Make You Wish I Was Dead (Madness and Mayhem #1) (2024)

Make You Wish I Was Dead would make a good fall/Halloween read. The book does take place in the fall and Halloween. I think this book would make a good movie. I think Netflix or someone should snatch this one up. It’s a teen horror-comedy. It’s a much darker version of Mean Girls.

The book reminded me of this movie series that I saw on Lifetime called The Bad Seed and The Bad Seed Returns that starred Mckenna Grace. She played a psychopath in those movies. Camila(h) reminded me a little of that character except Camila actually cares about some people. Camila reminded me a little of Arya Stark and many women in Game of Thrones with a desire for revenge.

This is a duology, but I think book 2 will be about a different couple.

Dual pov

Setting-Olympe, Louisiana

Camila Flores “little killer”- 18, senior in high school

(I looked up Mckenna Grace’s heritage and she had a great great abuela that immigrated from Mexico.)

I liked the role reversal in this book. Usually, the guy is the psychopath. Camila is a serial killer in the making in this one. Alexei is the shy quiet one.

The story starts out on a dark note. Camila’s abuela used to say that she had the devil in her eyes. The abuela was verbally/ physically abusive towards Camila(not shown only mentioned). When no one was around the abuela would pinch her until her arm was black and blue and pull her hair. Also, she would say vial things to Camila. It wasn’t a good idea to provoke Camila. When Camila was 10 she had enough and describes how she smothered her abuela with a pillow.

Camila has a limited range of emotions and fakes emotions to try to seem more normal. This reminded me of some scenes in those The Bad Seed movies.

Don’t worry she doesn’t want to kill the rest of her family. She has 5 siblings. She does care about some people. She shows she cares by being overprotective and loyal.

Camila’s 3 obsessions:

1.) "I was always prone to obsession. The first one was death. Feeling it, seeing it, creating it."

2.) "It was pretty similar to the first with one exception: I wanted it to be bloody. I wanted to see inside of people."

She started practicing on toys and that did nothing for her. She started killing animals and dissecting them in the woods.

"Small animals were next, mice, rats, pigeons, possums, even a squirrel once but only once because I found them kinda cute and didn’t feel any rush to kill them." (It doesn’t show her killing animals)

She got bored and stopped killing the small animals. I’m glad she stopped. Next, she wanted to move onto people. She didn’t want to kill innocent people just people that wronged her in some way.

3.) Camila’s 3rd obsession is Alexei Korolov.

"I think that’s what drew me too him: his darkness.
His darkness reflected my own and looking at him felt like I had finally found my other half."

"Alexei wasn’t the knight in shining armor who slayed my demons, he was the morally gray villain who captured them so that I could wreak havoc. And that was all I needed."

Camila’s mom is a maid for the Korolov family. She started bringing Camila along to help. Camila first met Alexei when she was 15 and he 16. Alexei’s mom didn’t want the help interacting with the family.

Alexei Korolov – 19, senior in high school.

He is the youngest of 8 children. He is quiet. He is very orderly and organized. He likes control. I like those emotionless guys that are only soft for their woman. Camila brings chaos and mayhem to his orderly life and he secretly loves it. I find it adorable that he blushes.

The Korolov family is like Russian royalty, a very wealthy and mysterious family. This reminded me of Twilight. The Cullens were all mysterious and Bella was trying to figure out Edward’s secret. Alexei is mysterious and Camila is fascinated by him. The Korolovs’ aren’t vampires, but they do have dark secrets. they are hitmen. Alexei is the most mysterious. All of Alexei’s siblings went to public high school, but he was homeschooled. Alexei is hardly ever seen leaving the house. Surprisingly, he enrolls in public school for his senior year. He had to repeat a year when they came over from Russia.

I wish there would have been more interaction with Alexei’s family. There was only one scene with Camila and his mother. Alexei’s brothers were mentioned, but there weren’t any scenes with them. I wish there were scenes with the dad. You just hear him talking to his wife in a scene.

I thought it was cute how excited Camila got when she found out that Alexei liked her too. Both were equally obsessed. I like how she would grab his belt loop and drag him around with her.

I thought it was sweet when Alexei described how he first met Camila. Camila first met Alexei when she was 15 and he 16. It turns out, Alexei was 14 when he first saw Camila. Camila would have been 13. He saw Camila and her mom at the grocery store and he was obsessed ever since. I liked the twist that he saw her before she saw him.

Dual virgins!

They are each other’s first and only everything. They are both happy about that fact.

Alexei said, "I thought I might stay celibate my whole life given how little I cared about sex or physical connection in general."

Alexei said,"The idea of getting naked and exchanging bodily fluids with anyone other than Camila made me wanna retch. She was the only person on earth whose body I wanted to kiss and suck and lick for hours on end."

Salem, the little black kitten

I thought the part with the kitten was cute and funny. (Don’t worry the kitten was not harmed in the story.)

Camila has Alexei wrapped about her finger. Camila and Alexei are in his car out in the woods. They hear a sound outside. It’s a little black kitten. Camila is completely smitten and names her Salem. Alexei doesn’t even want the cat in his car.

