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A review by iamcupid_
You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron
2.0
⚠️⚠️ MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD ⚠️⚠️
The most popular horror movie I've watched was probably Fear Street. I'm not much of a horror fan because I'm a coward. So going into this, I really thought I would've liked it no matter what.
I was wrong.
The pacing. The main emotion I had for this book was annoyance. It built up so much only to have such a boring reveal and conclusion. Really. I was halfway into the book and nothing major still has happened and I just kept thinking when it would FINALLY start. It was so slow and then it went all by so fast; and that's because by the time the reveal happened, I got so disappointed at how boring the reason for the killings are that I could not take it any more and I skimmed every other paragraph. I feel like I finished the last 50% way faster than I got through the first 50%.
The writing. Nothing special. I read Cinderella is Dead and that was my problem with this author too. Cinderella is Dead was such an interesting book but the writing was so dull, I couldn't get into it the way I wanted to. But this is YA so this is a minor offense, I wasn't expecting a poetic writing after all.
The characters. All forgettable, even the main character Charity. Even when the reveal of all the characters behind everything happened, I didn't even bat an eye. It was like I was still waiting for something to happen. Like, oh, that's it? Since they didn't even make an effort to actually make me able to tell them apart from each other, I lost interest in the---what is supposedly----most exciting part of the book. The characters had the personalities of a box.
The romance. I do not know if this should even be part of this review because it didn't seem like the relationship of Bezi and Charity was a focus, as it should be since this is a horror book---BUT! They really were nothing special even outside of a romance story. There would be a big situation and they would only care for each other but they just didn't give me the proper impression of what lovers would be like. I feel like their relationship should have at least got to be developed more than it has been, especially since it's not like there were other couples in the book. Maybe this book would've benefitted more if Charity and Bezi weren't an established couple already but who even knows anymore. I'm done.
I think the main thing that could've probably solved all this was if it became a longer book with AT LEAST more fleshed-out characters. The scene alone with Javier's grandmother made him stand out for me more than everyone else because I found it sweet. In horror stories, the background of each character is what would make their death tragic. Because if I don't care about the characters, why would I care if anything happened to them? Why would I care to find out about what happens to their killer?
I really don't mean to talk shit about this book and I don't have any bad intentions toward the author. I just have my own personal preference and it is crystal clear this book wasn't meant for me. These are all my opinions and I'm not telling anyone what to think about this book at all.
The most popular horror movie I've watched was probably Fear Street. I'm not much of a horror fan because I'm a coward. So going into this, I really thought I would've liked it no matter what.
I was wrong.
The pacing. The main emotion I had for this book was annoyance. It built up so much only to have such a boring reveal and conclusion. Really. I was halfway into the book and nothing major still has happened and I just kept thinking when it would FINALLY start. It was so slow and then it went all by so fast; and that's because by the time the reveal happened, I got so disappointed at how boring the reason for the killings are that I could not take it any more and I skimmed every other paragraph. I feel like I finished the last 50% way faster than I got through the first 50%.
The writing. Nothing special. I read Cinderella is Dead and that was my problem with this author too. Cinderella is Dead was such an interesting book but the writing was so dull, I couldn't get into it the way I wanted to. But this is YA so this is a minor offense, I wasn't expecting a poetic writing after all.
The characters. All forgettable, even the main character Charity. Even when the reveal of all the characters behind everything happened, I didn't even bat an eye. It was like I was still waiting for something to happen. Like, oh, that's it? Since they didn't even make an effort to actually make me able to tell them apart from each other, I lost interest in the---what is supposedly----most exciting part of the book. The characters had the personalities of a box.
The romance. I do not know if this should even be part of this review because it didn't seem like the relationship of Bezi and Charity was a focus, as it should be since this is a horror book---BUT! They really were nothing special even outside of a romance story. There would be a big situation and they would only care for each other but they just didn't give me the proper impression of what lovers would be like. I feel like their relationship should have at least got to be developed more than it has been, especially since it's not like there were other couples in the book. Maybe this book would've benefitted more if Charity and Bezi weren't an established couple already but who even knows anymore. I'm done.
I think the main thing that could've probably solved all this was if it became a longer book with AT LEAST more fleshed-out characters. The scene alone with Javier's grandmother made him stand out for me more than everyone else because I found it sweet. In horror stories, the background of each character is what would make their death tragic. Because if I don't care about the characters, why would I care if anything happened to them? Why would I care to find out about what happens to their killer?
I really don't mean to talk shit about this book and I don't have any bad intentions toward the author. I just have my own personal preference and it is crystal clear this book wasn't meant for me. These are all my opinions and I'm not telling anyone what to think about this book at all.