My full thoughts here: https://www.youtube.com/live/DfGKYEfyChE?si=qrOHOGVaqO4Wg6Oj ( )

Noelle Layne is a horror movie buff. She leads her school's horror movie club and is aiming to boost her social media and launch a new podcast this Halloween. She has planned a super-exclusive Halloween party with her horror movie club friends and some top influencers that is sure to drum up some followers. Noelle has the perfect setting, perfect costume, awesome decorations, playlist, movies (of course) and to top it off, she has hired a creepy clown to play a fear induced game of tag. However, the creepy clown soon turns on the group and begins killing the teens. Noelle and her friends are now faced with a real life horror movie, but Noelle has prepared her whole life for this scenario. She knows she won't die first, but will she make it out alive?

There's No Way I'd Die First is a fast paced young adult horror with many different elements from your favorite horror flicks. I loved the homages to classic horror films including killer clowns, a call from inside the house and blood soaked prom dresses as well as the quotes at the beginning of each chapter to set the tone. The setting of Castle Rock, the secluded, Long Island home of Noelle's affluent parents on a stormy night provided the perfect backdrop for Noelle's party. I do wish I could have envisioned the house and layout better, other than a large house on a hill, since all of the action took place there. The characters were all intriguing, but difficult to feel empathetic towards at the same time. All of the teens are from wealthy families who have gained privilege from that wealth and have benefitted from that wealth in ways that others may deem unfair. The clown, Gage, provides the mystery as Noelle and her friends try to figure out his identity and how he knows their secrets. As Gage hunts down the party guests, the writing offers plenty of gore, strategy and scares. I really wanted to see all of Noelle's horror movie knowledge come through for her, but Gage seemed to anticipate her actions as well as operate exceptionally well while injured. Overall, an action packed, young adult horror with a contemporary twist.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. ( )

All the tropes, all the time, for all the scares!

There’s No Way I’d Die First may be author Lisa Springer’s debut novel, but it reads like a book from a talented veteran. It’s got every horror movie trope worked into its story, yet it still feels fresh and new. It’s one of the most enjoyable books I’ve read this year!

The main character, and the person from whose viewpoint the story is told, is Noelle Layne. She’s strong, smart, and sassy, and she is certain she would be the “Final Girl” in the horror movies she loves. I liked how she was so goal-oriented in her social media endeavors and plans for college and how she managed to marry the two together. Despite her regrets over her internship maneuverings, she seems nice and a good friend. She is surrounded by a tight-knit core of friends who all seem to support each other. Everyone has a skeleton in their closet, though, and someone they know is going all out in a big way to shame each teenager for what they perceive they’ve done wrong. It was hard to see any partygoers eliminated, but losing or having someone in her immediate circle of friends get hurt was heartbreaking. (I definitely got emotionally involved with these kids.)

The story is full of blood, gore, murder, and craziness right out of a horror flick. There are numerous scenes of graphically described injuries and death. Social media plays a large role in the story, and many of the issues the “Killer Clown” has with the partygoers have to do with their fame online and their families’ fortunes.

The author’s writing style drew me into the story from the start, and as I mentioned, I was invested in these characters. The descriptions were vivid, and I could easily picture the action and the setting. The dialogue was natural and felt authentic to the speakers, their ages, and points in life. The chapters were nicely sized, with many ending on an exciting note that compelled me to read “just one more chapter.” I look forward to this author’s future books with great anticipation.

I recommend THERE’S NO WAY I’D DIE FIRST to readers of contemporary young adult horror stories.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from TBR and Beyond Book Tours. ( )

I was really excited to read this book because I love slasher flicks, especially when they involve a group of people stuck in a certain area while the slasher (a killer clown in this case) goes to town. So, I really wanted to like this book, and while there were parts I did like, overall I failed to really connect with it. The kids were all ultrarich teen social media influencers, and our protagonist, Noelle, invites them to her horror film theme Halloween party because she wants them to promote her channel. I'm cool with that, because that's what influencers want, to have a huge following to influence. Her channel happens to be about horror movies, so this party idea was right up her alley. When the clown she invites to play a game of hide and seek with the guests turns out to be a killer, Noelle likes to say, repeatedly, that she has trained for this moment for years, has a go bag packed and ready in her room, and will be The Final Girl, come hell or high water. Solid idea, and who can fault her - Black girls aren't usually the lead in horror movies, let alone The Final Girl, but you can't keep saying you're going to The Final Girl, and then also keep saying you're going to get everybody out alive! You can't be The Final Girl if you're not the only person left alive at the end of the night. That's rather contradictory. There were also a lot of very confusing moments during the action scenes, of which there were many. For example, the clown seems to be 5 steps ahead of the kids at every turn, unbelievably so at times, but when Noelle and Archer, who she's been crushing on for years, are hiding in her closet behind some clothes, the clown comes in the closet, and instead of looking behind the clothes, picks up her very expensive Birkin bag, takes a crap in it, and then just leaves, taking the bag with him. That doesn't make any sense at all. Then there's the romance between Noelle and Archer. I didn't feel it at all. Archer just starts looking longingly at Noelle, and then boom, they're together, and we're just supposed to become invested in their romance. It was something else that didn't seem to fit. Some of their best friends had just been murdered, and they would start making eyes at each other and go off holding hands, like this was a romance movie. I wish I could have been more invested in them as a couple, but I wasn't. One of the things the author did really well, though, was the action scenes. As I mentioned above, there was a lot of action, and that moved the plot along at a fast pace.

All in all, I loved the premise and thought the action scenes were well written, but in the end, I just didn't connect with the story.

2.5/5 stars, rounded up to 3/5 stars.

*** I would like to thank NetGalley, Random House Children's, Delacorte Press, and Lisa Springer for the opportunity to read and review There's No Way I'd Die First. ( )