The Blonde Dies First by Joelle Wellington Published by Simon & Schuster on July 30, 2024
Genres: Young Adult, Horror
Amazon B&N Apple Books Google Play
Goodreads
I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
A group of friends fight to choose their own fates in this trope-savvy, self-referential young adult thriller from the acclaimed author of Their Vicious Games , about a demonic force that acts according to horror movie rules in the spirit of the Scream movies.
Devon is always being left behind by her genius twin sister, Drew. At this point, it’s a fact of life. But Devon has one last plan before Drew leaves for college a whole year early—The Best Summer Ever. After committing to the bit a little too much, the twins and their chaotic circle of friends learn why you don’t ever mess with a Ouija board if you want to actually survive the Best Summer Ever, and soon find themselves being hunted down by…a demon?
But while there’s no mistaking the creeping, venomous figure is not from around here, their method doesn’t feel very demonic at all. In fact, it’s downright human—going after them in typical slasher movie kill order. And that means Devon, the blonde, is up first and her decade-long crush, Yaya, is the Final Girl who must kill or be killed to end the cycle.
Devon has never liked playing by anyone else’s rules though, not even a demon’s, and the longer this goes on, the more she feels Drew and Yaya slipping away from her even as she tries to help them all survive. Can they use their horror movie knowledge to flip the script and become the hunters instead of the hunted? Or will their best summer ever be their last?
This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale that goes towards keeping the blog running.
The Blonde Dies First is a queer YA thriller/horror that reads like a slasher film. I have loved a book by Joelle in the past so knew I had to give this one a try. I wound up really enjoying it!
Our leading lady, Devon has decided this is going to be the best summer ever because her twin sister, Drew is going off to college early. When someone pulled out a Ouija board during Drew’s graduation party, Devon and her friend group were antsy but went along with it to appease her. Now a demon is unleashed and going after Devon and her friends. They must figure out how to kill the demon or they will wind up dead in the process.
This story has slasher film stereotypes we all know of and brings it into book form. Once the action starts you will not want to put this book down. It was such a quick read because the story just kept moving and I had to see what would happen next. There are some twists and turns I did not see coming which I always appreciate. Some parts were a tad predictable, but this is marketed towards YA so keep that in mind. I recommend this if you are a fan of YA horror or slasher movies.
