here lie all the boys who broke my heart

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Thriller
Length: 384 pages
Author: Emma Simmerman
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: February 3rd, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder meets Tell Me Lies in this binge-worthy debut murder mystery about a college student whose senior year takes a deadly turn when her exes start turning up dead…

Every time a guy breaks my heart, I write him a eulogy in my journal. It’s kind of my thing—closure through creative mourning. They don’t actually die… or, at least, they didn’t.

Now? These guys aren’t just dead to me, they’re dead to everyone. And I’m the prime suspect.

With my senior year at Pembroke College—and my entire future—on the line, I’ve got no choice but to play detective. Unfortunately, that means teaming up with my long-standing frenemy, Asher, who is insufferable and somehow always there when I need him the least. We bicker, we banter, we occasionally almost hook up, but with the body count rising and my name all over the suspect board, there’s no time to get distracted.

Between college parties, messy exes, suspicious deaths, and a murder investigation I never asked to be a part of—one thing’s for this is not how I thought my last year would go.

Here’s to hoping I can find out who the real killer is… before someone ends up writing my eulogy.

Thank you Avon Books for the gifted copy.

WELL NOW I’M JUST MAD.

This felt a little all over the place. As if it couldn’t decide if it wanted to be a thriller or a romance or maybe romantic suspense? But that didn’t nearly bug me as much as the FMC. I think it’s a cop out in thrillers to have the FMC be under the influence of alcohol or drugs every single time something big happens. The unreliable narrator component didn’t play out well because of this. And all she did was make bad choices.

I oddly enough, really liked Asher. He was probably my favorite character and I liked most of the romantic tension between him and Sloane. It did have an enemies vibe I could get behind. But his character was absolutely ROBBED with a plot choice at the ending. Whyyyyy???? Oh it totally ruined it.

The reveal of the big bad guy seemed out of pocket too. They weren’t involved with the plot much and the destruction they caused didn’t line up with the reasoning during their villain monologue. I had my eyes on multiple other characters who would have made more sense.

Anywhoooo not my favorite, moving on.

Overall audience notes: