You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight

By Author / Illustrator

Kalynn Bayron

Genre

Horror

Age range(s)

14+

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

ISBN

9781526658463

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

20-06-2023

Synopsis

This heart-pounding slasher by New York Times bestselling author and TikTok sensation Kalynn Bayron is perfect for fans of Tiffany D. Jackson's White Smoke, Friday the 13th, The Haunting of Bly Manor and Get Out.

Charity Curtis has the summer job of her dreams, playing the "final girl" at Camp Mirror Lake. Guests pay to be scared in this full-contact terror game, as Charity and her summer crew recreate scenes from a classic slasher film, Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. The more realistic the fear, the better for business.

But in the last weekend of the season, Charity's co-workers begin disappearing. And when one ends up dead, Charity's role as the final girl suddenly becomes all too real. If Charity and her girlfriend Bezi hope to survive the night, they'll need to figure out what this killer is after. Is there more to the story of Mirror Lake and its dangerous past than Charity ever suspected?

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Reviews

I love this book so much, especially because it doesn't drag out the story.

Suggested Reading Age 14+

If you are 14+ and you love horror, then You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight is an absolute must read! Charity Curtis loves her job, she gets to play the 'final-girl' at Camp Mirror Lake. Guests pay to come to the camp to be scared and play the full-contact terror game based on the classic slasher horror film, The Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. As the season is drawing to a close, Charity wants to make the last game the absolute best scare-fest anyone has ever experienced. With her team of young camp mates, their aim is to create the most realistic game people have ever played. The more real the fear, the better for business.

With the use of fake blood, hidden trap doors and within the surroundings of Mirror Lake, the games begin. However, things begin to change at the camp as Charity's co-workers start to disappear. In order to play the final game, Charlity draughts in her girlfriend and her friends to help run the game and close the camp for the end of the season. Soon after her friends arrive, however, a gruesome discovery is made and things dramatically take a turn for the worst. Charity realises that this is no longer a game but reality. As secrets about Camp Mirror Lake are slowly uncovered, it is a race against time to figure out what the killer is after and how the team will survive the night.

If you love fast-paced horror, then this is the book for you. It is a pure slasher horror story. As you read the story there is a definite nod to all of those scary summer camp-based movies, like Friday the 13th. Bayron uses all of the conventions of the horror genre and it does work really well. Her characters feel real and relatable. I think its strengths come from the absolute fabulous twists and turns that she uses throughout the book. As a reader, just when you think that you have figured it all, out something truly shocking happens to reveal another twist in the tale.

You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight is quite a short book and Bayron keeps the twists and turns coming right up to the last page. Due to the graphic depictions, I would recommend to readers aged 14+ who love gore and horror. I also think that fans of the Red Eye series and Karen McManus will really love the book too.

228 Pages / Reviewed by Julie Broadbent, school librarian