Review: You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron

Title: You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight

Author: Kalynn Bayron

Genre: YA, horror, mystery

Publication date: June 2023

Published by: Bloomsbury YA

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: At Camp Mirror Lake, terror is the name of the game... but can you survive the night?

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 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 figure out what this killer is after. Is there is more to the story of Mirror Lake and its dangerous past than Charity ever suspected?

My rating: ★★★☆☆

I've been playing the part of a girl who escapes a serial killer every night for months. It's not a game this time. The consequences are real, but we still have to play.

I really liked the idea of this book! They had filmed a slasher at the camp where this is set, Camp Mirror Lake, but now it’s this full experience thing where they sort of recreate the events of the movie and the main character plays the final girl. It honestly sounds hardcore.

"Camp Mirror Lake is a full-contact terror-simulation experience," I continue as we pass the other staff cabins. "Our staff are allowed to push you, shove you, scream at you, even restrain you."

That sounds so cool! But there was more to the camp’s history than just that, and that history caught up with the poor, innocent teens who basically ran this place. Suddenly the slasher that was filmed there, the movie that inspired their terror simulation, was starting to come to life in the worst way possible. And I was into it! I love a slasher situation! Unfortunately, that’s not exactly what I got. Yes, there were deaths, but while I was looking forward to a more Jason Voorhees situation, we instead got... owl. And not the animal.

I was really liking the action and the history of the camp until we got to this bit. This twist was NOT it. It was just so bizarre and came out of nowhere! The ending was weird and I just did not vibe with it. I didn’t hate this book, but honestly, wtf was that?

I liked the setting, I was really liking the banter between the characters, and the inevitable violence was good... but that twist. I just can’t get over it. I don’t think this book was for me.

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