A review by dorothysbookshelf
You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron

4.0

‘you’re not supposed to die tonight’ review // gifted, #prproduct 

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆: a truly unique horror novel i would urge any horror lovers to read! thank you so much to bloomsbury for sending me this copy :)

‘charity curtis has the summer job of her dreams, playing the "final girl" at camp mirror lake. guests pay to be scared in this full-contact terror game, as charity and her summer crew recreate scenes from a classic slasher film, curse of camp mirror lake. the more realistic the fear, the better for business. but in the last weekend of the season, charity's co-workers begin disappearing. and when one ends up dead, charity's role as the final girl suddenly becomes all too real. if charity and her girlfriend bezi hope to survive the night, they'll need to figure out what this killer is after. is there more to the story of mirror lake and its dangerous past than charity ever suspected?’

i’ll be honest, i actually dnfed kalynn bayron’s debut ‘cinderella is dead’, but when i read the synopsis, i KNEW i had to give her writing another chance. after all, i love horror movies, so ‘you’re not supposed to die tonight’ was perfect for me. a love letter to 80s slasher movies? sign me up!!

my jaw actually dropped numerous times whilst reading this. like seriously, DROPPED. on the floor. i wish i could have captured the expressions on my face whilst reading this, but i’ll give you an emoji run-down:

😯🧐😥🫣😮‍💨🤢😧😱🤯☹️😌😏

i really enjoyed the self-aware narrative voice, and how the main character charity actually does all the of things that you yell at horror movie main character to do. it made the reading experience even more enjoyable

i think the gore was well-balanced for a ya horror novel. just the right amount of description to scare you without verging into adult horror level scary