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A review by safton
You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron
dark
mysterious
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? No
3.5
So I have always enjoyed horror, especially slasher films. It only recently came to my attention that slasher *books* existed, too. As an avid fan of both slashers and immersive haunted houses and the like, the premise of "You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight" immediately intrigued me.
The first half of the book is great. We get introduced to a diverse and well-rounded cast of characters who are all legitimately interesting in their own ways and easy to get invested in. Bayron does a good job of slowly ratcheting up the tension with the use of atmospheric set pieces and showing us what the camp is like as the plot builds toward the final act.
However, I'm sorry to say that the narrative sort of falls apart under its own weight in the last half or at least the final third of the novel. It's not unreadable by any means, but the quality of writing noticeably drops off. Everything feels a tad rushed and forced, abandoning the nuanced, suspenseful, and mysterious atmosphere that had been crafted so well up to this point. For instance, we start to have multiple sequences filled with awkward & stilted dialogue which blatantly serve only as an exposition dump for the audience. The characters start acting in weird and unbelievable ways solely to advance the plot (including the ones that are supposed to be "savvy"). Without going too heavy into spoiler territory, the book does try to use false trails and plot twists to throw off the audience from what they were likely expecting. I won't go so far as to say that it isn't still fundamentally a slasher story at its core, but it probably isn't what you go into the book expecting. For me, the build-up and payoff on the twist(s) was lacking and didn't really hit... but I admire the attempt.
Overall, however, I consider the book to be a nominally positive experience. I give it a 3.5/5. I read it in record time. It's great for the Halloween season given the limited amount of titles in the genre, but I don't know how much interest it would hold for non-horror geeks.
The first half of the book is great. We get introduced to a diverse and well-rounded cast of characters who are all legitimately interesting in their own ways and easy to get invested in. Bayron does a good job of slowly ratcheting up the tension with the use of atmospheric set pieces and showing us what the camp is like as the plot builds toward the final act.
However, I'm sorry to say that the narrative sort of falls apart under its own weight in the last half or at least the final third of the novel. It's not unreadable by any means, but the quality of writing noticeably drops off. Everything feels a tad rushed and forced, abandoning the nuanced, suspenseful, and mysterious atmosphere that had been crafted so well up to this point. For instance, we start to have multiple sequences filled with awkward & stilted dialogue which blatantly serve only as an exposition dump for the audience. The characters start acting in weird and unbelievable ways solely to advance the plot (including the ones that are supposed to be "savvy"). Without going too heavy into spoiler territory, the book does try to use false trails and plot twists to throw off the audience from what they were likely expecting. I won't go so far as to say that it isn't still fundamentally a slasher story at its core, but it probably isn't what you go into the book expecting. For me, the build-up and payoff on the twist(s) was lacking and didn't really hit... but I admire the attempt.
Overall, however, I consider the book to be a nominally positive experience. I give it a 3.5/5. I read it in record time. It's great for the Halloween season given the limited amount of titles in the genre, but I don't know how much interest it would hold for non-horror geeks.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Stalking, and Violence