ARC, 362
Release Date: March 26, 2024
Published by: Amulet Books
Read from: February 18- March 6, 2024
Stand-alone
Source: Publisher (I received a copy of this book from the Publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
TW: Gore, Murder, Death, Bullying, Fire/Fire Injury, Child Abuse, Stalking
For Readers Interested In: Horror, YA, 2SLGBTQ+, Mystery, YA
A shocking, spine-chilling YA horror slasher about a girl searching for her dead mother’s body at the summer camp that was once her serial killer father’s home—perfect for fans of Friday the 13th and White Smoke
Temple Baker knows that evil runs in her blood. Her father is the North Point Killer, an infamous serial killer known for how he marked each of his victims with a brand. He was convicted for murdering 20 people and was the talk of countless true crime blogs for years. Some say he was possessed by a demon. Some say that they never found all his victims. Some say that even though he’s now behind bars, people are still dying in the woods. Despite everything though, Temple never believed that her dad killed her mom. But when he confesses to that crime while on death row, she has no choice but to return to his old hunting grounds to try see if she can find a body and prove it.
Turns out, the farm that was once her father’s hunting grounds and her home has been turned into an overnight camp for queer, horror-obsessed girls. So Temple poses as a camp counselor to go digging in the woods. While she’s not used to hanging out with girls her own age and feels ambivalent at best about these true crime enthusiasts, she tries her best to fit in and keep her true identity hidden.
But when a girl turns up dead in the woods, she fears that one of her father’s “fans” might be mimicking his crimes. As Temple tries to uncover the truth and keep the campers safe, she comes to realize that there may be something stranger and more sinister at work—and that her father may not have been the only monster in these woods.
*MY THOUGHTS*
For this cover and synopsis to be so amazing, I was expecting an epic slasher, but it was completely different than that lol It wasn’t as scary as I thought it was going to be, but it also wasn’t anything like I was thinking. And for that, I think I liked it more.
Ok so the horror aspect of this was ok, but I was left a little disappointed. I thought it was going to be more of a slasher horror story. But instead there were ghosts and a real villain that I never saw coming. So I guess I can’t say I was disappointed. It just wasn’t what I thought it would be. But it really didn’t matter because the horror elements that were there were a good substitute. The house in the woods was a crazy place. I spent a lot of time saying WTF.
The characters were what I wish I could have changed lol The MC was fine, but Brenda was annoying af. I can’t lie there were a few times where I was asking if she ever got caught because girl, shut up lol And she lied too much and was too into her dad’s case. But I DO know that true crime is something all people are interested in nowadays, so I can’t really be mad at her. Temple was so much better. She was a take no ish don’t wanna hear nothing that don’t make sense, I just want to get this done. And she deserved every bit of that. I mean she was running up on corpses in the middle of the woods lol
I hate reviewing riveting horror and thrillers because I’m so terrified about giving a spoiler lol I try to avoid talking about the end because if it was good I get excited and just start running my mouth. And if I didn’t like it, I always seem to complain about it in too much detail lol I can never find a middle ground. So with that being said, I liked it and you need to go get it on release day. When you get to the WTF parts, feel free to email me lmao
Overall, I give this
