e-Audio, 08:44:45
Narrated by: Nekia Renee Martin
Release Date: September 5, 2023
Published by: Books on Tape
Read from: August 23-28, 2023
Stand-alone
Source: Netgalley + PRH App (I received an early e-Audio copy of this book from the publisher. This did nothing to influence my review.)
TW: clowns, body horror, murder, death, violence, excrement, car accident, infidelity, stalking
For Readers Interested In: Horror, Horror Movies, Books set on holidaze (Halloween), Racial/Ethnic Diversity (Black), YADebut author Lisa Springer delivers a spine-tingling contemporary horror that follows a scary-movie buff as she hosts an elaborate Halloween bash on her family’s estate but soon finds the festivities upended when she and her guests are forced to test their survival skills in a deadly party game.
Noelle Layne knows horror. Every trope, every warning sign, every survival tactic. She even leads a successful movie club dedicated to the genre. Thus, who better to throw the ultimate, most exclusive Halloween party on all of Long Island? And with the guest list including the coolest kids in her senior class, her popularity is bound to spike. Hopefully, enough to warrant an expansion into podcasting. Plus, the fact that attractive, singer-songwriter Archer Mitchell is coming is honestly the candy corn on top. Nothing is going to kill her party vibes.
Except…maybe the low-budget It clown she hires to lead a classic round of tag. He’s supposed to be terrifying, though in a comforting, nostalgic way. Instead, the guy is giving major creeps. But maybe Noelle’s just that good at hosting? Her confidence is immediately rocked when the night’s entertainment axes one of her guests. And he’s not done yet. If an evil, murderous clown thinks life is a game, then Noelle is ready to play. She’s been waiting a long time to prove that she’s a Final Girl.
*MY THOUGHTS*
Let’s be for real. As soon as I saw the title, nothing else mattered. THEN I went and looked more into it and saw the main character is Black and so is the author. And I was immediately sold. I really didn’t need anything more than that. This book was going to be a win for me and I knew it immediately.
So any time I hear about a horror book I immediately add it to my TBR because I may not get to it right away, but I WILL get to it. It’s my favorite genre. No for real, I’m one of those people who will watch the original Halloween EVERY SINGLE TIME IT’S ON. And yes this includes multiple times throughout the day. I usually watch it like 10 times AT LEAST every October. (This is not including the times I watch it during August/September when I start my spooky season lol So it should be no surprise that I immediately read this as soon as I could. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint.
I also just did a like genre talk at work for the YA librarians. I looked up the horror genre, some of the tropes, and some of the different sub-tropes. One thing I learned was the actual definition of horror. It said, “A genre of literature that’s meant to scare, startle, shock, and even repulse audiences.” and let me tell you, this book did EXACTLY THIS! There were times I was like WTFFFF and other times I was like EWWWWW! And other times I was like reading while also trying to basically cover my face. This book was unhinged. I think this was the first actually scary horror book I’ve read this year. The Kate Alice Marshall was good, but it was more ghosty. This one was actually real horror and I loved it.
So basically this is about a group of teens who are all in this horror movie club. They get together over live chats and in person and watch horror movies. So Noelle wanted to throw a party on Halloween and invite all these influentuial other teens to help her gain more followers and get more engagemets so that she could grow her social media followers. One of the activities for this party was Noelle renting a clown to play hide and seek with her. But what happens when they start this game is something none of them saw coming.
Besides the fact that she used every horror trope ever, I really fell in love with her writing. I could not put this down. I was sucked into this book and loved how it made my heart race and made me want to not read it at night but also wanting to hurry up and read it. I really want to talk to her and figure out where she came up with this and what made her decide she wanted to write horror. I hope she has another one up her sleeve. I need more of her spooky writing style!
I wasn’t completely sold on the romance tho. I get that it was there for those romance girlies, but I didn’t think it needed to be. The story was solid on it’s own. And let’s be honest. They got each other into a lot of trouble. Trying to flirt and stay alive at the same time seems like it might be difficult lmao I’m sorry ain’t no way I’m worried about getting the first kiss when we might die in the next chapter lol
This was actually scary and I was so here for it. The way I was so into this also had to do with the narrator. I hadn’t heard them before, so this was a fun listen. Like that clown?! The way she was able to make him sound creepy like that was amazing. I don’t know if she actually did that or if it was done in post-editing, but man ir was good.
I don’t want to say anymore because I don’t want to give spoilers, but man this book was good. not only was it actually scary, but it also had some romantic times and some social justice themes as well. I haven’t read a YA horror book as good as this all season. I’m already planning another read for Halloween! (At least then when I read it I might be able to see glimpses of who the clown is because I didn’t guess in my original read lol)
Overall I give this
