4.5/5 stars


I wish you and I could talk more about what makes this novella so much fun, and unique as well, but I'm not sure I'd have had the same experience if I'd gone in knowing more than the bare minimum. Even if you're not sold on the whole Rewind or Die experience, I suggest you give this book a (tilt-o-) whirl. So here's the bare minimum. A group of bored teenagers gets bored and breaks into an abandoned amusement park with a bloody history. That's it. That's what you get.

Jessica Guess clearly has a good time with this one and it shines through. The book is clearly an homage to slasher horror, but with some other darker themes that the reader might not be expecting. Like I've said with this series a few times, you get what you expect, you're satisfied, but they tend to add an extra layer to truly satiate the rabid horror fan and lover of story within.

It's also a nice addition that Cirque Berserk, the amusement park in question, is in essence a character in the story. It gives the reader opportunity to picture the locations where horrors develop more clearly. The story jumps between 1989 and 2019, and I always pay extra attention when an author does this because when it's not done well it can be so distracting. Guess does a fantastic job here telling both angles of the story without making it over complicated to keep track of where we are. There's a detail I'll let you discover that makes this extra admirable.

An easy recommend for fans of the slasher genre as well as clueless teens get themselves in trouble trope seekers.