Review: I Don't Wish You Well by Jumata Emill

I Don't Wish You Well

by Jumata Emill

Release Date: January 20, 2026

2026 Delacorte Press

Ebook ARC; 400 Pages

ISBN: 978-0593811023

ASIN:  ‎ B0F8M4RPKN

Audiobook: B0F9R2993P

Genre: Fiction / Mystery / YA

Source: Review copy from publisher

 

5 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

Five years ago, the infamous Trojan murders turned the small town of Moss Pointe, Louisiana into a living nightmare. Four teen boys—all star players on Moss Pointe High's football team—were murdered one after the other by a Trojan-mask wearing killer. 

Eventually, the murderer was unmasked. But the community has never forgotten—and some folks in town still wonder whether the police got it right.

Eighteen-year-old Pryce Cummings is one of them. An aspiring journalist, Pryce is pretty sure he just stumbled upon evidence that throws the killer's guilt into question. But in Moss Pointe, digging into the past is anything but welcome. There's so much more to what happened in there five years ago, and Pryce is ready to crack it all wide open . . . if he lives to tell the tale.

 

My Thoughts

I Don't Wish You Well was a very intense, riveting, and emotional read about a town trying to heal after the murder of four its football heroes five years ago only to have everything ripped open again as an inspiring young journalist finds evidence that the killer is not who everyone thought.  I truly did not know what I was expecting going into this book, but I wasn't expecting the roller coaster of emotions as well as the layers of thought-provoking themes that were developed as the story progressed. 

 

I loved Pryce as a main character and rooted for him from the beginning. He was definitely flawed and made a lot of mistakes as a rookie journalist while investigating; unfortunately, some of those mistakes were quite costly to both the individual as well as to the community.  His character development was sos good though, that you couldn't help but root for him as he learned from his mistakes and grew both as a person and as a journalist.  I enjoyed learning about his relationships with his family members as well as with other people he grew up with in the town.  Izzy was another great character and his development added another level to what was happening in the town, or should I say, what was being hidden in the town all these years.

 

The murder of the four football players was not the central plot of the story, but more the catalyst to Pryce's current dilemma as he discovered that the killer of the four boys may not be who the townspeople thought all along.  The plot moved along quite quickly as Pryce investigated, and boy, did he uncover a lot about his town. Corruption everywhere, all to protect the mighty football team. The twists and turns were unrelenting as Pryce investigated, some of which I was expecting, most of which came as a complete surprise. Naturally, people don't like having their secrets uncovered which made things difficult for Pryce and for his family. I actually thought the whole family dynamic part of this book was some of the best of the book.  Some of the themes touched upon in this book were: bigotry, homophobia, abuse (physical, sexual, and mental), drug abuse, abuse of power, lying, cheating, repression, loyalty, forgiveness, revenge, and the list goes on.  It took me a couple of days to write this review as I had a lot to think about with regards to the themes in this book.  The murder of the boys literally set off a chain of events that burst open a dam of toxicity in this town that was ready to burst at its seams.  

 

Verdict

I Don't Wish You Well definitely had a lot going on in the story, and there was a lot to unpack.  It wasn't always an easy book to read as there was a lot that was happening beneath the surface of the investigation, and the author had this way of writing that drew you into the lives of these characters and made you empathize with them quite a bit.  Both the plot and character development were quite good and the ending was satisfying.  Although this book is a standalone, I would absolutely love to read another book that features Pryce and another investigation.  Personally, I would also love to read about how the aftermath of this book affected the people in this town as well.