There’s No Way I’d Die First

There’s No Way I’d Die FirstThere's No Way I'd Die First by Lisa Springer
Published by Delacorte Press on September 5, 2023
ISBN: 0593643178
Genres: Horror
Format: Fiction
Goodreads
four-stars

When Noelle is ready to debut her horror movie podcast, she shrewdly invites her school’s biggest influencers to her exclusive Halloween bash. The house is all decked out for the occasion, as are her guests, but when the hired clown shows up things get truly terrifying. As the teens start getting murdered, Noelle has to figure out who this clown is, and why he is after them. Luckily, she has an extensive repertoire of horror movie knowledge, and she is determined to be the Final Girl.

Final Girls are having a moment (as they should), and this book will be a hit with horror lovers, specifically lovers of slashers. It’s a tense, gory, cautionary tale about oversharing online. It’s so quickly paced it’s easy to ignore less interesting subplots and plausibility issues. Suggest to fans of the Terrifier and Scream movies, or Clown in a Corn Field, or any horror fans who can tolerate a high level of violence.

Reviewed by Sarah Maciejewski, Patten Free Library, Bath

four-stars