“Camila, that thing is not coming home with me and that’s the end of the story.”

Next chapter.

“What on earth is a cat doing in my house?”

Well. Mother was home.

Camila’s bff Frankie. I kind was of surprised that she had a bff. They have been friends since the age of 3. Camila has to deal with this mean girl type posse since they are on the cheer squad together. Frankie is sucking up to Paige (head mean girl) in hopes that she will ask her dad to give her a scholarship to the Academy. I don’t think Frankie even deserved Camila as a friend.

Frankie wants to score an invite to this slumber party that Paige holds every year at her parent’s lake house. Only a few lucky girls get to go.

Slumber Party of Horrors

I had so much anxiety over the slumber party situation. I hoped that Camila wouldn’t go.

Song: Game of Survival by Ruella

Paige(the head queen bee) invited Camila to her infamous slumber party where only a select few get to go. She doesn’t want to go to a slumber party at a lake house, in the middle of the woods, with girls that she barely knows that hate her. Camila uses the movie Carrie as an example of what could happen. Camila’s bff Frankie guilt trips her into going to it.

Camila tells Alexei that she is going to the slumber party. He is worried. Camila tells him to meet her there at midnight in the woods. If she is bored they can leave together.

Paige told them to wear their cheer outfits. Paige and her friends aren’t in their cheer outfits. Red flags left and right. Camila senses something is up. They play a never have I ever game. Camila only drinks a few sips of her drink bc she doesn’t want to get drunk. I don’t think she should have drank anything they gave her bc they could have drugged the drinks. They didn’t drug her drink.

My mind was racing with possible horrors that could unfold.

After the game, Paige and her two friends say they want to go upstairs to get ready for the next game. Camila wants to leave. She and Frankie go outside. Camila tells Frankie to call her sister, but Frankie wants to stay. Once again, Frankie tries to guilt trip and gaslight Camilla. She stays for Frankie. Paige and her friends come out and the crazy b*tch has a knife. She says the game is that Camila run in the woods and they have to find her. Camila thought she was the psycho one, but these b*tches are batsh*t crazy.

I was wondering if this was the first time they have done this or if this is some annual hunger games/ hazing type thing.

Camila puts Frankie behind her bc her first thought is to protect her friend. Frankie yells that this wasn’t a part of the plan. Frankie was involved in this trap.

Et tu, Frankie?

With a friend like Frankie who needs enemies. Fifteen years of friendship down the drain just like that.

A part of me worried that maybe Frankie would betray Camila, but I hoped that wouldn’t be the case.

Camila tells the girls that she will hide in the woods and they better pray that she doesn’t find them first. Those girls ended up giving as good as they got. Frankie didn’t participate in the hunt. Camila hides behind a tree. She plans to get the knife off of Paige. Things don’t go as easy as she planned. She gets in a physical fight with Paige. Sally comes up behind Camila and hits her hard in the back of the head with a log. Camila ends up getting stabbed in the thigh. She pulls the knife out and stabs Paige in the hand. I think she hits Sally with the log. Camila is able to limp off. She gets lost in the woods and ends up at the end of a cliff. Frankie shows up. Frankie said they were just supposed to scare her and get her to stay in line. Paige promised Frankie that she would have her dad get Frankie a scholarship to the Academy if she helped lure Camila to the slumber party. Frankie was always jealous of Camila. She blamed Camila for those psycho girls going after her. Frankie is dead to Camila.

They get in a scuffle. Frankie screams for the other girls. The other girls come. Camila knows that she can’t take all the girls in her state. She decides to jump off the cliff and hope she survives. That was a bad *ss move. She blacks out. She wakes, I think, in Alexie’s room. Alexei was running late. He ended up finding her near dead on the side of the road. They plan to get revenge together once she heals. Camila has to stay in hiding until they get their revenge. In the meantime, Frankie goes to Camila’s mom and lies and says that Camila attacked them at the slumber party bc she was addicted to drugs and that she ran off. Camila’s mom believed her.

She made them wish she was dead

Camila gets her revenge at Sally’s annual Halloween party. Also, it’s a test to see if Camila is worthy of joining the Korolov family. Alexei /Camila wear masks. Camila wears her bloody cheerleading outfit that she wore the night of the slumber party. He stands back and lets her take the lead.

I was a little surprised she killed the girls all on the same night. I thought that she would kill them one by one at different times and let the others live in fear that they were next. The actual revenge deaths happened pretty fast. She chats with Sam a little and slits her throat in bathroom. She stabs Sally in the stomach in a bedroom. Paige and Frankie come in and argue with Camila. Camila stabs Paige in stomach. Eventually, Frankie lunges at Camila and she bashes Frankie’s face with hilt of the knife and then an alarm clock. Then, she finishes off Paige by her slitting throat.

Epilogue- 10 years later. Parts were cute and morbid.

