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chantaal 's review for:
There's No Way I'd Die First
by Lisa Springer
First of all: this is one of my top favorite book covers of 2023. It's perfection.
Let me say up front that I am aware that at age 38, I am SO not the target audience for this novel. This is squarely set in YA and it feels very much so. I actually have to give Springer a lot of credit for that; her writing feels like this book was actually made to be read by current teenagers, and NOT by adults who read and enjoy YA. It's young and full of Black Gen Z culture.
That is to its credit and also to its detriment, because this book is going to age terribly in a decade. There are very specific references to movies, actors, celebrities, songs, social media trends, etc that feel very fresh and connected right now in 2023, but will probably feel dated in 2043. Though, I can see this being a super fun time capsule of a book to look back on.
As for the story itself, this is PURE HORROR CAMP and I loved that aspect of it. Springer takes no time to get to the meat of the story. You get introduced to the main character, you very quickly meet the stereotypical cast of characters, and I think around the 15% mark on my Kindle is when the first body dropped. It was non-stop action, horror, camp and gore from then on, and it did NOT let up until the last chapter. This book is doing a very specific thing, and it did that thing well. If that sounds to your taste, then this book is loads of fun.
Because it focuses on being a camp slasher from a black girl perspective, it does suffer in terms of the setup and the character work. There is no setup or character work, really. We get a flimsy excuse to get all these kids in one house, we get a flimsy outline of each kid. Somehow all these super rich, semi-famous influencer kids all go to the same rich private school? Sure, okay. I'll suspend my disbelief - but I was working real hard to remind my brain to turn off and just enjoy it. I think that was 38 year old in me talking, and where me not being the target audience didn't help.
Let me reiterate again so there aren't any mistakes in terms of expectations: this is CAMPY HORROR. This is a love letter to slasher films in book form, focused on a black girl perspective. This is Springer's ode to screams and gore and horror tropes. It's absolutely fun and lives up to that expectation, as long as you know that going in.
I'm too old to have enjoyed this more than I did, but for its target audience and what Springer set out to do, it's great fun.
Let me say up front that I am aware that at age 38, I am SO not the target audience for this novel. This is squarely set in YA and it feels very much so. I actually have to give Springer a lot of credit for that; her writing feels like this book was actually made to be read by current teenagers, and NOT by adults who read and enjoy YA. It's young and full of Black Gen Z culture.
That is to its credit and also to its detriment, because this book is going to age terribly in a decade. There are very specific references to movies, actors, celebrities, songs, social media trends, etc that feel very fresh and connected right now in 2023, but will probably feel dated in 2043. Though, I can see this being a super fun time capsule of a book to look back on.
As for the story itself, this is PURE HORROR CAMP and I loved that aspect of it. Springer takes no time to get to the meat of the story. You get introduced to the main character, you very quickly meet the stereotypical cast of characters, and I think around the 15% mark on my Kindle is when the first body dropped. It was non-stop action, horror, camp and gore from then on, and it did NOT let up until the last chapter. This book is doing a very specific thing, and it did that thing well. If that sounds to your taste, then this book is loads of fun.
Because it focuses on being a camp slasher from a black girl perspective, it does suffer in terms of the setup and the character work. There is no setup or character work, really. We get a flimsy excuse to get all these kids in one house, we get a flimsy outline of each kid. Somehow all these super rich, semi-famous influencer kids all go to the same rich private school? Sure, okay. I'll suspend my disbelief - but I was working real hard to remind my brain to turn off and just enjoy it. I think that was 38 year old in me talking, and where me not being the target audience didn't help.
Let me reiterate again so there aren't any mistakes in terms of expectations: this is CAMPY HORROR. This is a love letter to slasher films in book form, focused on a black girl perspective. This is Springer's ode to screams and gore and horror tropes. It's absolutely fun and lives up to that expectation, as long as you know that going in.
I'm too old to have enjoyed this more than I did, but for its target audience and what Springer set out to do, it's great fun.