Take a photo of a barcode or cover
bookswithlydscl 's review for:
How to Survive a Horror Movie
by Scarlett Dunmore
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Welcome to the YA horror pantheon Charley Sullivan, final girl candidate and slasher / horror movie fiend extraordinaire.
After being offered a 'fresh start', Charley has enrolled at a girls’ boarding school on a remote island and everything is ticking along just fine until someone starts killing off girls in her year group. The school head, determined to avoid headlines and controversy labels them as accidents but Charley knows the rules of horror and knows that there is no way that these are anything but the actions of vicious serial killer. Adding a complication to the situation, she finds herself haunted by the ghosts of her dead classmates and quickly realises that it's up to her, her best (only) friend, Olive, and hopefully the ghosts, to solve the murders, survive the killings and not get kicked out of school.
This was such a fun, fast-paced and humorous YA horror debut from Scarlett Dunmore and thankfully is the opening book in a series.
The book is broken up by Charley's rules to survive a horror movie, rather than traditional chapters and it's absolutely filled to the brim with slasher and horror movie references, and plenty of Stephen King. I think Charley would get on very well with Mindy Meeks-Martin and Kirby Reed (from the Scream franchise), with her encyclopaedic knowledge of horror, especially teen horror and slashers and it's worked into the story effectively to help her work out the solutions to the murders.
I did wonder as I was reading if the target audience would appreciate the references used as at points this does read like a younger YA with the narrative voice, but as an adult reader who grew up with it all I lapped it up!
Considering that it does read as a younger YA there were some surprisingly brutal scenes, but again, as an adult reader I appreciated that it didn't shy away from clearly being a horror though it may be a little much for some younger readers. There are some tongue-in-cheek elements that help give a break from the tension and I appreciated the fast pace and what felt like non stop action which kept the story moving forward.
I'm excited that this is the opening book in a series, especially after the cliffhanger at the end and I'll definitely be picking up book 2 when it's released!
4.25*
Thank you to Netgalley and Little Tiger Group | Little Tiger for this digital review copy of "How To Survive a Horror Movie" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.
After being offered a 'fresh start', Charley has enrolled at a girls’ boarding school on a remote island and everything is ticking along just fine until someone starts killing off girls in her year group. The school head, determined to avoid headlines and controversy labels them as accidents but Charley knows the rules of horror and knows that there is no way that these are anything but the actions of vicious serial killer. Adding a complication to the situation, she finds herself haunted by the ghosts of her dead classmates and quickly realises that it's up to her, her best (only) friend, Olive, and hopefully the ghosts, to solve the murders, survive the killings and not get kicked out of school.
This was such a fun, fast-paced and humorous YA horror debut from Scarlett Dunmore and thankfully is the opening book in a series.
The book is broken up by Charley's rules to survive a horror movie, rather than traditional chapters and it's absolutely filled to the brim with slasher and horror movie references, and plenty of Stephen King. I think Charley would get on very well with Mindy Meeks-Martin and Kirby Reed (from the Scream franchise), with her encyclopaedic knowledge of horror, especially teen horror and slashers and it's worked into the story effectively to help her work out the solutions to the murders.
I did wonder as I was reading if the target audience would appreciate the references used as at points this does read like a younger YA with the narrative voice, but as an adult reader who grew up with it all I lapped it up!
Considering that it does read as a younger YA there were some surprisingly brutal scenes, but again, as an adult reader I appreciated that it didn't shy away from clearly being a horror though it may be a little much for some younger readers. There are some tongue-in-cheek elements that help give a break from the tension and I appreciated the fast pace and what felt like non stop action which kept the story moving forward.
I'm excited that this is the opening book in a series, especially after the cliffhanger at the end and I'll definitely be picking up book 2 when it's released!
4.25*
Thank you to Netgalley and Little Tiger Group | Little Tiger for this digital review copy of "How To Survive a Horror Movie" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.