More great reads: the best books for 14 year olds
"Life imitates art, and art gets dark, in a twisty, gothic YA murder mystery that sees an aspiring crime journalist try to track down a copycat killer."
Super-suspenseful and shot-through with esotericism, Cynthia Murphy’s Paint Me Like Your Dead Girls blazes with the drive of its determined protagonist, seventeen-year-old Fliss, who throws herself into investigating a series of murders after finding what her art history professor father describes as “one of the most important pieces of lost art in the last century”.
The artwork in question, “so fabled that no one was sure it even existed”, depicts a creepy “soulless face”, and completes a set of four paintings of women by the same artist, whose body was found with all five paintings. When Fliss learns that some experts believe the painter killed the four women and immortalised them on canvas, she sets herself a goal: “I’m going to find out who these women were and share their names with the world.”
Through Fliss’ investigation, the narrative shifts back to the artist’s victims in 1911, all of them young women who were trying to forge fresh lives in New York City. When a series of murders happens close to home in the present-day, Fliss pivots her focus to tracking down the culprit. Adding to the intrigue, while Fliss is convinced the perpetrator is copying the historic murders, her best friend believes the painting is cursed, with tarot card connections playing a part in both their theories.
Told in Fliss’ voice, the entertaining, suspenseful story builds to a searing finale. Fliss is focussed, earnest, and driven by urgency, and so is the writing. Recommended for 13+-year-olds who love creepy contemporary thrillers, gothic murder mysteries, and scary movies, Paint Me Like Your Dead Girls is also ideal for aficionados of the esoteric.
An addictive killer-thriller following an aspiring crime journalist's investigation into a case that blurs the line between art and life-perfect for fans of Holly Jackson's A Good Girl's Guide to Murder.
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An addictive killer-thriller following an aspiring crime journalist's investigation into a case that blurs the line between art and life-perfect for fans of Holly Jackson's A Good Girl's Guide to Murder.When aspiring crime journalist Fliss Keller attends an estate sale and uncovers a disturbing painting by a mysterious artist, she wants nothing to do with it. Unfortunately for her, her Art History professor dad buys it immediately.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed Paint Me Like Your Dead Girls and determined it is suitable for children aged 15-18 years old
Paint Me Like Your Dead Girls features in the following genres: Featured Books for Young Adults, Recommendations, Adventure Stories, Crime & Mystery, Horror & Ghost Stories, Thrillers, Children’s / Teenage general interest: Art and artists, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Children’s / Teenage: General interest
Paperback. Not Available.
Paint Me Like Your Dead Girls was written by Cynthia Murphy and published by Delacorte an imprint of Random House Children's Books
Paint Me Like Your Dead Girls has 352 pages
