cari♡'s Reviews > Heads Will Roll

thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam for providing a free arc in exchange for an honest review

plot twist: the real victims here are the readers.

up until the last 30% or so this book was shockingly boring for a slasher story, then the killer reveal came, and then it was just plain stupid. it's completely laughable that we were supposed to take that seriously at all. this author seemed to think that making the bad guy a big scary Christian would suffice to distract us from all the sense this book didn't make, because, like, Christians, amirite.💀

prior to the shitshow that was the killer reveal, this book was so dull and full of cringey pseudo self-help shit with all the depth of a post you'd find on instagram, and the characterization was so bland. if these characters were spices, they'd be flour.

it's normal to not really feel anything too deep for the victims in slashers; but we were clearly supposed to give a shit about these campers, with all their baggage and sob stories. but how can we? "willow" was there for exactly two days. that's not actually enough time for her or the readers to get to know anyone. her instalove type bullshit with dani was painful, and the "drama" that unfolded between them was pointless since they were over it in about five minutes. which was yet another thing that didn't feel realistic, considering what dani thought about willow and what willow dealt with as a result of dani's actions. i don't see anyone just being like "ah, it's chill, i'm over hatred and death threats because we spent a couple days in the ✨healing power of nature✨ and made out once!" fuck outta here. 😂

if this had all happened over a longer period of time, it would've allowed us to possibly get to know these characters better and maybe make their bonds somewhat believable, but two days is nothing. i also would have preferred to see a bit more distrust between the campers, some classic horror movie group paranoia and finger pointing. there was virtually no suspicion of each other among the campers, they mostly all just got super buddy buddy real quick and like... that's boring? and unlikely? again, this takes place over two fucking days. these people were perfect strangers 48 hours prior and then bodies start showing up, and for the most part no one is sus about their fellow campers? mmmk.

i was hoping for a fun, maybe slightly spoofy summer camp slasher. instead, this book took an ax to my brain cells.