Book Blurb:
Love hurts...
Makani Young thought she'd left her dark past behind her in Hawaii, settling in with her grandmother in landlocked Nebraska. She's found new friends and has even started to fall for mysterious outsider Ollie Larsson. But her past isn't far behind.
Then, one by one, the students of Osborne Hugh begin to die in a series of gruesome murders, each with increasingly grotesque flair. As the terror grows closer and her feelings for Ollie intensify, Makani is forced to confront her own dark secrets.
Find out more about the book on Goodreads
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My Review:
4 Out Of 5 Stars
Genre: Mystery, Romance, Suspense, Teen--
I seriously have been wanting this book for forever (or at least the last year since I heard about it, same thing!) but I kept putting off reading it since the reviews were all over the place and I was afraid I would disappointed. As a person who grew up on films such as Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer (and the book!), I was ecstatic to have a teen slasher novel to jump into. I found that the story was super fast and I sped through it in a few hours as an audiobook because the writing flowed well, the narrator was engaging and I was incredibly curious about who would survive and the whys of everything. I am not really sure though that I connected to any of the characters, even Makani who was the main character and the narrator most of the time. I was very interested in Makani's past, she seemed like a bigger mystery than the murder aspect and then I was curious as to how everything related to her. I will say that I was a little let down when her truths came out, they had been played up to be so much more than they actually were.
Disclaimer- this is just as much a romance as a slasher story. Ollie, the main characters love interest, was not described as attractive in any way by Makani, she even said how he was a pink haired skeleton, yet she was still so very attracted to him, it was intense. I guess this goes to show that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and there is someone out there for everyone.
Also, the fact she and Ollie made out during a moment of prayer for the 3 dead students was a super awkward interaction, at least to me. There did happen to be a lot of sex in the story, not sure if that was common for this author or not, but maybe it was used as a needed tool for the story since this was a slasher book- one heavy on romance, but still a slasher novel. As they say, the virgin gets to live and all, so you know...
When someone was about to die the narration was switched over to their perspective for the chapter, leading up to their death. Each scene was interesting, different and very slasher film-esque. The tension was really high during some scenes, like when Makani was waiting for her grandmother to return- I was on the edge of my seat, wanting to scream at her to look out, which is the same urge I have when watching a film such as Scream so I was impressed with the author for creating the perfect mood for me to get lost in.
I was surprised that the killer was known by half way through the book, it took some of the surprise away so I wish we didn't know until the end. It was interesting though that the killer kept killing even after we knew who they were. I did like the way the author increased the tension and build through every interaction with the killer, be it with the subtle details like an open drawer or the action strike of the death blow.
Overall I found this to be an interesting read, heavy on the romance and gore, perfect for fans of slasher movies and murder mysteries.
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