The epilogue takes place 10 years later. Alexei / Camila are married with a 10 year old daughter named Anastasya. She found out she was prego after the Halloween massacre. Surprisingly, Alexei’s mother was thrilled. They had to leave for several months after the killing. The murders became a cold case. They came back and said they ran off to elope and were prego. Camila’s mom was upset about her getting married, but happy to have her home. When Camila disappeared after the slumber party, Frankie(Camila’s so called bff) lied and told the mom she was a drug addict. Camila’s mom fell for it. Camila says her sister Kiara never liked Frankie, so didn’t believe her. Salem(cat) is still alive :) Camila’s mom now owns a restaurant.

Anya is a little cutey. She seems destined to follow in her mother’s footsteps. She has a love for monster movies .

Both girls have Alexei wrapped around their fingers. He calls Anya “little devil”.

Camila has her dream job. She joined the Kovloi family business and gets to torture and kill for a living. Other girls like to get flowers, but Camila is no ordinary girl. Once a month, Alexei tracks down child molesters for Camila to torture and kill.

This is a duology, but it looks like book 2 will be about a different couple. I think Alexei/Camila might appear as side characters in book 2. There is a preview at the end of this book for book 2. I guess book 2 will be about their daughter Anya. She is obsessed with a shy artistic boy. I hope they are dual virgins. The preview gave me Scream Queens vibes.

Safety Info:

Dual pov

h-18, Mexican American

H-19 , Russian

Camila(h) mentions someone made a racist remark towards her in the past.

Verbal and physical abuse of a child (only mentioned). Camila said her abuela hated her and would say vile thing to her when no one was around. She would pinch her and pull her hair. Camila ended up smothering her abuela with a pillow and was happy about it. Camila does describe some of it and the feelings she felt.

Mentions that Camilla’s bff Frankie’s mom died of a drug overdose(in the past). Frankie’s dad is an alcoholic that’s in jail. Mention that Frankie’s sister is a sugar baby.

Mentions of sexual abuse towards minors (only mentioned)- There is this pedo cop that gets tortured and killed bc he arrested some boy and sexually assaulted him. It was only mentioned that he assaulted a boy and the boy was not a character in the book. It shows the pedo cop getting tortured. Alexei’s family are hitmen. The parents of the boy went to the authorities to press charges, but the cop got off. Alexei gets hired to torture and kill him. Camila finishes the job.

Camila has a brother that ran off with his prego girlfriend. The girlfriend was prego with om baby. It seemed to hint that the girlfriend was raped as a minor/pregnant as a result. The brother and prego girlfriend don’t appear in the book.

Mentions killing of small animals-(there aren’t scenes of her killing animals)Camila started killing small animals when she was younger: mice, pigeons, rats, possum, and one squirrel. She stopped killing animals bc she got bored.

Violent fight in the woods- Camila gets invited to a slumber party but doesn’t want to go bc she knows the girls hate her. Camila’s bff Frankie wants to go and guilt trips her into going. It’s a trap and Frankie betrayed her. These crazy girls want to chase Camila through the woods with a knife. Camila gets hit in the back of the head with a log. She gets stabbed in the leg. The other girls aren’t in much better shape. Camila limps off and ends up at a cliff. Frankie shows up. They argue and Frankie yells for the other girls. Camila jumps off the cliff. Alexei finds her on the side of the road barely alive. .

Camila fantasizes about how she will exact revenge on those who wronged her.

Actual revenge deaths happened pretty quickly. Camila gets revenge at a Halloween party. She chats with Sam a little and slits her throat in bathroom. She stabs Sally in the stomach in a bedroom, Paige and Frankie come in and argue with Camila. Camila stabs Paige in stomach. Eventually, Frankie lunges at Camila and she bashes Frankie’s face with hilt of the knife and then an alarm clock. Then, she finishes off Paige by her slitting throat.

Dual virgins! Each other’s first and only everything.

No sharing. They only have eyes for each other.

OTT obsessive, possessive, jealous h and equally obsessive H.

H-Whipped . He even says he is her b*tch. Not whipped in a pathetic way. He can still take control, but is fine with letting his girl take the lead. He is there to offer support.

Poor girl/rich boy

Grumpy /sunshine

quiet/blusher - H

Dirty talk- both

Some praise kink saying she was a good girl.

Mild blood play/knife play/marking-- Camila wanted to mark Alexei. He was cool with it. She carves her initials in the v above his crotch. She licks the blood off the markings. Afterward, he flips her on stomach and bangs her while the blood from the cut drips on her back and butt.

Some breath play

Voyeurism- Camila planted camera’s in Alexei room a year ago. Alexei revealed that he knew about the camera’s all along and didn’t care. He would put on a show for her by masturbating on his bed so she could see.

Sex video-Camila wanted to film their first time together. It was just for their private viewing. It didn’t get leaked. I don’t like that bc that kind of stuff can get out.
She said she occasionally watched p*rn, but rarely got off bc it was so fake. She would rather watch Alexei.

Consensual sex

No condoms- Camila didn’t want to use protection.

No separation

Epilogue-

10 years later. They are married with a 10 year old daughter named Anastasya. Camila joined the Korolov family business. ["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>