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A review by queer_bookwyrm
You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
4 ⭐ CW: Violence, blood, gore, violent death, human sacrifice, dead animals, murder, gun violence, cursing
You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron is a YA horror, perfect for fans of slasher horror films. Let me be clear, I'm not the biggest horror fan. I'm a bit of a wimp and don't care for the gorey stuff, but I did enjoy this short read with a black lesbian MC and final girl.
We follow Charity, the final girl of Camp Mirror Lake's full contact terror simulation. Charity's summer job is to be the final girl and oversee the simulation of scaring the pants off the guests that pay to be on the site the movie was filmed at. When a couple of staff go missing (assumed to have just quit), Charity invites her girlfriend, Bezi and their friend Paige to come help with staffing the simulation. Soon Charity and her friends find out something fucky is up with Camp Mirror Lake when some lady comes in swinging a gun around. Things get really weird and really gorey until we get to the end where my response, out loud, was "well shit ".
This was a great scary book for spooky season! It has all the vibes. It's kind of meta in the way that it's about a terror simulation based on a movie similar to Friday the 13th, but then actual murder starts to happen, but the characters don't have genre blindness. They know about the horror movie rules. I do love how Bayron has subverted the final girl trope, and given it to a queer girl of color.
As previously stated, I'm not a fan of gore, so I could have gone without that in here, but the suspense did keep me on my toes, and made me blow through this in two days. I was surprised that all the twists were not predictable. The end left me feeling like something else is about to happen, just like a good horror movie makes you feel like it's not quite yet.
You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron is a YA horror, perfect for fans of slasher horror films. Let me be clear, I'm not the biggest horror fan. I'm a bit of a wimp and don't care for the gorey stuff, but I did enjoy this short read with a black lesbian MC and final girl.
We follow Charity, the final girl of Camp Mirror Lake's full contact terror simulation. Charity's summer job is to be the final girl and oversee the simulation of scaring the pants off the guests that pay to be on the site the movie was filmed at. When a couple of staff go missing (assumed to have just quit), Charity invites her girlfriend, Bezi and their friend Paige to come help with staffing the simulation. Soon Charity and her friends find out something fucky is up with Camp Mirror Lake when some lady comes in swinging a gun around. Things get really weird and really gorey until we get to the end where my response, out loud, was "well shit ".
This was a great scary book for spooky season! It has all the vibes. It's kind of meta in the way that it's about a terror simulation based on a movie similar to Friday the 13th, but then actual murder starts to happen, but the characters don't have genre blindness. They know about the horror movie rules. I do love how Bayron has subverted the final girl trope, and given it to a queer girl of color.
As previously stated, I'm not a fan of gore, so I could have gone without that in here, but the suspense did keep me on my toes, and made me blow through this in two days. I was surprised that all the twists were not predictable. The end left me feeling like something else is about to happen, just like a good horror movie makes you feel like it's not quite yet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Blood, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Animal death and Cursing