e-Audio, 07:39:28
Narrated by: SJ Valiquette
Release Date: March 11, 2025
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing
Read from: March 3-12, 2025
Stand-alone
Source: I read this audio in tandem with a free ARC I received from the publisher. This did nothing to influence my review.
Content Warning: Death, Murder Violence, Death of a Parent, Gore, Kidnapping, Vomit, Grief, Outing
For Readers Interested In: 2sLGBTQ+ (Gender Non-Conforming), Horror, Sparkly Cover, Most Anticipated, Realistic Fiction, Thrillers, YAYou’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight meets Scream in this YA slasher that turns classic horror tropes on their heads.
There’s a reason CJ Smith’s hometown of Satterville is known as Slasherville: it was the site of not one, but two Friday the 13th-style massacres. CJ’s dad survived the first attack; only CJ survived the second. And thanks to the mysterious writer Moon Satter’s bestselling novels based on the events, the town—and CJ—will always be defined by this horrific past.
Then a new, unpublished Moon Satter manuscript shows up addressed to CJ. But unlike the others, this story isn’t about the past. Instead, it predicts new murders. On the day the book says the first murder will occur, CJ sets out to stop it. But in saving one classmate, the final girl ends up dead. CJ and their friends have suddenly gone from extras to leads—and they’ll have to use everything they know about the rules of horror to make it out alive.
*MY THOUGHTS*
This was a real weird one. And I mean that in the best way. I heard that it was a horror book with a Scream like vibe and it was that exactly. I do wish it was a little more scary/thrilling, but I understood that this was a YA book and not exactly a Rated R movie lol
As a slasher fan this scratched the itch for me in most places, but i some areas I felt it was lacking. Like I felt like the main character and their friends were too smart for their own good. They figured out everything before there was a chance for anything to feel off or creepy. I wanted more creep factor if that makes sense. I can’t tell you how much I was anticipating being scared? Does that make sense? But I do want to say, when the plot twists started coming out, THEY WERE COMING OUT lol There was one that almost got me, but in the end I stuck to my first hunch and it turned out to be right.
The characters were good tho. I liked the representation of CJ and them being gender non-conforming. I also liked how the author explained that but still made it into part of their story. It was out of place or anything. Just an explanation of how they came out to their mother. I truly liked this part of the story.
The way the tropes play out in this one was pretty cool too. It reminded me of The Blonde Dies First by Joelle Wellington. They felt each person had a part in the story, and while that was ok, it was part of the reason they knew so much. I wanted more surprise I guess. It was actually pretty Meta and I had to think twice on whether or not I was going to use it for the breaking the 4th wall challenge. The Wolf Man Lore was pretty good tho. I wish we had gotten more info on the “others”.
This wasn’t what I was expecting, but I still enjoyed it. I will still most definintely be recommendig this to my librarians come SummerWeen and Halloween. I now know that I need to read Justine’s MG book. I placed it on hold and now can’t wait to get to it!
Overall, I give this
