Released on September 15th, Deadly Little Lessons is the latest book by author Danielle Valentine. This author previously brought us Dead Husband’s Cookbook, How to Survive Your Murder, and Delicate Condition.
Deadly Little Lessons is about a teenager named Lia. She’s in foster care, and in and out of trouble with the police. Her foster mother, Tammy, offers to send her to a new kind of school. It’s called Luminary Prep, and it has an intriguing offer. Five graduating students will receive a full ride to the college of their choice.
Of course, there’s a catch. Only those five students will be permitted to graduate.
At first, the school seems like a haven. The dorm rooms are spacious and comfortable. The food is great. The whole campus smells like Fall leaves and old leather.
But the classes are challenging in ways Lia didn’t expect. Not challenging as in, the work is hard. Challenging as in, someone might burn to death or fall to their doom. When her classmates start vanishing, Lia worries that they’re not just failing, but failing to see another sunrise.
Let’s start with what I liked about this book. It was a blast to read. I couldn’t wait to find out what was happening at the school. I couldn’t wait to see what craziness was in the next class. And I certainly couldn’t wait to find out the twist at the end.
Every chapter ended with questions. And the questions just compound the further along we go.
I also really liked Lia, our main character. She’s smart. She has a clear and well-earned distrust of most of the adults in her life. This isn’t the common ‘nobody understands me’ teenage aggravation. And when she finally has an adult she can trust, she trusts them.
Unfortunately, I have more negative things to say about this book than positive. For starters, the whole thing felt very shallow.
What I mean by that is, it’s really fast and lacks details and world-building. We don’t really go too much into depth with a lot.
Some books give few details and yet manage to convey a whole world. Like looking through a keyhole into a universe. This isn’t one of those books. It gives few details and manages to convey, well, not so much at all.
Honestly, this was surprising. All the other books by Valentine have been fantastic. They’re deep. They ask hard questions. And they are sharply genre-savvy. Deadly Little Lessons is none of those things.
Finally, I don’t see myself re-reading this book. The fun in Deadly Little Lessons comes from finding out the secret, the twist. And don’t get me wrong, that is a lot of fun! But once you do that, there isn’t a lot more meat on that bone.
Again, the same cannot be said for the other books by this author. Honestly, I borrowed the other titles from the library, and I bought this one. I wish I’d done it the other way around. (Honestly, I need a copy of Dead Husband’s Cookbook just for the recipes.) But there’s nothing I’d want to revisit here. There were no big juicy scenes that need to be experienced again. No feeling of depth that requires another read to fully understand. It was just meh.
Honestly, as a writer myself, I feel like this book could have been great if it had gone through a few more rewrites.
All that being said, Deadly Little Lessons was a fun book to read. I do recommend giving it a try, or even giving it to any teenage horror fans in your life. But if you do, maybe borrow a copy before you decide to put down your cash for it.
Want another book recommendation? Check out my review of The Children.
My book, Station 86 Volume One, is available now on Amazon! It’s got two dark sci-fi stories about murder and mayhem on the station of First Contact.
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