Thanks Saga Press for the gifted copy! 

 

The summer before senior year, Tolly Driver finds himself at a party where he doesn’t belong in his rural Texas hometown. But after an unfortunate run-in with peanuts he’s deathly allergic to and the reappearance of a dead student who’s now out for revenge, Tolly’s life changes forever—and so do the lives of several of his peers. Somehow, Tolly is turning into a slasher, and nobody in this tiny town is safe. 

 

Read if you love: 

-Slasher films 

-Unique narrative structures and voice 

-Reading from the villain’s POV 

 

This is bound to be an extremely polarizing book—one I had a hard time understanding my thoughts on, myself. Ultimately, I deeply appreciate what SGJ did with this novel, even if I wasn’t the right audience for it. 

 

SGJ’s voice is extremely unique, and it shines throughout the entire novel. Gear up for a lot of dry wit, rambling tangents, nostalgic bits of memory and tiny details most people wouldn’t blink at. This won’t work for everyone. It mostly worked for me, but the tangents and pacing toward the middle was where I found myself slogging. 

 

As for the story itself, I WAS A TEENAGE SLASHER is packed full of things to love. Mostly, it’s chock-full of heart. Tolly and his BFF Amber were both well-rounded and unexpectedly loveable. I rooted for Tolly even when I shouldn’t want to, and I was warmed by the love story at the heart of the novel. 

 

Where this book really shines is its examination of and play on classic slasher films. If you’re a slasher buff, you’ll recognize the tropes and themes. If you haven’t seen a slasher film in your life, they’ll probably be lost on you. TEENAGE SLASHER is, at its core, a love letter to the genre, which I think SGJ does masterfully well.