New Year's Grieve / Elizabeth Foscue / Book Review

NEW YEAR'S GRIEVE

Jojo had winter break plans. Big plans. Huge plans. Plans that involved long days in the waves, enjoying the wild Pacific surf. And instead, she's on a plane headed east with her mother to snowy North Carolina to start the New Year with her horrible, horrible family. Sure, it's Grandad's ninetieth birthday, but Jojo isn't sure why she has to be there. At least she likes Grandad, and Grandad likes her. That's more than most of the family can say.

But when she and her mother arrive in North Carolina, things are worse than she feared. After fishtailing into a snow drift, Jojo and her mom get rescued by none other than Fritz, the boy next door who just so happened to break her heart last summer. Who's coming to the party as well, for some reason. And who really, really wants to talk to her.

Jojo's not in the market for talking. Not with Fritz and not with anyone. But the snow makes it hard to escape unwanted familial encounters. And when one near accident for Grandad turns into another and another, Jojo starts to suspect there might be some sinister motives amongst her greedy family members...

THOUGHTS

I think this book wanted to be a satire, and it... kind of does that? I guess? I don't know. It was tonally wobbly, not quite committing enough to the satire to really stand on its own two feet. It's got good bones, but the execution is really neither here nor there.

PROS

Young Energy	Though YA protagonists are always young (or at least they should be), there are a lot of times where they... just don't feel very young. You can feel an older writer behind the scenes, pulling the strings. These characters are more mature for their age, sixteen-going-on-sixty sort of vibes. (Which, don't get me wrong, some teenagers have; I've taught high schoolers, and I know the type. But that "old soul" type of teenager really isn't the average teen out there.) It's nice to come across a YA protagonist who brings so much chaotic and youthful energy into a story, is all I'm saying. Jojo feels a lot like an Ally Carter narrator in that way: she's fun and flippant and a little bit reckless, like a lot of seventeen-year-old kids are. That's fun, especially in a murder mystery plot.
Unhinged Decisions	When this plot really leans into the absurdity of satire, that's when it truly shines. And that's when Jojo really shines. She's a generally high-energy, high-melodrama character who makes some pretty unhinged decisions (though always in service of the plot as she sees it), and... I liked that. It's kind of like the way Benoit Blanc in Knives Out is over-the-top and ridiculous in fulfilling his role as the detective. Jojo, too, has a role to play, and she plays it spectacularly in ways that are gutsy and ridiculous. And if we're playing with satire, that's just how our protagonist should be. She's got her teen detective archetype down.
Archetypes Galore	Speaking of archetypes, this book is full of them. In a good way. That's what makes satire fun, to have those stock characters really playing up their ridiculous attributes. Jojo's family is awful in a fun way, and while the tone of the book overall didn't quite work for the best satire, the vision was definitely there...

CONS

The pacing in this book is odd. You know where this book is headed from the start. It's not a shock that somebody (somebody quite elderly and quite wealthy) winds up dead. That's the genre. And the fact that it takes over half the book to get to the actual murder is... not right? I get that we're establishing the characters first so you can do the Whodunnit part of the plot later. But there's a reason a lot of murder mysteries rely on flashbacks or really snappy introductions. It just takes too long to get to the murder in this book, and there aren't enough fumbling attempts on Grandad's life along the way to make the wait worth it. If there were a few more near misses, maybe the wait time could have been justified. But even that's a big maybe. Sorry Grandad, but you should have died much sooner than you did. You know. For the plot.	Murderous... Twist?
Jojo, friend, if you unexpectedly experience anaphylaxis, please figure out what caused it. Don't just get stuck with your epi-pen and move on with your life. Have a bit of curiosity. Do a big of digging. Even if there weren't a potential murderer in the house, you should just generally want to avoid eating something that could kill you. Figure out what it is. Please. This isn't a 7-10 Business Days type of situation, kid.	No Thoughts, Just Vibes
Jojo's a very young character, in terms of her maturity level and just, frankly, her actual age. A seventeen-year-old girl is allowed to be seventeen, and that can come with a bit of immaturity. Or, in Jojo's case, a lot of immaturity. And that can be irritating, especially in the way she deals with her ex-boyfriend. She's unwilling to talk, and she's unwilling to listen. And when she does hear what he has to say, she's just... unwilling to care? Unwilling to take anything into consideration. She's made up her mind. Which, fair enough. But suddenly, as soon as they have to make out (you know, for the plot), it's a literal kiss-and-make-up situation. Which is a heavy sigh from me. Sorry.	Will-They-Won't-They Woes

Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5/10

Fans of Dinesh Thiru's My Killer Family Reunion will like this inheritance-crazy set of relations. Those who enjoyed the campy nature of the movie Knives Out will like these over-the-top rich people.

Details Publisher: HarperCollins Date: November 17, 2026 Series: N/A Add to Goodreads Buy it HERE

Note: I was provided with an ARC by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here are my own.