lots of plot threads coming together. Additionally, I found the writing kind of confusing and inelegant, which meant that the final dramatic scene needed rereading several times because the way it was written was confusing. Not exactly a great dramatic ending.

This is for fans who like Karen McManus and Holly Jackson.
A quick read that keeps you gripped and who done it.
Got some good twists that i did not see coming.

I found the characters hard to relate to and therefore difficult to get to know them well. The idea was good with a twist at the end but there were too many characters with lots of issues and i kept forgetting who was who.
Worth a read but take your time.

I’m afraid I personally, did not enjoy the book, but there may be a lot of younger readers that this book would be perfect for.

I DNFd this book as I just couldn't get into the story, unfortunately not for me! I found the narration a little to erratic for my tastes

The title, cover and blurb drew me in. This concept and setting has so much promise, but sadly the execution did not live up to my expectations. While the characters are quite well drawn, the dialogue is stilted, and there is so much repetition. The pivotal events in the books seem rushed and are confusing to follow. The epilogue seemed tacked on and didn’t really clear much up. I’m a big fan of YA fiction but I’m sorry I really couldn’t recommend this novel to my students.

A good YA Thriller which was at times fast paced but I feel from the beginning it would have been better. I loved the characters and all the descriptive chapters. It just wasn’t quite as good as I was expecting.

Loved this book. Kept me guessing what was going to happen till the end.... but I kind of felt that the end was a bit rushed and I felt cheated by the end. It was almost like I should have seen it coming earlier but I didn't. I also feel like its been left open for another....? I would so be interested in seeing another installment if this was the intention.

Thank you #NetGalley for my e-arc copy of #RockPaperKillers by Alexia Mason.

What a title.

That’s what drew me to request this novel on NetGaley. This and what was said in the blurb:

The ROCK she fell from….
The PAPER she clutched…
The KILLERS she thought were friends.

However I found myself become bored very early on in this novel.

I just didn’t fall in love with anything. Where I thought this book would be fantastic and right up my street I found it to be completely lacking in anything. It had no real substance.

The only thing I can say I I enjoyed in this novel happened right at the end when you officially found out who the killer was. I say officially as I’d figured it out long before.

I really felt it was lacking in that respect. I was looking forward to a big dramatic build up that really wasn’t there and so I regrettably award this novel only 1 star. I just really was expecting so much more than what I got from it.

Gossip Girl, meets Malory Towers, meets Agatha Christie. From the ‘mad wife in the attic’ to boarding school story; ghost story to murder mystery; unreliable narrator to murderous psychopath - this book has it all… and I am not sure it really worked.

Almost famous LB and her gang of friends need to improve their Irish to pass their highers… but at what cost? Sent to a possibly-haunted previous lunatic asylum turned study halls, they are greeted by Realtín - a girl from their class at school.

Tensions heighten. There are romances (will Rupert get his first kiss with hot helper Tadgh?) and friendship fallouts (what does stroppy Kelly have against studious Realtín anyway?) there’s even a mysterious love child somewhere - but I must have missed the reveal on this one as I don’t know who it was.

From the start of the book you know it will end in tragedy. And it does. But the reveal comes too late for my liking and too much is left unresolved.

I’m a big reader of Young Adult fiction, so it wasn’t that I was put off by the teen-ness of this. It was more that the characters seemed a little one-dimensional and there was just too much going on for my liking.

I personally, did not enjoy the book, but there may be a lot of younger readers that this book would be perfect for.

A thriller about a group of teens thrown together at a remote school, Rock Paper Killers was bursting with potential. Unfortunately, there was a bit too much going on and I found it difficult to follow in parts, which meant that the tension didn't really build like it was supposed to. A bit of a disappointing read overall, but I'm sure there will be others that it hits the mark for!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book has a great title and a great premise, which instantly drew me in. While it’s billed as a thriller, the most thrilling pages are the ones that come at the end. The rest of the book is about the students as they build up to their exam and the tension never quite builds up enough. I think the mysteries behind the characters and the setting aren’t exploited as much as they could be, which is a shame. It means the characters never quite come to life. Because it’s the characters and their relationships that drive the first two thirds of the book, it makes it a more difficult read.

I hate giving a one star review but this book just didn’t work for me at all. The story seemed threadless and meandering with lots of unnecessary detail. The characters were flat, I couldn’t empathise or care about any of them and the writing style was choppy and all over the place. I thought the premise and setting sounded promising and interesting but the execution just didn’t work.

Rock Paper Killers follows five teenagers from Dublin as their lives and secrets begin to unravel during a summer in the remote coastal college that they have travelled to to cram for their language exams. When the group of friends discovers that a girl one of them used to bully is assisting at the college, tensions rise, and the friends struggle as they’re cut off from the rest of the world as the social, academic and familial pressures finally become too much.

This book is really addictive. I started it one night with the intention of reading just one chapter, and I’d finished the whole thing the next day because I was so desperate to find out what happened next. It’s the reverse of a murder mystery where the question is not ‘who did it?’ but ‘who’s the victim?’ and it gives the story such an intense, page-turning quality that I enjoyed every minute.

The cast of characters is fascinating. All five are introduced in quick succession so I did find myself struggling to remember who was who for a large chunk of the book but, by the end, they all felt so well-developed as individuals that I didn’t find the multiple perspectives off-putting at all. Rupert was my personal favourite, though I also loved Amber, and the addition of the off-the-rail mean girl, Kelly, as a protagonist did definitely add an unpredictable element all the way through.

I’d definitely recommend this book to fans of Karen McManus and Holly Jackson, and it’s already one of my favourite reads of the year. The only slight downfall for me was the ending which, although it made a great twist, I did have to read a few times to fully grasp as it did seem a little rushed. That aside, I did really love this book and am definitely interested in checking out Alexia Mason’s other books as well.