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A review by cgreaderbee
The Blonde Dies First by Joelle Wellington
dark
mysterious
slow-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
2.75
Finished! Reading this as part of a book club is pretty much what motivated me to get to The End. There was something about the writing that didn’t work for me, but it could simply be the genre: a campy-verging-on-cliche slasher-thriller. I probably am not the intended audience, & that’s ok.
Things I liked:
- I love a book with a cast of characters with interesting dynamics, so there was some of that.
- LGBTQA+ rep.
- The emphasis on communicating with the important people in our lives.
- The message that we aren’t just “one thing” & can’t be put in box. We are ever changing.
Things I didn’t care for:
- The repetitive “best summer ever!” trope.
- The MC’s motivations revolving around a sister that honestly was just the worst, so it was hard to care.
- Suspension of believability when it came to the sheer number of murders that happened around these kids without consequence. Also, on that note, how everyone who was murdered in place of our main group was painted in shitty light, like that somehow made it alright.
- The ending villain reveal felt cheesy in an lol, eye-rolling kind of way.
- I love a book with a cast of characters with interesting dynamics, so there was some of that.
- LGBTQA+ rep.
- The emphasis on communicating with the important people in our lives.
- The message that we aren’t just “one thing” & can’t be put in box. We are ever changing.
Things I didn’t care for:
- The repetitive “best summer ever!” trope.
- The MC’s motivations revolving around a sister that honestly was just the worst, so it was hard to care.
- Suspension of believability when it came to the sheer number of murders that happened around these kids without consequence. Also, on that note, how everyone who was murdered in place of our main group was painted in shitty light, like that somehow made it alright.
- The ending villain reveal felt cheesy in an lol, eye-rolling kind of way.