Ten teenagers lured to a derelict carnival. Each one with a dark past they are determined to keep hidden. As they start to die, is it an unknown killer they need to fear...or each other?
Mind games. Murder. Mayhem.
How far would you go to survive the night?
If the blurb doesn't sell this book to you then you must really be a tough nut to crack. I was lucky enough to win a copy of Good Girls Die First after taking part in the #SixforSunday chat that Steph hosts on Twitter each week and I was thrilled as it was brilliant to talk to Kathryn about her inspiration behind the book and just how she came up with such a macabre story line. I'm a big fan of a thriller and murder mystery so this Young Adult delight was right up my street and I couldn't wait to delve in.
The concept is straightforward yet quite unique. Ten teenagers each receive a mysterious note luring them to the abandoned carnival pier. Each note is seemingly ambiguous - a picture, a typed message - but each relates to a secret the individual holds that they will have to choose to keep or confess before the end of the long night.
The characterisation is what makes this book work and Kathryn herself said during the #SixforSunday chat that she set out to create ten characters that would be hated by the reader. Each teen has his/her own likeable and dislikeable qualities. Take Jolie for example - a brassy and bold teen, hot-headed but also filled with care and worry following her brother's accident. You are invited to make a snap judgement of each character as they are introduced, but as the plot moves on this opinion twists and turns as a character's actions divert from how they initially presented. There are the usually trials and tribulations of teenage friendship and romance but heightened as the fear of death and the unknown approaches each individual.
Good Girls Die First certainly delivers on the fear factor too. It's gruesome and at many points reminded me of something the scriptwriters of Final Destination would conjure up, just without the far-fetched scenarios. But as well as the expected horror that ten teens stuck on a derelict pier creates, there is also both a psychological and spiritual battle throughout the book as the teens come to terms with their own demons, manifested in many different forms.
Kathryn Foxfield takes a terribly creepy scenario, adds in ten horrific individuals and a relentless murderer and creates YA thriller gold. If you want something to scare you but equally make you reflective about what you would do in such a situation then this is a must read. You won't be disappointed.
Ten teenagers, a carnival pier, secrets and whispers.
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