She's showing you her scars, isn't she: YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DIE TONIGHT.

You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Charity Curtis has a summer job working as the "final girl" at Camp Mirror Lake, where guests pay to experience a full immersion horror terror game based on a movie filmed at the same location. As the camp nears closing for the season, some of Charity's coworkers stop showing up for work. Annoyed by her unreliable employees, Charity and her remaining crew press on, bringing in some friends as reinforcements. But soon, someone turns up dead--and Charity realizes they are playing the game for real.

I really love a lot of Bayron's books, but this one really wasn't for me. A lot of that is on me: I'm just not a huge horror person. This book is filled with characters who love horror tropes and the rules of horror, but they freaking ignore them all and make terrible decisions. I wanted to scream at them constantly! The camp setting, by an eerie lake, is certainly effective, and there are some truly terrifying, creepy moments.

The book takes a turn though about halfway through and turns into a strange weird horror fantasy mashup. There's a ton of blood and gore, but also a very weird plot twist that just made everything odd.

The book has excellent queer rep and strong black characters, so I loved that part. I just didn't care for the strange plot change-up and how slow it felt at times. But if you like horror and fantasy (especially together), you'll enjoy this one. 3 stars.

I received a copy of this book from Bloomsbury YA and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review.


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