Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight

this was such a good book to end october on, it was such a good quick read. i love slasher movies and am always looking for books that fit that genre and this did it so so well with added twists of cults. adding in surprise unreliable characters was perfect and really got me thinking about who i could trust and questioning everyone.

the one year later ending was also nice and soft and cute, and although not necessary, i do enjoy a happy-ish ending (especially when it involves lesbians).

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sarahjx's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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shaunashares's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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theoriginalbookdragon's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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obscurepages's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Okay reading the last two chapters of this book is a complete roller coaster ride 😭😂 But that ending? You know what, I love it.

Did I wish it was a bit scarier or had more lore? Yeah, a bit. But did I love the graphic writing style? Yes, I do 😭 Because the scenes come so vividly to my mind and that kind of gives me the feeling of watching a movie.

I love Charity and Bezi. I don't know, but I think they do embody what Final Girls stand for. Hope and resilience.

Overall, this was just wildly fun and entertaining. And if you love slashers and the final girl trope, you might want to give this a try.

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sarah_shelf's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

I think I need to acquaint myself more with the slasher genre. I’ve seen the last half of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and that’s it. So I went into this novel with expectations carried over from the other horror books I’ve read, but I don’t think they’re generally present in a slasher.

Overall, this was a short fun read. I didn’t fall in love with this book but I didn’t hate it either. It feels like there’s a lot of exposition. We spend a lot of time on one level of the “mystery” when weird stuff is happening, but everyone ignores or rationalizes it because it’s all supposed to be a game. Then when we hit the action it just takes off and all happens within the last third. So the pacing just felt kind of weird.

I honestly could not take the cult seriously. My only thoughts were: “so they’re a rip-off of the Court of Owls. Where’s the Batman character?” Obviously this is about the Final Girl so no one’s gonna show up to randomly save the day, but it weakened the power of the Society so I found their gimmick more humorous. Also, re the no savior’s gonna show, it’s no surprise Mr. Lamont was in on it.

The characters, backstory, and mystery weren’t super developed, but I think that’s due to length and again the slasher genre. To that end, I can’t decide if I like the final slasher or not.

When you consider the circumstances, Kyle makes sense. He called his grandma which prompted Tasha’s group to go investigate Ms Keane, so they could be snatched from the woods. He didn’t go into the house and tried to warn them out, but only after they were already inside. He stayed behind with Javier and Tasha and he was the one who told Charity and Bezi that they were taken to the hospital. He went mysteriously silent on the comms when the girls ran into the Head Owl. I also should’ve made the connection between him playing the role of the Mirror Lake serial killer, and Charity’s comments that he’s too nice for anyone to believe him dangerous outside of the mask. However, his lackadaisical attempts to “warn them away” just made the character seem very underdeveloped. He couldn’t decide if he was loyal to his friends or to his family/beliefs, but not in a way that causes internal conflict. Rather, in a way that makes the character very weak. If he wanted to get away so badly, why didn’t he just tell his friends & run away? We were given no reason to suggest he was trapped or would be tracked down. There were no adults at the camp and he knows where all the cameras are. He could’ve very easily made a different choice, but he stuck to the ritual. Yet he doesn’t seem to actually want the power that much beyond escaping. It doesn’t make sense.

I did really like the epilogue. The final chapter leaves you in a state of “it can’t end that way!” So Bayron gives you a more satisfying ending. It is in some ways a definitive ending and an open-ended one.

Was it truly Charity who climbed out of the lake? Do our final girls get their happy ending? Or is there another story, where Charity isn’t truly human or Charity anymore. Would Bezi care? If so, can they be happy together, or does Bezi have to handle whatever is wearing her lover’s face? I presume it’s truly Charity, but it’s interesting to think about other possibilities. Though, as my friend said during my rant about this book, why didn’t Bezi wish to bring all of them back to life?

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readingqueerly's review

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This book was un-fucking-hinged. First of all because I was terrified for a good part of it. I'm a scaredy cat through and through and I don't know why I thought I could stand reading horror.
But also, some of the plot kinda softened that blow because of how unhinged it was in an almost funny way? Idk some elements of the plot just broke the tension of the story and broke me out of the reading zone a little too. Personally, I didn't mind too much, like I said, I'm a scaredy cat. I was speedreeding this second half like crazy so I wouldn't get caught up too much anyways. A bitch gets paranoid if they do, I swear.
But some of it was not just me trying to gain some distance from this book.
I will say there were a lot of twists at the end all at once that really brought the whole tjing together imo. That was really well done.
All in all not bad at all, a good horror, but sometimes leaning a bit too much on suspension of disbelief.

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lizacorn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This was a great take on the slasher genre. Really enjoyed the Easter eggs and premise. Could have spent more time at the top of the book but the focus was on the action which tbh made sense

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