By Natasha Preston. Pub Date March 1, 2022
3.5*s. Best enjoyed when you want a teen-oriented slasher thriller.
The Synopsis:
There’s a new viral trend going around in a small fishing town that asks participants to repost with what they think is the worst way to die. Everyone thinks it’s just a dumb meme. Until it’s no longer just a meme.
Izzy finds the first body of a classmate lying in the snow in the middle of the street, a girl that she and her friends had just seen at a party less than an hour before. Shortly after calling the police, first responders find another body of another one of their classmates in the river near the other body. People throw around that it is probably a murder-suicide or suicide pact, but Izzy feels it’s something different. Both of her classmates died of the very things they had claimed would be the scariest way to die.
Izzy starts to suspect that what everyone thought was just a meme was really a way for a killer to gain insight into how to scare his victims the most as he killed them. Izzy is glad she didn’t repost the meme, but when she realizes that those closest to her have, it spurs her into protective detective mode. Is it her crush, Justin, who was friends with the victims? Is it her classmate, Axel, the mysterious troublemaker with whom she is developing an unlikely friendship? Or is it someone else who is lurking in the shadows, watching her? Will Izzy be able to uncover the killer before it’s too late?
The Review:
The premise of this story reminded me of a cross between Scream and the movie Halloween Party. Halloween Party was the first to come to mind when reading the original synopsis of the book as it’s very similar when it comes to asking about your biggest fear, but as I read the book, it felt a lot more like Scream if it were set in the winter. Sometimes you just really want to get involved in the slasher-thriller vibe and this definitely fed that part of my brain.
I honestly really loved the ride. It was a constant question as to which person could be the one who was terrorizing the town by killing off young people in the most horrific of ways. It was a bloody and surprising ride filled to the brim with suspense. The ending was also totally unsuspected, with a super startling twist. I think the only actual problem I had was not having all the answers at the end to my copious questions, but I also like things that are wrapped up in a bow and I just don’t think this was meant to be. It kind of leaves a sense of suspense in the air as you close it. Sometimes we just don’t get all of the answers and in a way, the unknown is the truly scary part.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the advanced copy in exchange for this fair and honest review.
Always Lost in Words 