Published By: Simon and Schuster
Pages: 400
Released On: 04/06/2026
Fame can be a killer.
Global superstar Blair Baker rises high above the stage for the opening number of her hometown show. The crowd erupts in applause. Then come the screams.
For her sister, Stevie, Blair’s murder is more than a headline. And she will stop at nothing to uncover the truth.
Trust no one. Catch a killer. Stay alive.
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I have read a few of Jennifer’s children’s books before and enjoyed them so I was intrigued to see how she fared with an older audience.
I am not a huge fan of pop music, the kind that Taylor Swift does – I’m not against it, it’s just not my thing, but there definitely seemed to be a link in this book, the glitter, the cowboy boots, the friendship bracelets. So if you’re a fan of that kind of world then you’ll probably enjoy this.
This was most certainly a young adult book, and there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with that. It’s advertised as YA and I’ve read a lot of YA books over the years and some have been very good. But I was torn here. It felt quite juvenile but at the same time trying to be too adult and so it didn’t feel like it fit perfectly into any reading age. What I’m trying to say is that I wouldn’t recommend this for real hardcore thriller fans, but equally I probably wouldn’t recommend it to the teenagers in my life.
I love her kids books and I honestly think that’s where her talents lie; I’m not sure YA is for her.
The plot is very familiar – again, not an issue, I read similar plots all the time, but it still needs to be exciting and fresh and the characters need to stand out, and the only way the protagonist of Stevie stood out was in her dullness and I couldn’t connect to her or any other characters at all. I couldn’t feel her grief or her anger and so my attention kept waning.
I could have DNFd it a few times but I didn’t and it did improve. It dipped in the middle of the book and I feel she could have told the same story in a shorter way and maybe had more of an impact.
After all that, I can’t say I didn’t like it, because there were elements I did, but it just felt a bit messy and, dare I say it, boring. Maybe I’m just really not the audience for this. If you’re a fan of that world, the world of pop stars and concerts and content creation then maybe it is for you. But I felt it was a bit forgettable.
Books By Your Bedside 