Yearbook superlatives turn deadly in this darkly funny young adult thriller.
The rumor mill has never been kind to Meadowvale High seniors and best friends Rick and Martina, labeling them outcasts (sure), stoners (no comment), and pranksters (okay, this one’s fair). But for the most part, they have successfully flown under the radar.
That is, until they’re targeted in a prank that replaces yearbook superlatives with grisly forecasts of student and faculty deaths. Sure, Rick and Martina were never going to be voted Most Likely to Succeed . . . but Homecoming’s Cutest Corpses? Thanks for the cute, no thanks on the corpse.
At first, the senior class is annoyed by the prank. But when the body of Mr. Stephens, Most Likely to Sleep with the Fishes, is dredged from the bottom of a lake, suspicions arise that something truly sinister is going on. And as more people turn up dead in the exact ways the yearbook promised, it becomes clear someone’s killing off the student body one page at a time.
Now Rick and Martina must find the yearbook killer before their vicious superlative comes true. So much for surviving high school without drawing attention. Now Rick and Martina just want to survive.
For fans of Holly Jackson, Karen M. McManus, and Danielle Valentine!
The rumor mill has never been kind to Meadowvale High seniors and best friends Rick and Martina, labeling them outcasts (sure), stoners (no comment), and pranksters (okay, this one’s fair). But for the most part, they have successfully flown under the radar.
That is, until they’re targeted in a prank that replaces yearbook superlatives with grisly forecasts of student and faculty deaths. Sure, Rick and Martina were never going to be voted Most Likely to Succeed . . . but Homecoming’s Cutest Corpses? Thanks for the cute, no thanks on the corpse.
At first, the senior class is annoyed by the prank. But when the body of Mr. Stephens, Most Likely to Sleep with the Fishes, is dredged from the bottom of a lake, suspicions arise that something truly sinister is going on. And as more people turn up dead in the exact ways the yearbook promised, it becomes clear someone’s killing off the student body one page at a time.
Now Rick and Martina must find the yearbook killer before their vicious superlative comes true. So much for surviving high school without drawing attention. Now Rick and Martina just want to survive.
For fans of Holly Jackson, Karen M. McManus, and Danielle Valentine!
Title: Most Likely To Murder
Author: Lish McBride
Publisher: G.P. Putnam Sons Books for Young Readers
Expected Publication Date: March 24, 2026
Review:
Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Give me all the dark, twisty, thrilling moments of a murder mystery and plant it in a high school and I will be HOOKED. That's what this book did to me. I flew threw it without a clue as to who the villain was until about 10% from the end when I finally figured it out. McBride gave no obvious hints as to who it would be and that was fun for me because I love a good surprise.
This one is definitely done at a slower pace that builds and builds and builds until it explodes before your eyes. I enjoyed the main characters, Rick and Martina, as well as all the secondary characters we got to know (I'll refrain from naming them as I don't want to spoil who doesn't make it to the end). The murder scenes were intense enough to have me turning pages. And once I found out the villain, some of those scenes made so much more sense!
I will say the killer was not who I would have pictured. Since McBride really didn't give any clues as to who it might be, that reveal fell just a bit short for me. I didn't feel the impact I would have had we had some more background on said character, or even some interaction with that person throughout the book.
There's a nice little romance that blooms and happens. It's quite sweet though it felt just a little like filler for the story. I'm not 100% sure it was moving the story forward as much as just telling a sweet story between those characters.
The premise and story were fun and the read was fast, which I'm always a fan of. While I predicted some of the twist, there were a few surprises for me. This one is definitely squarely in the YA realm as far as ease of reading and characters the target audience can relate to. I would have liked a bit more of a diver into the individual characters. The different POVs from some of them were nice but I would have liked to see it from all, not just some hand picked ones. It seemed a bit inconsistent. An overall suspenseful and easy read that will have any teen turning the pages to find out who done it!
Author:
Lish McBride is the author of funny and creepy Young Adult books such as Hold Me Closer, Necromancer; Necromancing the Stone; Firebug; and Pyromantic. She has published short stories in the Normal School, Tor.com, and the anthologies Cornered, What to Read in the Rain, Freaks & Other Family, and Kisses & Curses. She got her BFA in creative writing from Seattle University and her MFA from University of New Orleans. Lish is also currently a bookseller and event host at Third Place Books, a giant thriving indie bookstore just outside of Seattle. Her first book, Hold Me Closer, Necromancer, was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults title, Morris Award finalist, and won the Scandiuzzi Children’s Book Award. While she has no long term goals for world domination, she would like her own castle.
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